Glenn and Nita Hughes spent the greater part of 2023 traveling to over 30 of Harvest Hosts breweries, wineries, farms, and distilleries as the Harvest Hosts Ale Blazers, and were paid to travel the country in their RV, visit Harvest Hosts locations, and make content reviewing their experience.
As a couple, they have spent the past 20 years RVing together, primarily Boondocking through North America. They run the Instagram and Youtube channel CubbyVanLife together, which combines Glenn’s passion for video production, RV travel, and quality drinks.
Their RV Origin Story
“In 2003, we headed off on our first, very first trip, a very long trip. We left Pennsylvania, sold our house, bought a Chevy Astro van, drove across the country, and ended up in Port Townsend, Washington. We wanted to get as far away from Pennsylvania as we possibly could.” Glenn shared. “Very exciting to be there, but it was almost disappointing to get off the road. It was so fun and we realized that we definitely wanted to do this more.”
Since then they’ve lived full-time on the road five separate times, took a few hiatuses, all working towards their goal of funding their retirement dream to travel the country full-time in their van. Their hard work paid off and they’ve been living their retirement dream for the past two and a half years.
Becoming the Aleblazers
“A friend of ours found it on Linkedin and sent it to us. And he said, Hey, does this sound like a good job for you? And I looked at it and I was like, that's the perfect job for me. Harvest Hosts was looking for people who are willing to travel around the country in the RV to visit breweries and distilleries and give us a report back. Well. I was already doing that on our YouTube channel,” Glenn shared.
“Once I retired, I started a YouTube channel and made videos because that's what I love to do. That's why I did it for a living because it's my passion, making videos. So I'd started a YouTube channel, not with any intention of getting tons of subscribers or because I did that in my job. I just wanted it to be fun. I really like cocktails, I really like beer, I really like liquor a lot. Our YouTube channel started with me just doing what I call Vanlife Cocktails #vanlifecocktails. Nobody watched any of these videos except friends. Today to this day, three years later, our, videos still have a hundred views or something. I wasn't pushing it. I wasn't creating any type of agenda, but I would go to distilleries or I would go to breweries mostly. I’d do videos on making my own cocktails in the van, and then I did a bunch of videos, visiting breweries around the country.”
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Harvest Hosts saw their application and immediately knew Glenn and Nita were the right people for the job. What we didn’t know is that Glenn and Nita had never used Harvest Hosts before and had no interest in joining Harvest Hosts before they got hired for the job.
From Harvest Hosts Skeptics to Harvest Hosts Evangelists
Once they began using Harvest Hosts, their minds changed immediately. **“**We immediately saw the value of it. Before we were the Aleblazers, we just would not seek out places to stay. We thought we were doing pretty well by ourselves, boondocking,” Nita admitted. “We were aware of it but we never used it. Once we joined, suddenly, the whole world just opened up. And it wasn't just we had places to go. We had places to stay. We had people to meet. It was like a whole different experience.”
They had a lot of misconceptions about what Harvest Hosts would be like, they were worried it wouldn’t fit into their lifestyle as spontaneous travelers, that they wouldn’t find locations along their typical travel routes, and they believed that finding secluded boondocking spots was more their speed.
‘Don't just stay at any Harvest Hosts location. Stay at the ones that really interest you. And it's really a no-brainer.” - Nita Hughes
“We were looking for solitude. We were looking for quiet and Harvest Hosts is different because suddenly you're around people. I found that I wasn't as antisocial as I thought I was. I really enjoyed meeting the people who own the places and enjoyed meeting the other people. Particularly the first Harvest Hosts location that we stayed at in New Mexico, there were like 10 other Harvest Hosts Members there, boondocking in the parking lot. It was like a party, and we really enjoyed that.”
Glenn and Nita made it a point to stop at breweries during their time on the road previously, but booking an overnight stay at a brewery has a clear advantage: you can drink as much as you want. They’ve also stayed at many farms and churches. They always plan on trying a few beers and liquors at any brewery or distillery they visit, but by staying at farms and churches, they discovered how good it felt to support local businesses and get something in return. Finding a free secluded spot was no longer their priority. The very first thing they used to do when looking for a place to stay was to open up iOverlander. Now Harvest Hosts is the first thing they open up when they look for a place for the night.
Their Top Picks
With over 30 Harvest Hosts locations under their belt, they’ve gotten to see a lot of different types of locations. They have a few standout favorites that they’d recommend to any RVer.
