Rental vans give campers freedom to explore America
He had fond memories, dating from his childhood in the late 1950s, of family trips in a Volkswagen van. In the early 2000s, he thought that others might like to try the nomadic lifestyle, chugging along behind the wheel of a rented classic vehicle that has a cult following.
“You look at these cars, and you think, ‘What’s the big deal about them?’ — because they’re kind of ugly, really. That right there is the first clue: They are so plain, they don’t have a whole lot of what you call but, because of that, they burrow a place in people’s hearts because of their homeliness,” said Staggs, who lives in Costa Mesa, California.
In 2005, he and his wife, Diane, started Vintage Surfari Wagons to rent two vintage Westfalia buses, each with two beds and kitchen equipment. It took time for the buzz to build.
“I think (in) our fifth year, we actually made a little bit of money,” Staggs said. “We were looking at our tax returns and thinking: ‘That’s great! I wonder how much longer this can possibly go on?’”
Soon after, “van life” — the notion of trading in a home for a life untethered and four-wheeled — gained traction in the United States. Millions of posts on Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter show adventurous and envyinducing photos of young people traveling across beaches, over mountains and into desert areas.
“Van living has become this major craze for people,” Staggs said.
By summer, Vintage Surfari Wagons’ rental fleet will number 25 VW vans, each able to seat five people and sleep four in two berths. Rental rates range from $140 to $295 a day, depending on the model and season.
The business is one of many nationwide offering a rambling slice of van life (or camping experience).
“Millennials and the newer generation, they would rather splurge money on the experience than (on) staying in expensive hotels,” said Hiron Menon, general manager of the U.S. office of JUCY, which rents bright green-and-purple Dodge Caravans and Chrysler Town and Country vans in Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
The typical van-goer, Menon said, prefers spontaneity to planning.
“They want to pull over wherever they want; they want to take pictures or selfies; they want to sleep or cook anywhere,” he said.
The company, started in 2001 in New Zealand — where van enthusiasm has been brewing for years — rents custom-designed vehicles with ample features: sink, kitchen and cookware, refrigerator, gas stove, bedding and more. The vehicles are especially popular for multiday festivals such as Burning Man and Coachella. Daily rates range from $45 to $120.
Escape Campervans, which opened in 2009 in Los Angeles, has more than 500 rentals available there and at seven other U.S. locations (Denver, Las Vegas, Miami, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco and Seattle).
The artist-painted vans — Ford E-150s and Dodge Caravans — can sleep four comfortably (and five snugly) with the addition of an optional rooftop tent. Rates range from $57 to $130 a day.
Katie Hubbard, director of marketing, said the primary age group of renters is 24 to 35 and that the U.S. market is still getting acquainted with the van-rental option. About 60 percent of Escape Campervans’ customers are international.
Matt Wolski and Jen Lopez launched Basecamper Vans in Salt Lake City to give people a taste of van life while exploring the great outdoors.
“The reality is, full-time (van life) is kind of a pain,” Wolski said. “But having a little nibble for a week or two every year is really fun.”
The company has two types of vans that sleep two to five people (with the addition of a rooftop tent); rates run from $109 to $139 a day.
“We basically built the vans that our parents wanted to travel in,” Lopez said.
Basecamper Vans, like the other companies in this report, charges an additional fee after drivers exceed a certain number of miles; 125 miles a day are included, and can be averaged out across the trip; after that, renters pay 35 cents a mile.
The extra charges cover, in part, the wear and tear on the vehicle. But they also fit the van-life philosophy, which is to relish and revel in the scenery, not blast by it.
Said Wolksi: “You have to get out and wander around the brilliant and wild lands around you.”