RV LIFE Podcast
The RV LIFE Podcast, created by one of the premier companies in the RV industry, is for the RV Community with a mission to Educate, Entertain and Explore the RV Lifestyle. The Podcast will explore all things RV Life: living, working, exploring, learning. With hosts Dan & Patti Hunt, full time RVers, content creators, educators and explorers.
RV LIFE Podcast
The Best Way to Turn RVing Stickers into Travel Keepsakes & Memories
The joy of collecting and preserving travel memories through stickers. I, Patti Hunt chat with Melissa Bond, co-founder of Rivet Supply Company, and she shares how her family’s love for adventure led to the creation of the Adventure Board—a stylish way to display stickers from places visited, people met, and experiences cherished on the road. Discover how these simple keepsakes can spark nostalgia, inspire future travels, and foster deeper connections with loved ones. Plus, hear about Melissa’s upcoming podcast, *Every Sticker Tells a Story*, and how her business has grown into a passionate community of RVers.
Melissa Bond Rivet Supply Co
Melodie & Kurt from RV Plus 3
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RV adventures plus stickers equal memories that last a lifetime. I'm Patti Hunt and you're listening to the RV Life Podcast. Melissa, why did you create a company that helps people save their stickers they collect as they travel?
Speaker 2:We're passionate about helping families create and capture memories, and so we want them to be able to keep that keepsake forever.
Speaker 1:That sounds amazing. Now I know. Along my journey, I collected stickers from people, from content creators, from places I visited, experiences I had across the country and after traveling for over almost four years, I had a drawer full of stickers because I didn't know what to do with them. But I love keeping the stickers because of those amazing memories and we're going to talk about that today. The RV Life podcast was created to educate, entertain and explore the RV lifestyle, with the mission to inspire you to live life to the fullest. Today, memory keeper sticker expert Melissa Bond from Rivet Supply Company and I are going to chat about the importance of preserving memories and what the meaning of her quote Every Sticker Tells a Story is and we're going to talk about the Adventure Board, which is a way to save those stickers. Before we get to that, I want to talk about my friends at Open Road Resorts, because they have five incredible parks in Idaho, nebraska, new Mexico and two in Texas. These five locations are highly favored parks and they are highly favored by you, the RVer. So if you go to RVlife I'm sorry, campgroundsrvlifecom you can check out what RVers are saying about these five locations and, like I said, you could go to campgroundsrvlifecom to check them out, or you could go to openroadresortscom. But now let's get to Melissa and her husband, justin, who's not going to be with us today. It's just going to be a girl chat.
Speaker 1:And this is the team behind Rivet Supply Company, a side hustle turned small business born from their love of adventure. Longtime lovers of camping and the outdoors, they bought their first camper, an Airstream named Rosie, in 2022. As they traveled, they started collecting stickers from the places they visited, but they didn't want to put them directly on their camper. That's when Justin designed the very first original adventure board, creating a unique and stylish way to capture their journey. As parents of a blended family of six kids, they've always believed that collecting memories of positive family experiences builds relationships. That belief inspires their handcrafted products, from the original adventure board and adventure maps to custom stickers, all designed to help fellow adventurers capture and cherish their journeys. Whether you're a weekend traveler or full-timer, they're here to help you adventure in style, because they know that every sticker tells a story and every journey deserves to be remembered. Welcome to the show, melissa Bond.
Speaker 2:Thanks, patti, I'm so excited to be here.
Speaker 1:I'm so excited to have you. We've known each other for a while and every time we're together we get into these conversations that are just inspiring, and I just love our conversation. So I knew we had to have these conversations and share it with my RV Life podcast listeners. So let's talk a little bit about you Growing up were you a camper. Were you an RVer.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love that I was. So my dad was a camper. My dad is still a Boy Scout or in the Boy Scouts. He was a Scoutmaster, but his parents, so my grandparents were campers. They had an RV, a travel trailer and they camped at a local state park called Chain of Lakes State Park in Indiana you should go Still one of my favorites and so I would go with them in the summer for weeks at a time and on the weekends when we could, and so it was just a very special thing to me, fast forward camped with my kids since they were little.
Speaker 2:I enjoyed backpacking. Then we, justin and I went to tent camping and then we kind of we tent camped with our kids, like I said, we're a blended family, we've got six kids. And then it hit this point where I was like it's like I said, we're a blended family, we've got six kids, and then it hit this point where I was like man, what if we went in a camper? So we started looking. Justin had always loved Airstream and just the quality behind it and everything. So we ended up purchasing our first Airstream in 2022 and we purchased it and then we went straight on our first camping trip. But the fun, interesting fact is that our airstream is only a 16 foot, so justin and I sleep in the airstream and our kids sleep in tents and honestly, I think they'd prefer it that way and there's six of them wow, yeah, and they're growing, they're almost grown.
Speaker 2:One is married, actually, we have two in college, three. Well, they're just, they're just, they're grown, so they're almost grown. The youngest is 17. So we're, you know, we're hitting that emptiness phase, which is crazy.
Speaker 1:That's great, that's amazing. And six kids, that's a way to make it work. Six kids, a 16-foot Airstream. Kids are outside in the tent and you're right, they probably it sounds like they preferred that. Let's get away from mom and dad and get outside. That sounds great. So now you guys started out years ago. You're camping and so let's talk about collecting stickers. You go to these areas.
Speaker 2:We all want that memory uh well, first of all, I've always been passionate about memories. Like my kids would make fun of me that I would be like you know what we're doing right now. We're making a memory, like whatever it was. We're making a memory, um. So that's just always been something that I've been passionate about. But we bought the camper.