Roger Dize Seafood
“The number one winner for us for this whole year was not a brewery or distillery, it was a crab place. It's called Roger Dize Seafood. It's right on the water. It's right on the Chesapeake. And it's a place where there are all these crab shacks. They catch crabs and they process crab. They have one spot right next to this little shack. And you park there and you have this beautiful view of the water.
And the Hosts are the best Hosts in the whole world. It's Roger and his partner Belinda. And they are just the most welcoming, friendly, happy people. We didn’t want to leave. That's how much we love them. It was also the ultimate example of what you can get with Harvest Hosts that you can't get anywhere else. You have to be a Harvest Hosts Member to get this kind of experience. It’s in this little village of fishing shacks and each of them have their boat and they go out in the morning and they pull up the crab traps.
They have tanks out back outside where they have all the soft shell crabs and everything. They have delicious soft-shell crabs. We made, we cooked it ourselves right at the van there. The whole experience was just fabulous.”
Arlington Farm
“Our next favorite was another place we went to in the area, the day before or the day after called Arlington Farm. So pretty. The hosts there really go out of their way. We boondocked right next to the goat barn. So there were all these goats around the van. And they have trails through the forest there all around. And they make a big bonfire for the guests at night. When we were there, two other Harvest Hosters were staying. I don't remember how many spots they have. But, uh, they make a big bonfire at night for everybody. And, uh, we're super accommodating. They had a little shop with things they made.”
The State Line Distillery Tour
“The State Line Distillery Tour breweries were some of our favorites, and they’re all on Harvest Hosts. There are two distilleries in Kentucky, and there's one in Clarksville, Tennessee. And they're all within driving distance of each other. And then there was a fourth one that I added to that list that's in Virginia, not much farther away, called Axe Handle. Oh, that was great.
They were awesome awesome Hosts. MB Roland especially is one of the most beautiful places you can ever boondock. MB Roland was incredible. And the other one we want to highlight is Casey Jones. Both of those places were these big, on these big, vast farms, whiskey country. The distilleries were great. The tours were great. The hosts, everything about them. I can't say enough about them.
Axe Handle Distilling in Virginia, was a super nice host. And if you go there on a Friday night, they have live bluegrass jams. I was never into bluegrass ever. And suddenly I became a bluegrass fan after going there. To hear live bluegrass from locals in the Appalachian mountains, it was a real experience. I mean, it was the real deal. It's totally worth the trip.”
“The final favorite one of 2023 is called El Pais Motel in Tucson, Arizona, a completely different experience. You can go there as a Harvest Host member. Just like all other Harvest Hosts, you can stay there for free. But since they don’t have products to sell, the optional thing you can buy during your stay is a spot inside the gate. For Harvest Hosters, it's half-price. So they usually charge $40 a night to stay there. If you're a Harvest Host member, they charge $20 a night.
But for that $20, it’s so incredibly worth it. We're big fans of mid-century modern. We had a furniture company, making mid-century modern furniture. So that's our thing. And it's an old motel that they're bringing back the mid-century modern vibe.
It's super retro. They have a couple of really old vintage RVs that people can stay in there. And they have all this retro furniture and lighting and everything. And it's so cool for that 20 bucks, you get use of the kitchen. You get hot showers. You get a pool and they make a bonfire in the morning for you. And they make a bonfire at night for you. Each spot has their own fire ring. If you don't want to be social. It’s super funky.
It's owned by a mother and daughter. The experience is just so unique! We would have given the money anyway, and we've talked to a couple of other Harvest Hosters who have stayed there as well. We will always stay there when we go through Tucson from now on because we travel to Baja every year.”
Words of Wisdom
Something Glenn and Nita have learned from this whole experience is when someone recommends a place to you, you should always check it out. They always have a good reason to recommend it. If they had listened to their friends’ recommendations about Harvest Hosts sooner, they could have had more time staying at Host locations that they would love. Recommendations are forming their summer travel plans too– they’re finally making it to Alaska. They’ll take the ferry from Bellingham, Washington to Anchorage and then drive back to maximize Alaska’s short travel season.
“Remember,” Nita adds. “You don't have to be anywhere. Just slow down because life's short. When you’ve worked your whole life to have this privilege of doing this, take the time to enjoy it.”
Harvest Hosts is a unique RV camping membership that offers self-contained RVers unlimited overnight stays at 9,600+ unique locations across North America with no camping fees. Stay at farms, wineries, breweries, museums, golf courses, attractions, and other one-of-a-kind destinations while enjoying memorable travel experiences and the peace of mind that comes with knowing a safe place to stay is always nearby.
