Micro Van Life

If you build it, they will come…

Quote made famous by Ray Kinsella (played by actor Kevin Costner) in the movie “Field of Dreams”.

**Cascade camper vans before parade – June 19, 2021**

Anecdotal observations surrounding the Cascade Campers demand has proven this famous quote to be true. It means bringing to market a unique, affordable product or service before anyone else! IMHO, Cascade was the first to do so in the United States for microvan camper conversions.

When I asked Larry A. of Columbus, Ohio why he bought a black Promaster City cargo van from CarMax but drove it 2300 miles from Columbus to Nevada City, California for a Cascade camper van conversion, he responded like many of us…it was the best price out there with all the amenities included in the $8K basic conversion package. Plus, you get to bring your own cargo van on the journey West! And use your van, up until the day it’s converted, which takes only one business day (9 a.m. to 6 p.m.). Larry brought along his sleeping bag, basic essentials, and enjoyed staying at state and federal parks during his 4600+ mile, round-trip journey.

**Batwing awning on Larry A.’s black** **PMC**

However, a blogger, critical thinker at samuelmullen.com disagrees with the famous quote in “Field of Dreams”.

https://samuelmullen.com/articles/startup-fallacies-if-you-build-it-they-will-come/

He commented: “This story makes for a great movie, but when applied to business, “if you build it, they will come” will only end in disaster”.

“The idea is that you, as an individual or a team, work on a product and eventually release it to the world fully baked. The world, for its part, somehow finds your product, recognizes the obvious need for it, and then beats the proverbial path to your door”.

Why Doesn’t It Work?

“Finding product/market fit is the most difficult part of building any product. During this time you should be iterating quickly on your idea by speaking with as many customers, or potential customers, as possible. Without interacting with customers and discovering what their problems are…it’s impossible to build a product to solve those problems. It’s impossible even if you are the customer, because you alone can only provide a single perspective. Getting a variety of feedback about features, needs, and solutions is what will give your product width and depth”.

Ash Maurya wrote in Running Lean, “Startups that succeed are those that manage to iterate enough times before running out of resources.” Iterations require experiments, they require feedback, and they require measurements, which means they need customers”.

“Finding customers is hard. It’s hard enough that marketers invented the “Rule of Seven” which says, “a prospect needs to see or hear your marketing message at least seven times before they take action and buy from you.” (The Baby Boomer Entrepreneur) This explains the average conversion rates for web products:

Typical conversion rates are between 0.5% and 4% depending on your price range and customer base. What that means is that for every 1,000 websites visitors, between 960 and 995 will show up and leave without doing a thing”.
–Rob Walling, Start Small, Stay Small

I agree with Rob Walling concerning website visitors. I spent several hours researching affordable products I have previously purchased to make van life experience more comfortable & enjoyable. I don’t get paid for writing blog articles, nor is my YouTube channel (Micro Van Life) popular enough to become monetized. If anyone clicks on my Amazon links & purchases a product, I’ve elected to get rewarded with gift cards for van items, zero calorie Gatorade, and hopefully can give some cards away as gifts, if I ever reach that level of affiliate marketing. Dreaming big not small here. 😊

Today, I discovered a new micro conversion company located at 107 Diversified Drive, Villa Ridge, MO 63089.

About Us (our story) is located here: https://voyagerconversions.com/pages/our-story

Apparently, Voyager began their small, conversion business in 2020 during the Pandemic. One of their “selling points” is they include the price of a new Promaster City cargo van in their $39.5K Weekender camper price. An upgraded, wheel package is an add-on cost.

Thoughts of oligopolies, monopolies, and sole proprietorships popped in my head from long ago, when I sat or slept through two years of post graduate business courses to earn a MBA degree. Competition is part of Capitalism. It explains why gas stations often appear on the same street corners along with banks, fast food restaurants, and car washes. One entrepreneur takes a financial risk and makes his or her business successful. And along comes similar competitors to skim off some of the cream. And they all expect the cash cow (customer base) to stay healthy enough to produce yearly revenues instead of financial losses! Only 1 of every 5 new businesses will succeed. This statistic was often quoted in business colleges before the Pandemic of 2020. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics: about 20% fail in their first year, and about 50% of small businesses fail in their fifth year. Therefore, it takes a successful, small business with a strong customer base to last beyond five years!

