- Today we are gonna tell you
why we said 'NO' to Thousand Trails.
(upbeat music)
A lot of people ask us
if we have a Thousand Trails membership
and when we tell 'em no,
then we get a 100 questions more why we don't have one.
- Today's video is all about sharing information.
So we are gonna ask you to share information as well.
People are always reading the comments
and they learn so much so we are gonna ask you,
do you have a Thousand Trails Membership?
If you do, please type 'Yes' in the comments below
and put what you love or what you don't love about it.
- Yeah.
- If you don't have a Thousand Trails Membership,
type 'No' in the comments below and let us know why.
Maybe you are researching it now
or maybe you decided it didn't work for you.
When people read our comments they learn so much.
We are the only opinion in the world -
- That's right.
- Although sometimes we might fel like it.
We aren't, and we appreciate you
sharing your knowledge with everyone.
- Yeah. So there is some madness to the method
or method to madness, however you wanna say that.
(Stacy laughs)
On why we ask you to post comments down below,
it's not just for us to read but it's for everybody else -
- Yeah.
- that joins in the conversation.
There is so much to be said and learn -
- From each other.
- from all of these discussions,.Yep.
- Before we tell you exactly
why we said 'no' to Thousand Trails,
let's talk a little bit about what Thousand Trails is.
Thousand Trails is a camping membership.
You pay to join this membership
and it has many different levels.
So depending on how much you spend
and level you purchase that determines
what are you allowed to do within Thousand Trails.
- Right. You can spend a little or you can spend a lot.
So the cheapest you'll pay
for your Thousand Trails membership is $599
and right now they are running a $100 off special
and that gets you one of five different zones throughout the US,
and within those five zones
there is 81 campsites that you can choose from.
- The 81 campgrounds are all divided up
within those five zones.
So if you choose the zone where Florida is
then you can only use the campgrounds within that zone,
you won't be able to use all 81 campgrounds.
Now you can add on a second or third zone
and the extra will be $49 per extra zone.
- And the South-East zone which is the Florida zone
there's 23 campsites to choose from.
- Campgrounds.
- Campgrounds. Camp sites?
- Not sites.
- Well, there's probably more sites in the campground
(Stacy laughs)
but you get what I'm saying.
The downside to having these zoned membership
is that you get 14 days within the system,
after those 14 days then you have to come out of the system
completely go to a state park or national park
for seven days then you're allowed back
in to the Thousand Trails system.
- Now that's the cheapest, that's your entry point.
Let's move to one of the more expensive ones
or one of the higher tier ones
to kind of give you a compare and contrast.
So the higher end, which one is that one?
- It's your Elite Basic Membership
and they start out at $3,750 for a re-sale.
Now if you buy it brand new membership,
it'll probably cost you double that.
- So this membership requires a $600 annual fee,
so once you purchase it, every year from here on out
you're gonna be paying that fee of $600.
You can stay every single day of the year
in a Thousand Trails park,
so that's 365 days without getting the boot for seven.
Now you can only stay for a maximum
for 21 days at a single park,
but you can go from Thousand Trails park
to Thousand Trails park.
Be aware if you are somewhere during their peak season,
they may have limitations on how long
you can book out at one specific campground.
A perk to this level is you get 50% off cabins
at some of the Thousand Trails campgrounds
and you can get discounts of up to eight family members.
- That's pretty cool.
- That is cool.
Thousand Trails does have a lot of add-ons,
of course, so you can spend more if you would like.
- That's right.
- One of their add-ons will add a 109 campgrounds
to your membership so it is $299.
The campgrounds are throughout the US,
very similar locations to the 81 campgrounds.
- Yep.
- The thing about these campgrounds you have to know,
they are part of the Encore system and each campground
may only have 10 campgrounds for Thousand Trails.
Now, we just barely tipped the iceberg and memberships,
and membership levels and what Thousand Trails has to offer.
We didn't want to spend this whole video
just taking about Thousand Trails
because we don't have Thousand Trails.
- No.
- So let's dive into why we decided
Thousand Trails did not work for us.
- One of things we didn't really like was that
there is only 81 campgrounds and if you look at their map,
they're pretty much on the coast
and we didn't wanna be stuck with having
to choose one of those 81 campgrounds.
We wanted the freedom to move about the country
and pick our own place.