Speaker 2:If you look iconic airstream it, it's like it's cool to like collect stickers and put them on the door. It's just what all the cool campers do. And so, as I not that I want to be cool, but I love collecting things, I love the memories and, honestly, stickers are pretty like affordable thing to collect as you go somewhere. And so I told Justin I'm like we went to a first, our first camping trip. I bought a sticker. We were in Pentwater, michigan, went a few other places. I bought stickers. I'm like I'm gonna put these on the door. And he's like, no, ma'am, you know nicely, but let's not put them on the door. So that's how we started collecting stickers. And then, basically one day he was like I've got a surprise for you. And I'm like what is it? And he walked me outside and he had created the first ever original adventure board, put it on Rosie and said here you go. Now you can collect your stickers on the door.
Speaker 1:Okay. So there's some stuff I want to go back to. When you would go into an area like I did, you would get a sticker. What's nice about stickers? You would get a sticker. What's nice about stickers? So when I was traveling around the world before I went RVing many years ago, I would collect magnets and I had them all over the refrigerator. Great. So I thought I'm going to collect magnets. Little did I know. There was nowhere in the RV that you could put a magnet on and, truth be told, they kind of get heavy. They move around. Not that I'm opposed, but it didn't work as well. So all of a sudden, I would start getting stickers from people collecting them, and it's a much easier way. The other thing let's now tell people, give people the visual what an adventure board is, what it looks like, so people can follow us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, perfect. So an adventure board truly is just a beautiful sticker board. It is a piece of acrylic plastic. We cut it out into a landscape. The first one was cut out so that the top of it looked like a landscape of treetops a silhouette looked like a landscape of treetops, a silhouette, a silhouette of treestops. So it's just kind of this beautiful way of like you look at it. It looks sort of like art anyway, but then you can add your stickers to it.
Speaker 1:I was at a show in Hershey and there's lots of products, lots of things to see, and I passed by and then I passed and I stopped and I looked and I kept going. I had someone to meet and I came back and I'm like, wow, and then our good friend of ours it's actually Melody and Kurt, who is my social media manager, introduced me and you and I are in the booth, in your booth, trying to talk, and I am so distracted by these boards because now there's four different designs, so we're going to talk about each of those. There's a landscape See if I got it all down there's a landscape and a vertical design and there's the treetops, there's mountain silhouette, there's the ocean silhouette and I'm missing what. What am I missing? Desert, desert okay desert.
Speaker 1:And then what? What really attracted me was the map of the us.
Speaker 1:Yes, so that was new yes, and I've seen many maps and you get that typical sticker map that put the stickers on, you put it on the rv and then you peel it off when you sell the RV and it really we kept looking at them, thinking about buying them, and I just didn't want that. I wanted something different. And here was the Adventure Board of the US and there's a booklet with it so people can either choose the landmarks of those states or the state name. So I was really impressed with the map. I just I loved the idea. I was thinking about all the stickers that I have in boxes because I didn't like I'd try and find a place to put them in the RV and it just never worked and just the idea that I could have somewhere to display them. Let's talk a little bit and again, we're not here trying to sell people adventure boards, but it's such a need. Like you know, there's a there's a need.
Speaker 1:Yeah, people have these stickers. One of the things that I love about the board it goes on with command strips and we all know with command strips we could pull it down, not do damage to the surface and move it somewhere, and I gotta say that is so important for me. A lot of people know. For those who don't a year ago Dan got ill and we had to come back. We came back to Pennsylvania. We have since sold the RV and I am in a house, you know, trying to figure out what my next step is, but that board would go with me. I could just take it with and have those memories, and that is so important, especially for me, given the fact that Dan is now ill.
Speaker 1:He will not be able to go back on the road. A lot of people know he's now in long-term care and is, you know, not going to recover, to have those memories of the things we did. And again I'm going down a road here. There's no plan for a road, but the is memories. Let's talk about that. Let's talk about, you know, these stickers that we collect really, truly mean something.
Speaker 2:I mean that's, that's the thing and the truth behind it for me. I mean, I of course, love it and obviously I'm an owner and all the things. Um, sometimes I feel like, oh, maybe I should tone it down because I don't want to sound so salesy, and I don't want to sound salesy, but I am proud of it and it's something that I love for a purpose.
Speaker 2:One thing that I appreciate about Justin is that he has the foresight to think about things further down the road than I do. Typically. In general, my family is probably like laughing, like oh yeah, to the extreme, so in his mind that he could think I'm just thinking this is fun, let's collect a sticker and put it here. But he was able to think like no, later we're going to sell this camper I mean, it's not going to be our 40 year camper or whatever it is and so this way, you can take it with you. I just think that, and when you talk about you and Dan, I mean think about all those special things that you did and the idea that you could just take it with you and display it somewhere, even for your kids. I mean we pass down things and I know a lot of times you're like, okay, I don't, I don't need that, you know spoon collection or whatever it is. But to just have something that is memory, memorabilia of the things you've done, I think is special.
Speaker 1:Oh, so much here that I'm thinking about because I hadn't thought about that. When I would travel around the country I would get a magnet of where I was. So Thailand, Bangkok. I had a magnet and I get one for me and one for my mom, who put it on her refrigerator, and my grandkids, when they were tiny, would come play with those magnets. But it's like you said, it then shares that story with them. You know they call me my mom, so my mom was in Bangkok. As they get older, there are stories that are cool, Like. My mission for the podcast is to inspire people to live life fully and to be able to share those places. So my kids and grandkids and people could say, wow, I'd love to go One of my favorite areas, Crystal River, Florida, seeing the manatees. How better a way than a sticker that I then could tell a story that inspires them to go see the manatees in Florida. I love that idea.
Speaker 2:I love that you said it sparks, because that's the thing.
Speaker 2:If we stood here and we were like, okay, tell me all the places you've traveled, you might remember a few things that you've gone.