Affordability

News Flash: not everyone can afford to buy a brand new vehicle! This eliminates those who already have a 5 year old or newer cargo van. Buying directly from a builder makes it more difficult to find the rare black, silver & red colors and/or PMC’s ALREADY FULLY LOADED like Janet’s SLT model she purchased in Georgia with an older, vintage station wagon trade-in. (Janet & her fully loaded SLT Promaster City van with Cascade Camper Conversion plus extras she’s added in the past year).

Cascade Campers have built something special while keeping down their costs and headaches. They don’t have to worry about manufacturer vehicle warranties, upselling different wheel packages, or restricting customers to new vans only!

Any thoughts on this topic? Please share your reason(s) for selecting a Cascade Camper conversion over other competitors.

Results of my TV inside Cascade Van experiment

1. Cascade van’s 400 watt inverter fan is noisy with AC device(s) plugged into it. Even a 10 year old, LG television with no smart technology caused the inverter fan to stay on the entire time the TV was plugged into the van’s power station. My six pound, 22” TV uses only 30 watts per hour. Surely a 400 watt inverter can handle the small load?

However, anytime an AC device is plugged into a DC battery power supply, the inverter loses at least 20% power. The fan stays on to cool down the inverter & electrical components. Our Cascade power supply & 400 watt inverter are inside the cabinet behind the passenger’s seat. Our auxiliary camper battery is now underneath the Dometic refrigerator.

Cascade van power station with 400 watt inverter

Americans (like me) are spoiled by our creature comforts and techie gadgets. When I purchased the Promaster city cargo van and had it converted to a Cascade camper, thoughts of having my slim Keurig K-cup machine brewing coffee & cappuccinos danced in my head.

Not wanting to blow another fuse on the 400 watt inverter, I did some research online and discovered these electric brewing goddesses consume initial surge power of 700 watts or more depending on unit size & capacity. I could haul around my EF Ecoflow 1800 watt portable power station I use at home for electrical blackouts. It weighs 30.9 pounds & has two 100 watt solar panels to recharge it off-grid. Using an AC outlet, the EF Echoflow charges to 80% capacity in 60 minutes. But each pound counts inside a micro van. Plus appliances & TVs take up limited, van counter space. I also like getting 29-30 mpg with the PMC van. More weight can negatively effect gas mileage not to mention the wear & tear on the vehicle itself.

2. LG 22”, six pound TV should only be used at campsites or areas with 110 outlets. I like keeping my TV on a stand. So I bought a duffel bag with 85 liter capacity to carry the TV with stand intact. The power supply, remote control, HDMI cable, and lightning to digital AV adapter are stored in the side pockets. Duffel bag fits nicely in the passenger foot well of the van since I typically travel alone with no pets. I will need to buy a small power station (i.e. 6 pound Jackery 240) to operate the TV at a campsite without electrical hookups. Lots of van campers & RV’ers watch TV outside their rigs. I could become one of those outdoor viewers but decided a 1.7 pound, 1080p monitor with anti-glare screen for $169.99 plus tax is a better option so I can watch movies inside or outside the van! It’s almost 16” in length with a folding, leather cover stand. It will take up less space inside the Cascade or other vehicles.

**Biofun** **15.8” Monitor,** **1.7 pounds**

3. Cell phone coverage drops significantly inside the van! Even parked in my driveway, cell phone usage with Spectrum coverage (via Verizon cell towers) is slow! Buffering speeds loading YouTube videos and Netflix movies take several minutes.

PMC parked in sloped driveway on levelers

My cell phone gets better coverage OUTSIDE the van! One solution is a product called Drive Slick to boost cell phone coverage inside a car, van, or SUV. This product is designed for one user (driver) only. A magnetic antenna is placed on top of a vehicle. And the cell phone stays inside the cradle (antenna receiver). It claims to boost cell phone signals by 32%! I’ll let you know if this is sales hype or not. I splurged for one yesterday on Amazon.

Watching videos & movies using a cell phone adapter connected to a 22” LG TV inside my van.

