Seems everyone wants you to live in a camper these days. The Internet. Instagram. InsideHook.
We won’t deny it. On a particularly slow Thursday afternoon, we feel a pang of desire for life on the open road. Waking up whenever. Turning our bucket list into a grocery list. Cooking out on the beach.
But bank accounts and vacation day allotments are real things, and a full-scale van conversion + two-month sabbatical is not going to happen anytime soon. Which is why we welcome news of a reliable camper rental service, in those places perfect for a backcountry retreat.
Enter: British Columbia-based Honest Camper, which leases out fully-equipped Mercedes Sprinters and Volkswagen Westfalias at $150 a night.
The company started after founder Willima Jarvis rented an ’87 Westfalia for a weekend of driving up the Pacific with his son, Jack. He had dreams of connecting others in the area to vintage campers, and he began Honest. Today, locals and visitors alike can book a van for a minimum of three nights, and Honest will drop the camper off at one of eight stations along the Translink Skytrain (the railway for Vancouver’s greater metro region).
From there, your van is good for 150 km (93 miles) of adventures per day, free of charge. Once beyond that, you’re looking at an extra quarter per kilometer, or you can just buy an unlimited daily package. That might not be necessary, considering there’s a ton to see not very far from the city. Think Pacific Rim National Park, Whistler (via the Sea-to-Sky Highway) and the Gulf Islands.
Your environs along the way — be it Sprinter or Westfalia — are capable of sleeping four, and come equipped with fridges, propane cooktops, USB plugs, stereos, headlamps, folding chairs, and even board games. It won’t be two months of finding yourself, but it’ll be a fun few days in British Columbia, and that’s not such a bad deal.
For more information on booking a camper for this spring/summer, head here.
All images via Honest Camper
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