Speaker 2:You know a few places that you that really stuck out, but you may not remember everything, and it's like that sticker just serves as this trigger. We will even collect stickers from, like coffee shops or restaurants or certain you know places that we went that were special, and then you look at that and you're like, oh, that was the time when we took our knees to get cookies in downtown Bloomington and that was really fun, you know. So I do think it sparks something that you don't think about. And then where we have ours is we physically put it on the inside of our camper door. I know you're listening, so imagine that you open your camper door, you leave your screen door shut and so it's swung open on the outside. You're at the campfire and you're like looking at it, and so it also sparks those conversations at the campfire like, oh, you know, remember last year we did this or that or whatever. So yeah, I just think that the stories are really cool.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I love this and I want to talk more about this. I do want, for people who are listening and they're in front of a computer some of my listeners are driving in the car or working out, but for those who are listening, I want to direct them to rivetsupplycompanycom, where they can see these boards and know what we're talking about, because I'm picturing it in my head. I actually just had my boards. I ordered two of them. So I ordered the ocean board and the map. Let's talk a little more about that, because it is also about the place.
Speaker 1:I went one time and I'd have to find the sticker to know exactly where it is. But Dan and I were in Oregon and we stopped at this donut shop, a bakery, and there was such a story. I walked in, I got these donuts, I went out to the RV. Dan was in the RV. He was like, oh my gosh, this is the best, whatever kind of donut it was. We literally went back into the shop. Now we're YouTubers, so we went back into the shop and did a video.
Speaker 1:But the feel of it, the feel of the town, the story the woman told it was during COVID and she was trying to keep the doors open and how she did that. Those are the things while RVing that mean so much to me, those stories that people tell. So while we collect the hey, I was in Oregon, so I collect the state or the city Great, and I love those, and that's why I love the map, the board with the map. But to also have the people that we met, so influencers, content creators now everybody's got a sticker, now Even just yeah, you don't even have to be a content creator, you might just be a family that names your adventure, and now you have stickers that you're trading and to remember those stories and those people that you met along the way, because RV is really about community, right.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, yeah, I think that's so. I think that's so cool and I love that she told that story and that you found this unique, unique place that's so special and you know that you can then talk about. And I think that it also brings like this is kind of silly, but that a sticker can bring something really fun to something that's not necessarily that exciting. So I and I am all about, I mean, like you you heard, we have a lot of kids and so, especially as they were younger, we're trying to do things that are not that expensive.
Speaker 2:You know the free there's so many free things in every single state, and so then if you can go and find a cute little park or find a, you know, and tell them we're going on a scavenger hunt, everybody find an acorn and this and that, and then you've created a memory at this place. And then you collect. You know, for two or three dollars you collect, sometimes four or whatever, but you collect something to remember that by. And it also gives away. A parent's tip is like hey, we're collecting a sticker, we're not buying T-shirts, we're not buying stuffed animals, we're not. You know, this is we're spending four bucks and that's that.
Speaker 1:Right, and it is a great teaching thing. I so I was a teacher for 20 years and when you and I talked, you know I had so many ideas. Well, as a teacher and knowing that there are a lot of kids on the road being homeschooled, unschooled, road schooled it's got different names. Now, there's so much that could be created from just this, and so I'm going to give you a lot of suggestions and work that you and Justin could do. But even for people who are listening, you buy that sticker or you're at that place and you have a kid, no matter what age level right, the little, little little kids can draw a picture of what their favorite thing was, yeah, and make a book of it.
Speaker 1:I, I remember when my kids were little, I used to buy these. They were actually hardcover books that had blank pages and they would create their own books and I, I love that. I save them to this day and the kids now have them. They're grown and they have kids of their own and they have them and again, it's those, it's those memories. But this is something that you could use as a piece of education, because anytime you get a kid writing or even just talking, like, get them engaged in the conversation. So I'm going down. My teacher rabbit hole hat just got put on.
Speaker 2:I love that, and I'm a teacher. Yes, I was a teacher as well K-12. So that I'm with got put on. I love that and I'm a teacher yes, I was a teacher as well K-12. So that I'm with you on that. I think that's amazing. Anytime you write, doesn't matter what you write about, and read and all the things. So much can be done.
Speaker 2:Speaking of reading.
Speaker 2:My parents just brought me yesterday the best gift talking about stories, best gift talking about stories my uncle, my great uncle, when I was 15, or 16, I guess 16, took me on a backpacking trip to North Carolina and he wrote it down and published a book about it.
Speaker 2:And so he published a book about all of his hiking on the Appalachian Trail and he took me on a three-day trip of it. So when I say like I've hiked the Appalachian Trail and he took me on a three-day trip of it, so when I say like I've hiked the Appalachian Trail, I've hiked three days of it, but I mean I knew that I went on a backpacking trip with him but I didn't remember all the details, and so anyway, in this book there's a chapter that's all about when I went hiking with my great uncle on the Appalachian Trail, and it's the idea of like he left me something to remember that by, and that's what's really that's cool, is the memory. So our plan is I mean, obviously, journaling is amazing. I had hopes of journaling every single camping trip. I still have the journal, I have two entries and that's the end of it because I just get distracted. But for us it became stickers. That's how we're going to remember where we go.
Speaker 1:And that's interesting. You said that I journal. You know my morning routine, I journal, meditate, and you know, not necessarily about where we were going, although, as we were traveling, I added some of that in. So my thought was to have a journal just about our travels. There I was sitting in the passenger seat being, you know, passenger princess and I could sit in journal and I would collect, like brochures of different areas and, like you said, I did. I don't remember how many entries. I still have the book, but it just didn't happen and you know, like you said, to have these stickers and for people who want to take those stickers and write about them or something, because this is something you can leave to your kids. It is something special. Kids no longer want the things we collected, the spoons, the whatever you know we collected. I think this is just an amazing idea for you know, like sharing adventure, sharing experiences, and I'm going to come back to that, we're going to talk more about that.
Speaker 1:I want to talk about open roads field card. As people travel across the country or whether they're just in their neighborhood. If you have diesel fuel, open roads fuel card really helps to cut those costs because they will save you 40, 60 cents a gallon, sometimes more, sometimes a little less. The savings with the diesel fuel card is just incredible. I did an episode in the beginning of February I'll put it in the show notes where I interviewed 12 people that had used the fuel card, some for six months, most of them for all 12 months of 2024. And they told exactly how much they saved using the card. So I'll put that in the show notes. The link is in the show notes for anybody who wants to sign up for the diesel fuel card, and it is absolutely free. Let's talk a little more. Yeah, do you guys have a diesel truck?