I’ve been thinking a lot about upcoming weekend trips in my Cascade camper van to remote locations with no WiFi or hot spots available. Let’s say I’m boon-docked overnight at a beach or safely parked at some Cracker Barrel restaurant off Interstate 40. How can I watch YouTube videos, Netflix movies, the next Chosen episode or Amazon Prime without squinting both eyes 👀 at a petite iphone screen? Or needing to wear reading glasses while online streaming?

I take my iPhone everywhere with all its apps loaded for route navigation, free parking spots, iTune songs playing on van speakers, phone calls, plus camera/video usage.

Accessing neurons that remain from years of programming, I used the left side of my brain & found a solution after 30 minutes of online research. I needed a Digital AV (audio visual) adapter for my cell phone.

If you have an Android phone like Samsung, you will need to research for yourself, a similar solution. I can’t help you because I don’t own Android devices and have no way to test them. For $42, I bought the official Apple lightning to digital AV adapter. Past experiences have shown that Apple certified products work better with no signal degradation compared to cheap knockoff lightning cables and adapters.

**Apple Lightning to Digital AV adapter**

Today, I drove to a construction area with no Internet, or WiFi connectivity. Only thing I had in the van was my Apple 8 iPhone (iOS version 14.6), HDMI cable, and my unlimited Spectrum cell phone coverage.

I used my iPad to make a short YouTube video inside my van. My iPhone 8 fell off its holder and I had to abruptly quit filming. I could not record the video again due to storage limitations on the older iPad device.

https://youtu.be/D0FEMUbnhOI – LG TV connected to my Apple iPhone video

After Thoughts…

I know $42 is a hefty price to pay for the certified Apple digital AV adapter, not to mention the HDMI cable you will need to stream audio and video from an Apple cell phone to a TV or computer monitor (if it has HDMI connections). There are more affordable, knock-off adapters for half the price.

**400 watt power station inside**
**Cascade camper van**

I’m not too happy that my 400 watt inverter fan was constantly running the entire time my LG television was turned on! The Cascade installed, inverter fan is noisy operating AC devices, making it difficult to hear the audio sound. This is the first time I have used an A/C outlet on the van’s power station after I blew a fuse plugging in a small, electric heater in November 2020. I had a senior moment and forgot that Cascade installers (Zach, Ilsa) warned me about power loss when the 400 watt inverter uses DC battery power to operate AC devices. You lose up to 30% capacity during the power conversion, even on a fully charged lithium battery! That’s why the fan on my space heater worked fine until I turned the setting to low heat on a 300 watt space heater. After a few seconds, it blew a fuse.

Quiet, portable battery power station for AC devices. The little Jackery’s are silent with no fan noise, at least my Jackery 240 has proven to be operating quietly.

On the Cascade Camper Van Owners forum, I remember reading about people using portable Jackery’s that are QUIET. This one costs approximately $199 & holds 240 watts of power on a full battery charge and weighs only 6 pounds! Jackery’s are lightweight lithium battery packs to power low wattage devices like cell phones, tablets, LED lamps and electric blankets. Using Jackery’s power consumption formula (Working time = 240Wh* 0.85 / operating wattage of your device), I should get 6.8 hours of TV (monitor) watching on my LG 22” TV that consumes 30 watts of power per hour. Jackery also has a disclaimer stating: “The duration of our equipment is based on laboratory data, and the duration of specific equipment usage may vary”.

I fully charge my 240 watt Jackery at home before hitting the road. And recharge the Jackery at a campsite using an extension cord if shore power exists or plug it into my 100 watt solar panel for recharging. Most campers use shore power for their TVs. You often see them sitting outside watching favorite movies. However, in remote areas, you will need a gas generator or rechargeable battery pack to power your electronic devices.

Rare black & red Cascade Camper Vans

One of the highlights of the first annual 2021 East Coast Cascade Camp Out was seeing black & red Promaster City camper vans for the first time in my life; up close & personal!

This is no ordinary sighting. I just moved from a rural property near Folsom California which I sold in October 2020. I made frequent trips on Interstate 80 & Highways 49 & 50. I had seen white, Cascade camper vans several times in NorCal. If it had not been for three, continuous years of forest fires, soot, ash & summer fear(s) of drought conditions, I would be still living in the “Golden State”.

