Many people these days consider traveling full time. You often hear people selling their houses to live in campervans. There is a charm to hitting the road and visiting different cities. If you want this kind of lifestyle, you need to choose the perfect van before hitting the road.
Like buying a house, finding the perfect van is overwhelming. With all the options available, how can you know which one is the best? The key to finding the perfect campervan is to consider your needs and lifestyle. Here are some options that you can think about:
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is one of the most popular vans in the world. For those who have been traveling, they prefer Type 2 generations particularly the third generation. People call this “Vanagon”. In fact, there is a popular variant of “Vanagon” called “westy”. It boasts of camping layout with bed, kitchen and pop-top roof.
• Pros: the classic Volkswagen vans look cool with a strong community of owners both online and offline. Many have been converted to live in.
• Cons: these vans are known to break down often. For the specialty parts, it is challenging to come by.
Conversion vans
These are considered a full-size cargo van converted to accommodate family road trips and camping. They have a bench seat in the back that can be folded into a bed. On top of that, van conversion features cabinets and large window. Most of the conversion vans have high-top roofs.
• Pros: after buying, you can move in right away because it is already converted. Many are sold cheap, which makes it affordable for families.
• Cons: the craftsmanship, especially on the inside, is of low quality.
Cargo vans
Many people consider this because you can start with a blank slate. There are two types of cargo vans – passenger and panel cargo vans. The cargo vans vary in size from compact to stretched length. If you convert it, you can do many things. It is also perfect for off-road campers thus it is called “adventure mobiles”.
• Pros: if you consider this, you will have ultimate flexibility. The best thing is that most parts are easy to come by and most mechanics can work on it easily. If it is well maintained, it can reach 300k to 400k miles. More importantly, it can blend in easily because it is difficult to tell whether it is a camper or not.
• Cons: you should get used to the social stigma of the creepy white van. Older cargo van models have awful mpg.
If you eye other vehicles for your mobile lifestyle, there are many camper conversions utilising just about any vehicle.