- One of the biggest reasons we said no to Thousand Trails
is because they're private campgrounds
and I have to be honest with you,
private campgrounds are at the bottom of our choice list.
We avoid them at all costs,
not that we don't stay at them, because we do,
but if we have a choice for a city park, a county park,
an Army Corps of Engineers park, any of those, boondocking.
Boondockers Welcome,
Harvest Hosts - Harvest Hosts,
we will take those. - We will choose all of those
over private parks
when we can, we really prefer those.
So that's the main reason we opted out.
- The other thing that swayed us from not looking
at a Thousand Trail membership was the reservation system.
We are kind of a wing it couple.
We may reserve something the day before or 10 days before
and in most cases through Thousand Trails,
they're already booked out
so we wouldn't have a chance of getting in.
- Yeah. If there's only 10 spots in that campground
for a Thousand Trails member,
chances are we are not gonna get one.
A lot of people buy Thousand Trails
because they, over a long period of time,
they get their initial investment back
and it saves them on campsites on a nightly basis.
Our first year on the road
we spent an average of $16.50 per night.
That is well within our budget -
- Well.
- So we would much rather stay at beautiful National Parks
and pay a little bit more than a private campground.
- Right.
- Now we haven't done our budget yet for last year
but we are gonna be working on that video really soon
'cause we hit our Nomadiversary in May.
So if you're looking to see what we spent on full timing
over this past year standby 'cause that will be coming.
- Right around the corner.
- If you haven't seen our first year cost on the road,
I'll put a link to that down below.
- Don't just take our word for it,
there are other RV YouTubers out there
that have discussed Thousand Trails memberships
and why they work for them,
and we'll link them in our blog as well.
- If you're thinking about buying
a Thousand Trails membership,
make sure you check out the campgrounds,
do a little bit of homework,
see where you are gonna be staying
and see if it's worth your money.
They're a ton of reviews online,
not just for the memberships themselves but the campgrounds.
So just do your homework ahead of time.
It might actually work for you.
So where do we stay?
Where do we prefer to stay
since we avoid private campgrounds
and Thousand Trails does not work for us?
Our number place to stay
is the Army Corps Engineer campgrounds.
That is our favorite campgrounds.
- [Phil] Hands down.
- [Stacy] They're always beautiful,
they're always on the water
and the price is right.
- [Phil] Absolutely, and you just feel like you're secluded,
you're not smooshed up on everybody,
it's just very nice and very peaceful.
We prefer those, hands down.
- Yeah, and the average cost for these campgrounds
are $18 to $24 a night
but if you have a America The Beautiful Senior Pass
or Access Pass, you can get those for 50% off.
- Another place we like to stay at
are military campgrounds.
The benefits of staying on base
is you have the security being on an installation,
you have other veterans that are there,
you have the base amenities, the commissary,
the exchange, the MWR activities
and more importantly, the Package Store.
(Stacy laughs)
- For those who don't know the Package Store,
it's the base liquor store.
- Yeah, nice little term, Package Store.
We pay between $18 and $50 on a military base
depending on where you are at.
Some like up in the DC area, were the more expensive types
but they were also a lot nicer
so you get what you pay for.
- That is true and when we were in San Antonio at Fort Sam,
we paid $450 for the whole month
and you don't have to worry about added electric expense
or anything like that so it was a great deal.
- Yeah.
- Another place we really,
really like staying is Boondockers Welcome.
Now Boondockers Welcome is a membership program.
So it is $50 a year to join
and you can stay at over 2000 host locations
and with Boondockers Welcome you can stay multiple nights
so we've stayed as much as five nights -
- Yep. - On private property.
You don't have to be a member
to go to Boondockers Welcome to see all the host locations
throughout the US and in a few other countries too.
So you can go ahead today and check that out.
Now once you become a member and you get into each location,
the host will actually list all the amenities they offer,
if they offer anything.
- Yeah, and another cool thing about it
is you get to rate the host but they get to rate you.
- Yeah.
- So you gotta be on your best Ps and Qs.
Another one that we absolutely love
is a Harvest Hosts membership.
Now it is an annual membership of $79
and if you want the extra golf course locations,
that's an additional $29 on top of your $79,
but that opens you up to about a 1,037 locations to stay at.
