The Most Colorado Thing We Saw Today was a business on wheels.
Native Campervans was started by Dillon Hansen and John Moran, a couple of Colorado guys who went to college together in Boulder.
“I’ve lived the van life,” Hansen told Next, about the inspiration for the company.
They developed the idea after they spent a month traveling around New Zealand in a makeshift campervan. Hansen and Moran decided to come home and turn it into a job. Native Campervans is now going on its second year in business.
They have a fleet of mini-vans equipped with a bed, a sink, a gas stove, pots, pans, a cooler, a bed, lanterns, and even a journal -- really anything someone would need to travel around and explore the state – without the frills or size of an RV.
“People are starting to recognize what’s important in their lives and they’re saying, ‘I much rather be on the road, and meet people, and have real human experiences, rather than being tied to one location and being locked down to a certain lifestyle,’” Moran says.
The team buys, converts and rents out the vans for travelers to use. They want to work up to nine vans but currently have 13.
“They all have names,” Hansen explains. “VANny DeVito, the red one is VAN Halen, NirVANa, and VANna White. We’re trying to do puns on each one of these. The ones you’re not looking at right now, we have Lieutenant VAN, VAN Morrison and Jean-Claude VAN Damme.”
Rates are based on the number of nights you choose to rent for. You can find out more on the company’s website.
