Attracted by Instagram pictures of a free-spirited, easier way to travel, elderly consumers are turning to trucks for their excursions, while adding the luxury spin they could manage. Forget the beat-up Volkswagen bus These travelers are shelling out for custom-fitted Mercedes-Benz or Ram ProMaster vans because of their life on the street.
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Mr. Kennedy, owner of a window-cleaning company in Aspen, Colo., purchased the van last summer and 2 weeks ago picked it up from a conversion pro, now equipped with a double bed, cooker and custom maple cabinets. The 1 thing his van does not have: a bathroom, which means using public facilities.
That's a small price to pay for liberty, he says. "It's having the ability to go down a street, stop and pull over to sleep, and start again when you are ready."
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The van existence--or vanlife--occurrence started on social media many years ago with photographs of twenty somethings peering out at shore and mountain vistas from vans decorated with flowing curtains and vibrant quilts. The images took off online and caught the interest of elderly consumers who not only can manage luxury setups, but can also be at a stage in life when they could take extended, if not permanent, time off.
Blue Ridge Adventure Vehicles in Asheville, N.C., says its business has increased annually in the last three decades. Over half of the consumers in Vanlife Customs at Denver, are retired or semi-retired, owner Dave Walsh says.
"They're eliminating the giant motor homes and doing so," says Erik Ekman, owner of Outdoor Van at Portland, Ore.. His company has doubled from a year ago, he says, thanks mostly to consumers in their 50s and 60s. "That is when you have the freedom, the freedom and the cash," he says.
For the liberty, van travelers give up some conveniences that other vacationers would see as a dealbreaker. The spaces are tiny, especially for two people, and lifestyle with a portable toilet is not for everybody. And while vanlifers skip travel expenses including accommodation and restaurants, gas prices this summer are expected to be the greatest in years.
Retirement experts say the van life reflects a new way that people wish to retire. Instead of work directly through until a specific age, more people are spreading their leisure time, whether it's between tasks or working a few hours each week as they travel.
"When the sun sets, I get petrified," says Lauren Costantini, a 48-year-old former chief executive of a medical-device firm who's semi-retired. "I set the window coverings up and I feel better." She returned home to Boulder, Colo., following a successful four-month trip throughout the nation on her own.
Edward Lawlor two years ago purchased a custom built Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van from Outside Van for $130,000, which he takes out on the street with his wife Betsy for three to five weeks every month or two. The couple has traveled at the van through New England and Nova Scotia in the summer and to New Orleans and across the Gulf Coast in the winter.
The thought for the van arrived in the summer of 2012, once the couple rented an RV. The vehicle's dimensions and battery-power limitations meant the Lawlors would require it to campgrounds at night to plug into electricity for air conditioning and the microwave. On the street, they'd met couples who converted freight vans into smaller, more nimble setups.
The Lawlors' van conversion comprises three 12-volt batteries which power the living amenities once the van is parked and turned away. (The batteries recharge by means of an auxiliary power system while the van is running and may last for four days without another cost). The van has another heating system, a roof vent with rain sensor which could shut mechanically, an induction cook top, refrigerator and microwave oven. A 20-gallon tank provides water to the kitchen and the shower. Thetford Corp.'s Curve Porta Potti functions in lieu of a built-in toilet. An aluminum-framed mattress sits three feet across the ground, allowing for storage under.
"But you learn little tricks to remain out of each other's way." 1 tip: Don't attempt to pass by if someone is cooking.
Like most Vanlifers, the Lawlors like that they could park most anywhere overnight with their van, which is about 19 feet long and 8 feet wide and fits snugly to many parking areas and roadside nooks. He uses a mobile program named Allstays that offers advice on camping and parking restrictions, and has not yet had a issue with overnight stays.
"It is not for young individuals alone."
Melody Shapiro, a 74-year-old retired psychotherapist in Hood River, Ore., says her Sprinter van, bought six decades back, provides a personal retreat wherever she needs it, whether it is a mile away by the river or in her son's home in Monterey, Calif. "I just park it in the house. I can sleep in it, have my coffee in the morning and I do not wake up everybody."
"This was the most stressful moment. In a service station in Las Vegas, a $140 fix involving silicone caulking did the job.
Things may also occur back at home. Throughout the Lawlors five-week trip this past year, there was a power outage in the flat in St. Louis. "Our deep freezer leaked and damaged the ground," Mr. Lawlor says.