And there are wineries, breweries, museums, golf courses,
if you pay the $29 for that.
What else is on there?
- [Stacy] There's farms, there's...there's all kinds of places.
And for those of you who don't drink,
I know a lot of people worry that it's all about the booze
because there are so many wineries and breweries,
just know that the 45% of Harvest Hosts locations
have nothing to do with alcohol.
So we've stayed quite a few amusements centers
and farms, so many farms.
It's really amazing to be able to go out
and pick fresh fruit and take it right back to your rig.
- Yeah, and we've stayed at wineries and breweries
where we didn't go in and sample,
we didn't buy anything, we just stayed
and it may have been because they were closed
so we couldn't do it. - Yeah.
- But you're not obligated to go in and buy anything.
They would prefer you come in and purchase something
whether it's a small tasting or some vegetables
from the farm. - Yeah.
- Something to kinda pay it back.
- Now the difference in Boondockers Welcome
and Harvest Hosts is Boondockers Welcome
is private property for multiple nights,
Harvest Hosts is for one night at businesses.
So there is a little bit of a difference there.
We are affiliates with both of those programs
so we will leave the links below.
If you use our links and the codes which are below,
you can get 10% to 15% off your membership
if you decide to join.
- It's a great deal.
- Now our favorite, I've got to tell you,
our favorite Harvest Hosts was actually at an alpaca farm.
- It was.
- We were there when one of the little alpaca babies
were born and it was amazing.
It's actually one of my favorite videos,
so I'll link that down below as well.
- Yeah, the host was phenomenal.
We were sitting in the rig, the morning that we were there
and he'd warned us that he had one 'maybe' being born that day
and he came running down about 9:00 in the morning
knocking on the doors.
We were still in our jammies drinking coffee.
- Yeah.
- We had to get up, get dressed and grab the camera
and run out but it was a phenomenal experience.
- Oh yes.
- And Red, the owner of the alpaca farm,
is an absolute great guy. - Great guy.
- Him and his family.
So if you're ever in that area, check it out in that video,
it's great stop.
- Oh yeah, amazing.
We would love to hear from you,
your thoughts about Harvest Hosts and Boondockers Welcome.
If you have either one of those,
please put it down in the comments.
You can put HH for Harvest Hosts
and BW for Boondockers Welcome
and just you can even just give us a thumbs up
or a thumbs down as far as what you think about 'em.
This will help other people reading the comments
with their decision before they purchase that membership.
- Yeah. That's a great idea.
We've not had one bad stay, I don't think,
at either one of those.
- We have been really lucky, it's been really awesome.
- Yeah.
- County and city parks are parks that people don't think
about looking for and they can be
some sweet little hidden gems.
To find these, you can go to Allstays or RV Trip Wizard
that's how we find these parks and I stayed, or...
we've stayed...
- Thank you for including me.
(Stacy laughs)
- We've stayed at city parks with full hookups
for as little as $9 a night.
So you need to start looking for those
and it might be a little out of the way
but they're usually really cool.
- If she stayed there is because I drove her there.
(Stacy laughs)
- This is very true.
- All right.
- Last but not least, of course, are state parks.
We always look for those.
We love state parks.
They're the ones that you kinda feel
like sometimes you're tucked in,
and you're a little hidden but we always look for those
and just so you know some state parks will allow you
to use your America The Beautiful Senior Pass
and Access Pass for discounts.
So make sure when you're going to check out,
you look and see if they allow that.
All the states don't
but I just want you to be aware to look.
- It don't hurt to try by using your number,
that's for sure. - Yeah.
If you're thinking of buying a Thousand Trails membership,
these are a few recommendations for you.
First, learn how you like to RV,
there is a ton of different RVing styles
so figure out what style works for you.
If you're a full hookup kind of person
then Thousand Trails might be perfect for you.
- Yeah, absolutely.
- But if you're like our friends from Adventurous Way
and you only stay at National Parks or you only Boondock,
this is not gonna work for you at all.
- Nope, keep your money in your pocket.
If you're still on the fence about purchasing
a Thousand Trails membership,
find out how many people around you have it
and talk to them about it.
That will give you a huge insight
as to whether or not it will fit for you or not.
- And if you are gonna buy one,
we suggest you buy resale,
and when we say this we don't mean the zone pass,
we mean when you are buying in, buy resale.