Imagine my surprise when I pulled into the meadow and saw Larry A. with Ohio license plates and a beautiful, black Cascade camper van with a batwing awning & cargo carrier attached to the hitch. For a Cascade van owner, it was like seeing a rare, precious stone! The silver cascade logo stood out like a beacon of light; very unique & noticeable. ⬇️

Larry gave me permission to film the inside of his Cascade camper van that he has named “Asgard”, god of thunder, build #231 completed in May 2021.

Larry’s black Cascade Promaster City Camper Van tour: https://youtu.be/GQYtN54SRrg

Larry is using the black, CleverMade, 25 liter milk crates inside his cargo carrier.

The second, rare gem I saw was a ruby red Cascade van owned by Justin; which he rents in the District of Columbia, northern Virginia area. Justin named his red camper “Reddie Van Halen”.

https://youtube.com/shorts/WoDMm50ZQ7I?feature=share 2021 East Coast Cascade Camp Out

https://www.vanderoutdoors.com/vans Cascade camper & VW Eurovan rentals in the Washington DC metropolitan area.

My new friend John Poplett

I met Cascade Camper Van owner John Poplett at the 2021 East Coast Cascade Camp Out during Father’s Day weekend (June 18-20th) in Glenville, West Virginia.

**John P. and his bicycle in Glenville**, **WV.**

John Poplett is over six decades in age with unusual life experiences and wisdom to match. He shared a recent “hillbully” encounter over a night fire 🔥 at the camp out. John is quite the philosopher and has a writer’s heart and soul! https://johnpoplett.com/2021/06/22/ode-to-the-adventure-prone/

John Poplett and another Cascade owner Marshall K. live in their vans full-time. I asked John what kind of provisions does he carry inside his van? Immediately he replied can goods, rice, drinking water, and other foods that don’t require much refrigeration. John even had some delicious sauerkraut he shared after Larry A. grilled us some bratwursts over an open fire for Sunday morning breakfast, during the last day of the camp out.

I woke up early to make a quick video while everyone was asleep including John. He left his red, collapsible chair bags outside his van. The sound of wildlife and birds resembled a nature’s rehearsing orchestra! Even the crows were cawing before 6:00 a.m. I really enjoyed the solitude of knowing the wildlife, birds, and I were all awake to hear their pretty songs. I hope you watch the attached video and listen to nature’s morning, glorified sounds in a remote, Little Bull Run “Holler” (hay field meadow) of Glenville, West Virginia…almost heaven.

Sunday morning performance by the WV Wildlife Orchestra of birds 🦅 and critters.

How to protect yourself cooking and heating your van with propane & butane

For everything sacred & living, please use a carbon monoxide detector, fire alarm, & fire extinguisher inside your camper.

**Jiffy Pop incident in a Cascade camper van**

Highly recommend a combination fire detector, carbon monoxide detector, and temperature display for your home or camping vehicle. Many all-in-one devices (like First Alert) include a lithium battery inside, advertised to last ten years!

**Carbon Monoxide-Fire Alarm-Thermostat**

I bought one for my Cascade camper van in November 2020. I used velcro & magnetic hooks to secure it to my van’s interior, metal exposed side wall.

Here is a YouTube link showing my First Alert combination alarm at the 24 second mark in this video: https://youtu.be/a6MrmiOkvUA – inside “Myrtle the Sea Turtle”.

Anyone using a Mr. Heater Little Buddy…please be extra cautious! It uses an active flame 🔥 that stays on all the time, producing 3800 BTUs of heat! Little Buddy has a safety shut-off feature if tipped or knocked over. However, Little Buddy is a top heavy, portable heater that uses a one pound, propane canister that threads into it. There are no lower, safe areas inside Cascade camper vans…except on the floor behind the passenger seat…when the bed is made into a sofa! Some people have placed their heater’s on the sink counter or on-top the refrigerator’s plastic lid for short durations to warm up the van; keeping a watchful eye on rising temperatures. Anything that falls on top or in front of the Little Buddy heater will most likely catch on fire with its active flame that has carbon monoxide safety protection & tip over, shut-off features. Please remember… the Little Buddy heater has no side & front sensors for fire detection!

