It’s really no mystery how a generation of misfits turned back in the direction of the  propaganda that raised us. At one time or another, all of us have dreamed of taking to the open road in the mystery machine, or Floyd and Llyod’s Mutts Cutts van. And when the housing market went out for milk in 2008, the idea-seeds of a mobile lifestyle began to root themselves in even the most financially secure among us. If you dip even one toe into the current lexical climate, you’ll find yourself immersed in, well, the 80’s essentially. Gameboys, tri-colored vans, arcades, hair-bands, neon everywhere; I think Joan Jett is even touring again. We all know that famous adage, “Where there is demand, pop-culture will hunt it down and exploit the ever-living shit out of it until we all grow tired of it again.” And be it productions akin to Stranger Things and Glow or a millennial uprising to combat the Tiktok, we have truly gone back to the future and this time, we brought our love of vans and old mistakes with us.

Now, I know what you’re thinking – Van-life isn’t what it used to be 35 years ago, Jack. Well, you’re right, although I don’t appreciate your tone. Just how does one justify paying 100-140k for 80 square feet of living space just to most certainly ruin their relationship in the first 200 miles of that paradisiacal delusion we’ve all pieced together in our heads after Instabook or Facegram has slammed mobile freedom down our throats.
What happened to the days where you could pickup a mid-1960s Chevy G-panel or a Dodge A100, paint it turquoise, get high as shit and go solve some mysteries with your buds?

Truly, there’s nothing stopping you from doing that. But, when you break down on your way to capturing the Spooky Space Kook and run out of weed, don’t write to Rooster blaming us.

Instead, you can take a fraction of what you’re about to drop on that down payment in a mediocre neighborhood with mediocre schools (and maybe a Safeway) JUST outside of the town that’s near the town that was your third choice – hear me out – and spend it on a functional modern road-tripping comfort piece brought to you by one of your local van-suppliers. You’ll be out there solving mysteries with your $8 dollar Oat milk lattes in style.
We even tracked down one of the valuable-minds, Caleb Winters, over at local van-builders, The Vansmith. Caleb was recruited roughly 3 months ago as the Lead Van Designer in charge following his years of experience with Colorado Camper Vans. We prodded Mr. Winters to find out what it would really take you to get inside one of these things, what a future Colorado-resident without roots looks like and the practical outlook of a lifestyle in pursuit of freedom and a mortgage-less tomorrow.

In general, the typical van-builder will have you choose from one of about three different commercial-van bodies – the Ford Transit (typically more head room and less German engineering), the Dodge Promaster (typically less headroom, but easier on the wallet), and the cream of the van crop – the Mercedes Sprinter (an all-around diesel beast and the favorite of those who can front the bill). Caleb assured me that The VanSmith typically offers two styles of van builds with a focus on quality, the Ford Transit and the Mercedes Sprinter. 

“What sets us apart is that we execute our design flawlessly and offer a puzzle-piece interaction board of sorts that gives our clients more freedom to choose the floorplan they desire with one of the shortest turnaround times in the industry.”

And in fact, Caleb speaks truth. Having spoken with several other van-builders over the last 10 years, the average turnaround time seems to be around 4-6 months, and you can generally expect quite a bit of back and forth and variation in that process regarding logistics, parts, supplier-holds, and staffing. Caleb assured us that The VanSmith generally offers a 1-month design turnaround, with an additional 4-6 weeks of build time bringing that average down to a measly 2-3 months until all of your roadie-dreams come true. Unheard of in the van-industry and all under the shadow of the Flatirons here in Boulder.

“We source materials for our builds that are low VOC and tend not to off-gas in the heat which makes our builds more eco-friendly as a whole. With our secondary alternator that recharges in roughly 3 hours while driving, you can run all of your electrics for nearly 5 days off-grid at a time without having to move.”

Five days without having to move sounds pretty nice. But, I think he’s referring to the van itself here. One can dream. Caleb detailed that the clientele has shifted over the course of the last five years and diversified in a major way. As of late, they cater to mobile professionals looking for a mobile-workspace with all of the tech they require to enable productivity on the road, families looking for their weekend warrior vehicles and climbers / cyclists really looking for a foundation they can call their own and not have to fork over their deposit to a landlord when they give in to impulse and paint their wall lavender with red polka dots.

Name a State with a more interest-diverse populous than Colorado and I’ll buy you that $8 latte. We as a state are shifting away from foundations, smashing the ball-and-chain mortgages our families have been carrying around for years and taking in the true beauty that our beloved land has to offer with all that cash saved. It’s people like Caleb who are making what were once dreams more of a reality for folks compelled by freedom and really changing the landscape of what it means to be a stable professional or a Colorado “resident.” I’d argue those that are out respecting nature and the asphalt that weaves it’s way through are the true keepers of what we all moved here for and hold dear. So, maybe next week, we dare you – go cut one of your chains and dig for that little misfit deep inside – thank us later.