Speaker 2:we we don't yet. But rosie, you know, we kind of want to upgrade rosie to a larger airstream and we would have to upgrade our truck. Okay, diesel is in the conversation.
Speaker 1:Yeah, good, but now you're getting rid of the kids, not getting rid of them, but they're getting older and you're getting a bigger, but now you're getting the bigger you.
Speaker 2:I know that's ironic, right? I think, well, someday, grandkids no, we're no, not soon, not soon. But um, I think it's more because we want to go longer at a time. So we love and we may not. We love our, we love our, um, love our little airstream. There's just a few little things that I would. You know. We have this conversation but, um, so you're thinking maybe upgrading.
Speaker 2:I thought about something just like to add in that, um, about making memories and keeping those memories, and so something you know that I think about a lot is the reality is, life is very hard. We have a lot of really difficult memories. Raising kids is hard, whether you're a bonded family or a single family or a two-parent family. I mean it's hard. And so what we found and what we loved is that in the midst of that, you create memories that everyone has this shared positive experience. That's awesome, and you do something specific to remember that.
Speaker 2:So we're collecting a sticker and you could do something else. It's not just a plug for that. You know, write your journal, collect your magnet, buy your t-shirt, whatever it is to be like, remember when we did that and it was so awesome, and to collect that because it can be so easy to collect memories that are tough. I mean, let's be real, there are difficult things that happen, and so to be able to, as a family, intentionally create memories that are positive, that are endearing to everyone in the family, that is something that is really important to us and really a lot how this came about, I would say.
Speaker 1:I love that and I'm glad you added that You're right. I mean, life can get difficult. There are certainly challenges and we tend to think of those more than the others. Now that I have my boards, to put that board up on the wall in the house, maybe just for now, you know, and maybe it gets moved to an RV, I don't know but to put that up and remember, you know, when I was in Arizona, when I was in Sedona, and the memories that I had there, or the couple of times that I did take the grandkids with and, oh, this is where they were having, those memories are incredible and I'm, you know, not not to go down a negative road, but you know, life's short and I've learned that better than anyone over the last year, having things that you can remember and I don't say that to make anybody, you know, get all crazy and nuts but in your, you know, journey, whatever that is, whether you're journaling about what you're doing, so you could share that.
Speaker 1:Whether you collect stickers I think stickers are easy to collect, you know, whatever that is that that you're doing, so you could share that. Whether you collect stickers, I think stickers are easy to collect, you know, whatever that is that that you're doing, to remember, just I, I can't say enough about it choose something, yeah, because, like for Dan and I, we have five kids. Four of them are married and they we have nine grandkids. So they started talking. You know, just, you're planning. You said not for a while. Good luck with you, know, like whatever.
Speaker 2:I love them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh yeah, I'm sure and now it's those things that I did or saw or I really want to share with them. I want to excite people on the things to see, even my listeners as well. It's a reason I do the podcast to inspire people go out and live life, because those are the memories, are the things that you have when life gets tough.
Speaker 2:Exactly. And I mean, and the reality is, is that shared experiences build relationships, right? I mean that's why we want. I mean, and the reality is, is that shared experiences build relationships, right? I mean, that's why we want. I mean, yes, we want to see the outdoors, but it's better with somebody else than it is alone. Most of the time there's great solo traveling not saying that's not great, but I'm saying that when you, when we're making these memories, we're doing it because it also helps us build a relationship with people that are important. And that's the piece. That why I love go out and do something or go camp. It's what I love the most about camping. I mean, I tell everyone like, buy a camper, buy an RV or buy the tent, go do it. You can do it for very inexpensive and see the country, but you get out of your normal routine, you get out of being on your screens all day or whatever it is that your kids do, and you can just spend that time together.
Speaker 1:And that's the piece that is really, really special and I want to talk about your saying of every sticker tells a story. I want to. I want to talk about that, as people are thinking about the RV lifestyle. I want to just talk a little bit about Music City Motorhome Expo, which is a place that people could see all the 2026 model year coaches. This is the first time they're going to be displayed. The event is May 31st to June 4th in Lebanon, tennessee, and it and it is hosted by NIRVC, national Indoor RV Centers. When people come out, they can, you know, talk to manufacturers, they can chat with the product developers, the engineers, they could do all the test driving they want, because attendance is limited, and then they provide seminars, provide meals and entertainment. It is a one of a kind event that if people are looking for that next RV or their first RV, this is the event so they can go out. Like you said, tell people get out there. You know, yeah, whatever that looks like.
Speaker 2:I'm Googling that that's not that far from us. I may have to go. I'm Googling that that's not that far from us. I may have to go.
Speaker 1:Oh, there you go. Musiccitymotorhomeexpocom is where to find that. So you know we talked about like places to visit. I have, and I'm sure you do too, a ton of stickers from. I call them influencers, content creators, it doesn't matter. Let's say you're just a family getting out on the road and we see this all the time and people exchange stickers because now I could say I met the road rabers. They do have a YouTube Instagram channel. You know them as well. I met them on the road and now I have that memory RV Plus 3, melody and Kurt, my social media managers. You know I have their stickers, so I can think about that.
Speaker 2:I had no idea that was a thing until we I mean truly we collect them from places. But then as we started really getting into and we were online in the RV community of people who just go on the weekend, right, well, as we launched our business, I started really noticing all of this community of people who full-time RV, which is so cool, but anyway, tons of them have their own sticker and it's just such a fun thing and they've become friends with each other. And then we actually have an entire board a venture board that was we had up at the Hershey RV show and people could come up and put their own sticker on and it was great actually, it filled completely up. And we went to Tampa and we put up a second board and now we were just at a show in Indianapolis and people are like wait a minute, you know that, you know the wild, you've met them. And I'm like, yes, they, they put that sticker on themselves. It's really fun, it's really fun.