**Little Buddy heater with pilot light that stays on during use.**

**Happy Cascade owner cooking safely inside van**

Look closely at the two photos above. See how limited the counter space is in the Cascade camper van? There is very little room to safely place a Little Buddy heater inside this van!

Little Buddy heater melts plastic vent ring

In 2021, a couple rented a Cascade camper van from owner Justin – who operates a fantastic camper van rental business called https://www.vanderoutdoors.com/ in the Washington DC area. Unbeknownst to Justin, the couple brought along their Little Buddy heater and placed it on top of the Dometic, plastic refrigerator lid. They had no idea how incredibly hot Little Buddy heaters become with 3800 BTUs cranking out heat, with one setting only.

Little Buddy heater melted the plastic ring around a Cascade vent fan that had to be replaced by the owner. Even sitting on top of a sink counter, the Little Buddy points upward and can heat the paneling and dry out the clear, polyurethane coating on the ceiling panels.

**Melted vent ring caused by a Little** **Buddy heater left on too long.**

Side Table provides safer eating, cooking & work areas

The Cascade camper conversion is built inside a small cargo van. Therefore, people are limited to where they can place the single burner stove, heater & other items. At the 2021 East Coast Camp Out, an add-on table solution was discussed. Cascade builder & co-owner Zach Yeager was there to have fun & respond to customer feedback. I was surprised to hear that his initial, interior design included a side table!

As shown in the photo above, the side table provides another flat surface to hold a plate of food, cup of coffee, laptop, etc. Seeing the side table next to a folded down sofa is important to observe how close it is to blankets & bedding. I would not recommend placing a Little Buddy heater on the side table unless fully awake! When the bed is folded back into a sofa, the side table can be used as a desk or work space.

**Side table in use while sitting on sofa**

Kudos to Zach Yeager who designed the little table. It can easily fold against the side of the camper’s main cabinet, hence its name. Side Table has two hinges that allow it to be folded open or closed. Cascade does not offer the side table as a standard option. Zach said the side table could rattle inside the van while driving. This caused him not to include it as part of the camper’s conversion package.

Like other Cascade Camper owners, I am willing to tolerate a possible rattling noise for a much needed table. I emailed Cascade and ordered the side table which cost $200 in 2021. The price could increase in future months due to inflation. It’s more convenient to have the Cascade builders drill the holes and attach the side table during the one day installation of your van’s interior package. But you must order the table option ahead of time, as it takes several hours to manufacture in Nevada City, CA.

There is hope if you already own a Cascade camper and want to add it. The side table (9.5” wide by 14” long) is small enough to fit inside checked luggage. Perhaps Cascade can send it to you at an additional cost to cover the shipping. Either way, having a side table will give you an extra area inside your Cascade Camper van to eat, work, relax, and keep hot items within safe reach!

If you finished reading this post and/or learned something useful, please leave a like below. I don’t get paid writing this blog. Likes & comments help motivate me to continue blogging here & ensure the hyperlinks are working.

Top 5 Reasons to buy a professionally built camper conversion

1. Insurance Replacement – I found two professional, camper van installers who post and update the cost of their micro camper builds on their websites, along with the floor plans, and itemized list of materials, and contents. These two micro van installers are Wilderness Vans in Alberta Canada and Cascade Camper Vans in Nevada City, California.

Wilderness Vans

Wilderness is currently booked through the Summer of 2023. Another big consideration is wait time. Many installers are so busy building camper vans, they don’t respond to email inquiries, especially for micro van conversions when they can make $100K dollars or higher on their mid size and Sprinter van models.

If your conversion van is stolen or damaged, you can provide your insurance company with a link or print-out of the builder’s website with cost information and package contents. Be sure to save this vital information immediately after your build!

Cascade Campers

Cascade Camper Van website is located at cascadecampers.com

Easy access to replacement costs for insurance claims!

