The Value that Van Life Creates
Wondering about the value van life creates?
Ever wondered why someone would pay anywhere from $50,000 to upwards of $300,00 on a camper van conversion?! Well, initially we did too!
Like many families, we started our camping adventures with tent camping. This quickly progressed to buying a small pop-up tent camper that we could tow behind our truck. That worked well with younger kids to keep everyone warm at night with little setup. But soon we progressed to a Class C motorhome as the kids got older. This allowed for a lot more comforts of home (indoor plumbing and an oven!) As well as more space for the kids to spread out while on the road.
But RV life was not without a downside...
While we loved the comforts a motorhome provided, we didn’t love traveling in a big vehicle. We found our motorhome hard to maneuver. And even our fairly new 2014 model required a lot of maintenance. With our kids quickly turning into teenagers, we realized they were just as happy to have their own tent to camp in. This meant we didn’t need quite the amount of interior sleeping space as before.
Flexibility and ease of travel was another big factor. We wanted to get up and go any time of year. Living in Idaho where the temps get below freezing most nights during the winter, our RV sat in storage almost half of the year. And we began to dread the visit to the dump station that was part of every camping trip, dealing with black and gray water tank disposal.
All of these factors led us to start thinking about van life. Our biggest barrier was around the creature comforts. We are avid mountain bikers and used our motorhome for mountain bike trips and racing… How would we feel about not having a hot indoor shower at the end of a big day on the trails? And what about going to the bathroom? We often camp off the grid where the most developed option for indoor plumbing might be a pit toilet or digging a hole in the woods.
We began our research. And realized quickly that there are many products we could utilize in our van to create the comforts of home within the space of a van. In many cases, without as much work as driving around in a gigantic RV or dealing with black tank disposal. We discovered that not only are there great options for indoor toilets that don’t require the use of a black water tank, there are also efficient (and heated!) outdoor shower units at a fairly affordable price.
Class B Motorhomes?
The next question for us was whether to buy a pre-built van, also known as a Class B motorhome, or design our own. We looked at several Class B motorhomes and there are some great models out there. What we found is many lacked storage for our bikes, paddle boards and other gear we’re used to having with us on the road.
Some of the layouts didn’t seem practical for day-to-day use. For example, the Class B models with a full bathroom (wet bath) in the rear seemed great in theory. But what if we wanted to open the van’s backdoors at a campsite? Gazing out over our toilet kinda takes away from the ambience!
Van life was the answer!
So here we are today, building vans for customers and for our own use. Incorporating all the things we loved about RV life but without the cumbersome body and maintenance. It energizes us to think about what adventures our customers will have with their vans - whether it be full-time life on the road or weekend adventures. We believe in building a product that is both comfortable and durable. We love that after a long day on the trail or out on the water, our customers can return to a practical kitchen, a comfortable bed and even a hot shower!
Are you thinking about van life? Get in touch if you want to talk more about the value that van life creates!