And if you go over to the blog,
I do have links from several different channels
and they're gonna tell you exactly how to buy resale.
- Yeah, resale is cool
because people stop RVing all the time,
that bought it, and now they have it, they're not gonna use it,
so they offload it for a very huge discounted price.
- Yes, and we like our discounts.
- Yes, we do.
- If you have more questions about Thousand Trails
just pop down and hit the link down below to our blog.
I have a ton more information with links to other people
and they all own Thousand Trails so they will definitely
have a different perspective than we do.
- Thanks for hanging out with us today.
Don't forget to sign up for our newsletter
so you don't miss any of the important blogs
or video links that Stacy puts out.
- That's right.
I will share everything I find with you
including RV recalls, awesome blogs from other bloggers
and there is a ton of RV information out there,
when I find something really cool,
I love sharing it with you.
- Yeah, we can't always fit everything into a video.
- And while you are over at the blog,
make sure you click those social media buttons
so you can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest.
- Don't forget to give us a thumbs up and...
- Wait, right now, stop what you're doing, right now-
- Yeah, hit it.
- Hit the thumbs up, just like that, wohoo.
- The thumbs up and then go over to the notification bell
and click that so you get all of our notifications-
- Yeah, that's right.
- When they happen.
You don't wanna miss those
and if you haven't done so go back over
and give us a thumbs-up, and subscribe. Now.
- That's a lot of direction.
- If you're watching this video and you're wondering
why you can't comment when we ask you to comment below
it means that you are not signed in
on whatever device you're using.
We get a lot of questions asking us
"How do I comment?
I can see the video but I can't comment.".
It's because you're not signed in.
So you have to be signed in to be able to comment
and we definitely want you to comment.
- If you would like me to make a video
on actually how to do that,
send me an email and if I get enough people
who say, "Yes, help me.",
I will make a video
and show you step by step how to do that.
- Help me.
(Stacy laughs) [Phil] Good stuff.
- All right guys.
Thanks for watching.
Hopefully, everyone is doing well and you're staying safe
during the outbreak and we hope those wheels
get to turnin' so we can see you
- On the road.
(both laughing)
Stop.
[Phil] blah, la la....
(Stacy laughing)
You say it, I can't say it.
Why can't I say it?
- Now that has just...
- Wait I was messing with my nose.
Why can't I say that?
It's R, er, uh...I don't know. Did I?
(Stacy laughs)
Starting the Thousand Member Trail.
(Stacy laughs)
If you'd like more information
about the Thousand Trails membership...
(both laughing)
Stop. I can't, I just have.
- Take 12!! Already you're screwing up?
Boy, that sounds a little much.
- Jump in when I screw up. Not in the beginning.
(Stacy laughs) [Phil] - uhahaha, oy, pfttt, nya....
- You don't have to type that in, the link's right there
just go down there.
We'll have 12 minutes of bloopers.
- I know, I know.
- They're not concerned about you Phil. [Phil] ooh aye, I know!
- We'll link that below.
(both chuckling)
- Yes, we can.
(both giggle) [Phil] The..blblblblblah
Down right below in the description blocks, blocks...
Way down, keep going, keep going, blah, blah.
- If you have...blblbblah
(Stacy mumbling)
I know, I got that.
- In the zones? bleh...
And you wanna know why I do all the talking?
- She's a great editor.
Maybe you have more questions about it... [Phil] - what?
(both laughing)
Go ahead.
- Concerns?
They're not concerned-
- I know.
- And again.
- We hope this is clear as mud for you.
(Stacy laughs)
- I'm crying.
- I know. - So we would, our, con...bleh, bleh, bleh...
- No, 'cuz then you've got to have CEO and XO and all that.
- We have that already.
I'm the CEO and XO. - Yeah, no,
we are not doing that. Okay.
- We already know, everybody knows, you know, right?
I'm the CO, I'm the boss.
What? Nothing? - No, nothing.
- See he doesn't even deny it.
- Nothing, the mutiny has already started.
(Stacy laughs)
- I will not walk the plank.
Did I say veedeo?
- What is veedeo? (both laughing)
Why are you looking at me like that?
- I'm just listening.
- Okay.
We appreciate you hanging out with us today.
(both laughing)
I saw you look at me by the side.
(both laughing)