Speaker 1:So, and that is another way of continuing those memories. You know it's, it's, it's another way because it is a people, it's a big thing and we talk about community within the rv lifestyle is, just to me, the most important, most wonderful part of it yeah let's talk about.
Speaker 1:Every sicker tells a story, because. So talk about that. What's that mean to you? I know you told me some things that you want to do with that. I don't know if you're willing to share. I didn't want to give it up unless you're not, yeah. So usually I just ask the person put them on the spot and then I don't cut it out of the podcast, but you know so. So share what. Every sticker tells a story.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, I mean, every sticker tells a story, sort of evolved as we went on. So when we, when we launched the business, you know, we kind of had this tagline of create and capture memories, because that's what we do and we love that. And I think, as time goes on, you know that may influence some of the products that we launch and all the things. But really, as we started, as we would have conversations, I'm like, look at, tell me the story of that sticker. What did you? You know I'd meet somebody and I'd be like oh, I see your sticker from Pictured Rocks, tell me the story of that sticker. And so that's what gets us. And every time I meet someone, I'll they would tell them I'd say, well, where's a favorite location you've been? And nobody can narrow it down usually, but I'll say a top five or something. And so then they'll tell me oh, custer State Park. Or you know, and tell me the story of Custer State Park.
Speaker 2:So every sticker tells a story. Is really the idea that it's not the sticker that is important? The sticker tells the story of the memory and that's what matters, and so that's what I love. But the fun thing that you hinted at, and I will put it out there, because that way I'll speak it into fruition right. I've always wanted to have a podcast, like I just think it's fun, I love talking clearly, but you can't just have a podcast about nothing. And so, as that has kind of come, as I started talking to people about their stickers and their stories, I was like wait a minute, this, this could be it, this could be the podcast. So we're launching a podcast. Rivet Supply Co. Every sticker tells a story will be the tagline.
Speaker 1:That's awesome, and you and I spoke about it a couple of times over the last several months.
Speaker 2:And you're going to be my guest.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yes, absolutely. I would love that. And to encourage you because I think there's something, definitely something, here. You have so much to share and you're so inspiring. And to have people on the tell no, seriously, I don't, you know, she didn't pay. Well, it's fun that you get.
Speaker 2:No, you're so sweet, you're inspiring, patti. I just I want to do. I want to interview you because I want everyone to hear all about you. But I also think we you hinted on the community. I mean, we get the best tips from the community. So there's a plethora of information on the internet sometimes too much now, because if I just Google like best places to see in Arizona, I mean I'll be overwhelmed. So the idea behind it, too, is that okay, I'll talk to Patty and say, pick a few stickers that were your favorites and tell me about those places, and then it also shares with other people. First of all, just some details, like okay, stay at this rv resort or this state park or whatever it is, um, and then also inspires them like, wow, that sounds awesome, I want to get out on the road with my family.
Speaker 1:So anyway, yeah, love, love, love the idea. I can't wait to be a guest. Absolutely let me know when and where. Now you also create stickers, so it was really cool. The first time I was in your booth you had a two things that had stickers on them.
Speaker 1:They were stickers and we are mid sentence, you and I talking and I look over and there's a sticker of a cardinal and that is like my spirit animal. I love cardinals my dad and my mom. When I think of them and talk about them, the cardinal is the thing, and so I have the cardinal sticker. That will be the first sticker that I put on my boards, because I just received both of my boards. I can't wait to get the stickers on them. So you also create stickers for people.
Speaker 2:We do and I should I should say we create loosely, in that Justin does all of our designing. It's not loosely, we do, we do create and we and we make them everything. We do everything with the stickers. I just want to give a little shout out to Justin. Where it's actually what's happening right now is the dynamic of our team. He is an incredible designer. He designed every single adventure board Um. He designed our website. He designed our um, every our trade show booth. He made everything in our trade show booth out of wood in our basement, like. He is just a creator designer. He designed every single sticker. He designed our um on the States maps that you mentioned. They come with each book right, and one of the books is called Landmarks and every sticker has a specific like landmark or maybe a landscape from each state and he designed each of those. So I mean he is like the designer and I do. I talk to the people.
Speaker 1:That's. It's a good team. You've got there.
Speaker 2:It is a incredible team, yeah, but so we do make. I help make the stickers, but he does the designing. So we figured well, I mean, we, we sell a place to put your stickers, so we should make stickers. And and it's funny that you mentioned the birds we in all of this business, we have wanted it to just be something that we love. This is a way for us to one. We love doing projects together so it's a fun just for our marriage. Like we, it's something we love to do together. We love RVing, we love camping. It's a piece of it. You, you know there have been ideas of other ways and genres. We could do with the board and, who knows, maybe someday, but at this point we're just kind of like we want to be all in all in an rving because that's like that's what we love and what we do. But stickers they also came out of. Like his love birds, justin and I love bird watching we are those people?
Speaker 2:um, if you don't, if you're listening and you don't have the merlin app, you need to have it have you heard of this.
Speaker 1:No, I haven't. I'm gonna. You need it merlin.
Speaker 2:You need to download it. It is free from a university and basically it's called merlin bird id and you can literally like open it up outside, tap the listen button, it will hear all the birds outside and it will tell you what it's hearing. That's amazing, it's really cool. You have to do it, but I'm gonna put that in the show notes. Yeah, you need to do it, it's free. It's totally free too. So I see, but that's why he created the birds is like that was our first line.
Speaker 1:It wasn't like, oh, bird stickers sell, it was just like we like birds so, and I'm going to be really honest here, like when I was growing up, if somebody said, hey, look at birds. Unless it was like some beautiful yellow, like something, I could go wow, it wasn't really a thing. And now I will take the time to stop. Like you know, people constantly think about everything.
Speaker 1:It's not our age, but maybe no, no, no, it's not. No, it's not our age, but you know it's it's. It's a way to kind of be in the moment, center yourself, enjoy the moment, because that's part of what we're talking about making memories. I don't want to go down too far a rabbit hole, but making memories you got to like quiet yourself, you got to quiet your mind to enjoy what's there. I, like I told you I'm living in a house now and in the morning I sit in my bed with my coffee and I journal. It's too cold to go outside. Once it's warm, I'm out on the deck. But yeah, I am sitting there and I had the window opened and I was journaling and I look over and there is a cardinal in the tree right outside.
Speaker 2:Oh.
Speaker 1:I love that. If I'm thinking of the 6,000 things that I need to be doing, I'm not going to see that. So that's my little no, I love that. So take time, be present and be really noticing noticing the beauty that's around you. And I started to talk to my grandkids about birds and, like the cardinal thing, I got to tell this story because it was just amazing and I probably need to get them a couple of you know, cardinals.
Speaker 1:But we're sitting there and my daughter is at the head of the table. It was her birthday, we had a cake and the grandkids are next to her and the big window is behind and, you know, did the happy birthday thing and my grandson my eight year old said Mama, look, there's a cardinal and on wire behind her. Now my mother passed away a year and a half ago. We talk about cardinals like remembering her and this is a way to talk to the grandkids. And I look out, because by the time you look out there, they're gone. And I look out and it just stayed there long enough for me to see it, for everybody to see it.
Speaker 1:I took my phone, I was able to take a picture of it me to see it, for everybody to see it. I took my phone, I was able to take a picture of it and it was just. You know, something that I share now with these little kids, that'll. You know, they'll go outside and say let's, let's see if we could find cardinals, let's listen and I'll play the sound. This app will be great for them because I'll play the sound of what that particular bird sounds like. I can't wait to share this app with them. So thank you for that.
Speaker 2:I love that. Well, you know, the Cardinal is the state bird of Indiana, so fun fact.
Speaker 1:Oh, really Did not know that there's something about Cardinals in Virginia too. I don't know if it's a state bird, but it's like on some of their license plates.
Speaker 2:Maybe I'm from Indiana, so I only know that I'm from Indiana, not because I'm a state bird expert or anything like that.
Speaker 1:But again, here's a way to engage younger kids, a way to talk to them, and I see these boards for, like my grandkids, even just being in the house, putting it on the wall like stickers and start this, start making memories.
Speaker 2:I love this, I think it's fun for I mean, I think it's fun for everyone. I have a senior that's graduating this year too and I'm going to give him the map for graduation because I think then he can start tracking like go do all the things and enjoy the journey and track where you've been and think about that. And enjoy the journey and track where you've been and think about that. So, and it's so for me to give a little like you know how I love to think about it and use it and it's shameless plug or do it your own way. Um, but the adventure board for me is more like I love it because you can track anywhere you've gone. And we just and I will joke that, like our right now, we mostly camp within a tri-state area. I mean, that's just, it's not a joke, it's just true. We, we have other jobs, we, you know, we have a limited time that we can go at a time and so but as we go within Indiana, I mean and plug for Indiana, our state parks are beautiful and so we will do fun things within the state and we will collect a memory from all of those things that we have done and we, you know, have 50 stickers from just Indiana. But the map to me is like it's not only just tracking where you've been, it's more.
Speaker 2:The empty states are special because it's the hope of, like, where do I want to go? I've never. I've never been to Utah, I've never been. I can't wait. Like that is on my list, um, so anyway, it's kind of a fun way to go. Yeah, we've seen all these things and what's empty. Where am I headed? So for me, that's kind of the two different ways that we use it. We love, we love both. But we probably use our adventure board more because we do a lot of things when we stay kind of close.
Speaker 1:For now, that that will change. I love these ideas and I can see you know creating and again, people could do this themselves. But I think we should get just sit on creating booklets that people could write about, or booklets that people you know you could use for little kids and even the really young kids. You and I both know the really young kids could draw a picture, so they've been somewhere special. What was special about it? They could draw a picture. They could tell you what you know you used to have and when I would teach younger kids for a short period of time, but you know you would ask them to tell the story and then you'd write in what they were telling you. These are all great activities. And then when you go years later and these kids have kids of their own and they're reading about this how great. So you and I are going to talk about some other things Justin can create that I'd be interested in.
Speaker 1:But so, aside from that, what's next for you guys You're going to start the podcast Is that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so starting the podcast and part of that is sort of the the thing that I didn't. The unexpected part of all of this business launch has been the community, and so and that's very special to me we actually have the. Really, the main way that we market it right now is through affiliate marketing, and for me, that's important because I'm hoping, because they're real people, they genuinely, genuinely love our stuff and and then we've become this community and I hope, I hope that it will help them as well as they're on their on their journey. But so I see the community piece becoming, you know, even larger, maybe through the podcast. What that will look like exactly? Maybe it's an online format I'm not sure I would love this is like a just dream world. I really want to host our own rally or like meet up um my world.
Speaker 2:I've done a lot of um. I've worked at a higher ed institution doing like event planning and I've ran other camps before and worked in places, so I love kind of that idea. We're also I'm grateful we're starting a partnership with shout out to Woodland Airstream. I'll give them a shout out Woodland Airstream, which is the Airstream dealer in Indiana, michigan, kentucky, but we're going to be in their online store and then we've started working with Airstream corporate to be in their online store.
Speaker 1:So wow, those are big steps for us. I didn't know about that, or? Yeah, congratulations, that's incredible. And I also have to say that I love connecting people. So there are campgrounds that I think this would be an amazing product to have in a campground store. So we're going to talk about those things. Yeah, as far as affiliates, do you want people to reach out to you again?
Speaker 2:Yeah, if you are super, if you're interested and you love, you love the adventure board. Please take a look at our website. It's rivetsupplycocom, and at the bottom there's a place that says like join affiliate network and you can reach out and we, you know, we're kind of at the place of like, we're just looking for people who love stickers like we don't necessarily have a number of followers or a number of this, but just who love stickers, um, who are maybe have purchased their adventure board and they're like, we love this, we just want to share it with people. So, um, yeah, please, please, hit us up.
Speaker 2:It's been fun, as, as we've just met some people that love it, it's really, really fun. So, and I told I saw my first one in the wild last, like fall, as I'm riding my electric scooter which we have because why not? Um, we're like the middle-aged people on our electric scooters, we're riding through brown county and then I see an adventure board on somebody's and I just stopped in my tracks and I was like justin, look, and I went over to them and we chatted, of course, um, but she, it was really cool to see that they had just been collecting these memories on their and that they trusted us and the adventure board to do that.
Speaker 1:So and that's great, and a couple things I want to add here again. This is a product I truly believe in, I love, I have no problem, you know, promoting it because I I think it's great, I love you guys. A couple of things the adventure board, like I said, can come in white or black, landscape or vertical, and it can be customized, so somebody that has, um, their family name or whatever they want, they could customize it and you ship it anywhere in the US. Is that correct or correct?
Speaker 2:yes, it's anywhere in the US. We have free shipping, the continental US. Um, we and you can personalize it online, which is very fun to say, like adventures with. We did Rosie, um, our camper name, but we've also, like my sister did, our sister-in-law did adventure with the bonds, the bond family, or we've had people do first names and you know, it's just really cool to see what you can, what you can do for personalizing it. That makes it extra fun and, um, yeah, and then we, but we ship for free in the free to you in the continental us that's great, and's great.
Speaker 1:And I know with RV Plus 3, Melody and Kurt. They put their channel name on there, which was cool. You could do that as well.
Speaker 1:I think that's a great idea they're. So I'm going to ask because so when I do a podcast and I say this to people, I sometimes have an idea of directions, questions. I want to make sure I get to with with this particular episode. I knew we just flow through it. I don't have questions. I want to make sure I didn't miss anything. Is there anything here you want to add? Before I ask you the next important question is there anything you want to add here? Oh goodness, anything we missed.
Speaker 2:I just get out there and go adventure. No, I don't think. I don't feel like you missed anything, it's just that. No, thank you for the opportunity.
Speaker 1:Yes, I'd like to check in, especially when, again, I don't have this set Great questions. I just knew people needed to listen in on our conversation, because you know, it's just been great and I appreciate it.
Speaker 1:We could do it all day. Yes, we could, and we're not done. I want to. I'm going to ask you a question, put you on the spot and then I'm going to give you a minute. So I found that people needed like 30 seconds to figure it out. I'm going to give you a minute and then we'll talk about an incredible product. So my question to you is you have done a lot, experienced a lot. People places, experiences that you have had or that you're thinking of having. What's on your bucket list. What would you recommend to our MyRV listeners Now, what you're thinking?
Speaker 1:I'm going to talk about the Open Roads Innovative Toll Solutions. This is the toll pass, the only toll pass that covers all 48 states, costs $24 a year and the best part is, if you have any issue with a toll, then Open Roads Innovative Toll Solutions will handle it for you. So you never have to worry about paying a fine ever again. You don't have to worry about which toll pass you need in your RV. What you need in your car, it's one toll pass. It covers both vehicles or any vehicle you're in, including a rental. So the links of the show notes, anybody that wants to check into that. Okay, you're on. Did you come up with it? I know when you travel a lot sometimes, yeah, it's hard to narrow it down.
Speaker 2:Yes, so I my recommendations would be um, I love Michigan. You should go to Michigan. Um, go to lake michigan. Our favorite place that we've camped and it's like I don't want to tell the secret, but I will is literally just called lake. I said this on your other podcast. Actually, yes, you like michigan camper retreat. I love it also, indigo bluffs in michigan, indigo bluffs, so there. But you can also go to Sleeping Bear Dunes. You can go to Silver Lake it's like sand dunes and then go to Lake Michigan. So that's really, really awesome. I love Rocky Mountain State Park, so, maybe lots of people. That's probably one of my favorites. I went there with my son when he turned 21 or when he turned 18, sorry, and um, it was just a really cool, special thing. And then a place that I want to go back to that I haven't been to since I was a teenager a little while ago um is West Virginia and I want to go to Blackwater Falls State Park and to Bald Knob.
Speaker 2:Had many special memories as a teenager hiking up to and to Bald Knob. I had many special memories as a teenager hiking up to actually at Bald Knob. You can at Canaan Valley Ski Resort. You could, I guess I can't confirm yet because it's been a long time but you could ride the ski resort up, the ski lift up even in the summer and then you could hike over like a fairly easy ish hike over to this lookout point called Bald Knob. So that's on my list that I want to go back and do.
Speaker 1:Wow, a lot of incredible suggestions and ones we've never heard on the podcast before. So I always ask my guests, so thank you for that. There's always those places that you know, those hidden gems, those places I mean. I've never heard of any of those places, so thank you for that. Okay, it's now time for the featured campground of the week, and it's brought to you by RV Life and it's part of the RV Life Pro Suite of Products, and RV Life campgrounds are reviews from RVers, and that's what I like best about the campgrounds at rvlifecom. This week's feature campground is a Thousand Trails Indian Lakes RV Campground and it's in Beattiesville, indiana. I don't know if I'm saying that right. Correct me if I'm wrong. Do you know where that is?
Speaker 2:I don't know, but I'm Googling it right now.
Speaker 1:Okay, this is a Thousand Trails Campground but you do not need to be a member. Indian Lake RV Campground I think I said that right. Indian Lake RV Campground offers beautiful lakes, a pool and it's got a water park for the kids. It has a lot of activities and amenities and it has full hookups. It has a dog park, beautiful clubhouse and there are rentals available. It has a solid 7.7 rating on the RV Life campground site, with 118 reviews. You can find out all about this campground by going to campgroundsrvlifecom and then just search Indian Lakes RV Campground and you could see all the pictures. You could see all the amenities, you could look at all of it, including a map of the resort While you're there, if you want to book your stay. There's a large book now button. Did you find it? Is it?
Speaker 2:an area, so it's all and it so. It's in southeast indiana, but you're kind of close. You could go to brookville lake and visit. You could I haven't been to that to indian lakes. But it's also not even that far from Cincinnati, like if you wanted to just go take a day trip to Cincinnati um, or even Indianapolis, but um 40 minutes to Cincinnati or even Indianapolis, but 40 minutes to Cincinnati that's not bad and Brookfield. Lake is close too, so, yeah, I'm putting it on the list. I love that.
Speaker 1:Thank you for that. And I picked Indiana because I know that's where you're from. So that's what I like to try and do pick a campground that's in the area.
Speaker 1:RV Life campgrounds like I said, is part of the RV Life Pro Suite of products and you can find out all there is to know about campgrounds, like I said, is part of the RV Life Pro Suite of products and you can find out all there is to know about campgrounds, resorts, the city, state, national parks, all the different properties, by visiting campgroundsrvlifecom. There is a link in the show notes. If you're not part of the RV Life Suite of products, the link will give you 25% off for all new customers, so I'd love to be able to give discounts where I can. I do want to thank you, melissa. Tell us about social media, where people can reach out to you.
Speaker 2:Oh, thank you for that. I appreciate that. So just, rivet Supply Co R-I-V. As in Victor ET. I appreciate that. So just Rivet Supply Co R-I-V. As in Victor ET. Rivet Supply Co. We're on Facebook, we're on Instagram and we have a website, and so you can find us there and, like I said, we've partnered with RV Life Podcast. You can save 10% with that coupon code as well, and please just tag us with your sticker stories. That's, our favorite thing is to just show us where you've been, what you've done, and we love celebrating that with you.
Speaker 1:I love that and I didn't ask you will you guys be in Hershey at the Hershey RV show?
Speaker 2:We sure will. Yep, we will be there. We've already signed up. We're in.
Speaker 1:Awesome. So, for people who don't know, it's called America's Largest RV Show and it's in Hershey, pennsylvania, and I think it starts somewhere around the 14th or 15th of September. As we get closer, I'll start giving those dates, because the RV Life podcast will be there, rv Life will be there, you will be there and RV Life will be doing their after party. Were you at last year, okay so no, that's so fun.
Speaker 1:So we do this year. Yes, we do an after party each year. I believe it's going to be on Wednesday night of the show. It's after the show hours. This is the fourth year. Each year it has totally sold out. So I'm going to start promoting that as soon as we get it ready, and we'd love to have you, of course. It is an incredible event and then people could come to the show and see you guys and actually see the board and touch them and feel them. The other thing I didn't say about the board is those command strips come with the board. So I want to say about the board is those command strips come with the board?
Speaker 2:So I want to say that to people, because those command strips and that's Justin, he's very thoughtful it literally comes with a template for you to hang it up. It comes with your command strips. It comes with a little alcohol wipe to clean off your surface. It's ready to go. So that's ready. Everything is there. That's right.
Speaker 2:I got to tell you about the show just to your listeners. It's like you hear, oh, RV show. And then you think to yourself well, I'm not in the market for an RV, so I'm not going to go. And I have to tell you that is not what this is. It is like somebody said to me, it's like Comic-Con, for I mean for RVers. It's a place for the community, especially in Hershey and in Tampa, People that are in the community all show up. Yes, you get to see all the new RVs and it's very exciting and get some great deals. The show pricing is usually amazing, but you also get to connect with all of these people who also love the hobby of camping or live in their RV and it's just very fun to come together. So, even if that's my plug, if you're not, even if you're not shopping for it, come, and Hershey has a lot of cute things to do.
Speaker 1:Yes, absolutely so. Thank you for saying that. I'm going to continue on that line. That is the absolute truth. Like these shows the Tampa show, the Hershey show they're huge, a lot of walking. Yes, you could buy an RV there. Yes, the deals are great. I agree with you on that. You could be dealerships, you could be manufacturers, you could be the designers of the RV. But the products and services that you can check out and the deals that a lot of the products and services offer, the new things that are out. But bottom line best part of it is community. It is incredible. When I go to the show I was in Tampa I am still playing catch up with, following up with people I met that we're going to catch up with again. That is the beauty of it.
Speaker 1:I just while we're talking about it and I'll talk more about it as we get closer there are RV campgrounds in the area. I always stay at Hershey Thousand Trails. It's a great place to stay. I would say you have to book ahead of time. If you're going to book there, don't need to be a member to book. If you are going to stay for longer than three, four, five days, you want to check into at least a camping pass, because it'll pay off just for that couple of days, five days or whatever that you're going to be there. If you have to do last minute, there are usually cancellations. So while we're talking about it, give all the information and you're right, there's so much to do in that area of Pennsylvania and September is such a great time to be there. I've talked about a lot. Maybe that'll be a show. I do is just what there is to do around the area.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that's a great idea.
Speaker 1:Because where the show is is right near the Hershey Park.
Speaker 2:We're going to extend our time a few days this year because we did not have the time. We wanted to go see all the things. Because we were I mean because we're vendors we had to be at the show all day, every day. If you were just coming, you could take a little break and go see stuff.
Speaker 1:But it's really cool yes, but I'm going to do that. You just gave me a great podcast episode idea of all things to do in the hershey area. There is a lot for people to do, um, but again, thank you, melissa. So much for being on thank you for having me.
Speaker 2:It's so fun.
Speaker 1:It has been so much incredible information and I'm sure we'll catch up before Hershey and if not, I will see you in Hershey for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we will. I'll see you on my podcast.
Speaker 1:Yes, absolutely Before Hershey. So we're going to put a timeline on that. Yeah, that I will certainly promote it. I'll let my listeners know when that podcast goes live. When you're ready to go?
Speaker 2:Thank you for having me on the best.
Speaker 1:You're welcome. I want to thank my listeners for tuning in, for listening. Please reach out on social media, reach out to me, reach out to Melissa. We would love to hear from you and I want to remind you life's a journey. Live each day to the fullest, without regret. I'm Pettie Hunt and you've been listening to the RV Life Podcast. Thank you.