Building your own camper van conversion or buying a used one will be difficult getting an insurance company to value it more than the replacement cost of the vehicle! Many Do-It-Yourself (DIY) builders watch YouTube videos to acquire craftsmanship level knowledge about plumbing, DC electrical wiring, carpentry, etc. It can take several years for apprentices in the professional trades to become fully certified.

DIYers spend thousands of dollars impossible to fully recoup when they sell or trade-in their camper vans. At least we know EXACTLY what we spent having Cascade build our micro campers with add-on options like van windows, side table, extra set of curtains, etc.

2. One Designs create a following of like-minded owners. Many of us joined a private Facebook forum for Cascade Camper Van owners. As of 6/26/21 we have 228 members and growing!

**Side table option. Owner installed**
**monitor & paper towel holder inside Cascade**

**Gray vinyl cushions replaced Hunter Green in 2021.**

3. Owner Meet-ups, Sponsored Events. During Father’s Day weekend 2021, a Facebook Cascade Campers member hosted the First Annual East Coast Camp Out on his parents rural property in Glenville, West Virginia. It was a free event with free overnight parking the entire weekend! Justin even gave us free, green camp out shirts, free food and beer, plus a guided tour in Glenville. Ten of us Cascade owners participated in the West Virginia State Folk Festival parade!

4. Sharing of problems, solutions and creative ideas because we have the same floor plan!

**Moon roof awning added to Promaster City van without the need for a rack & crossbars**.

**Terry’s rear table he made from birch wood**

5. Resale & Trade-in Value. It takes time and money to schedule a professional build. All of us Cascade Camper van owners put down $500 deposits, locked in a build date, and drove our naked, Promaster City cargo vans to Grass Valley (former location) and Nevada City, California to transform our empty vans into micro homes.

**Annie sitting inside her empty Promaster City cargo van.**

Some have later changed their minds about micro camper van ownership and have sold their Cascade Campers for nearly the price they paid for the van plus the conversion if < 3 years old. Posting a used Cascade Camper on the Facebook owners forum or marketplace is the fastest way to sell these vans because of brand name & quality recognition. We also have owners who rent out their Cascade camper vans. Justin operates a leasing company for his camper vans in the DC (Virginia) metro area. (https://www.vanderoutdoors.com/)

Cascade owners also have friends & relatives who don’t want to wait for a new build or choose to purchase a less costly, used one from a reputable source. Plus we (new owners) get to choose our Cascade Camper’s name.

**My Cascade Camper build #167 on 11/10/20.**

Useful App for free overnight parking

One of the benefits of watching YouTube videos & reading travel blogs is learning about helpful apps for camper vans. “RV Parky” is a good one to find free, overnight parking locations. However, some people have abused this free privilege by leaving trash in the parking lots & staying longer than one night! Out of financial necessity, a few nomads living in their vehicles fall into this category, especially in high cost areas. They find a free location and stay for days, until involuntarily forced to vacate the premises.

It’s to the point in 2021, that local Walmart’s are no longer allowing overnight parking for any vehicle. It only takes a few, inconsiderate people to ruin it for everyone!

For example, I searched for free overnight parking in Columbus Ohio. Almost all of the Walmart’s located in this metropolitan city do not allow overnight parking!

Fortunately, a Columbus Cracker Barrel restaurant does permit overnight, free parking for vehicles. Highly suggest you patronize restaurants, service stations, and stores who allow it. Buy a cup of coffee, breakfast meal, gasoline, or a pack of gum and thank a store manager for offering such a great service, free-of-charge. And by all means, don’t litter, remain stealth with no chairs or accessories placed outside your camper or vehicle. For many overnighters, this is common sense advice that may seem downright condescending to responsible adults. However, it’s heart-breaking to see Walmart & other locations quit offering free, overnight parking with cameras now in use because some people did not practice RV etiquette and/or good manners! Parking lots are not camp sites with hookups and drainage areas. I hope RV Parky remains a free app beneficial in finding free, overnight parking!

Just in case you think I’m joking about Walmart cameras in use, seeing is believing at a Walmart Super Center on Carolina Beach Road in Wilmington, NC.

Cameras in use, no overnight parking signs at North Carolina Walmart video

Home Sweet Mobile Home

**2020 Ram Promaster City Cascade Camper Van**

Meet my 2020 Ram Promaster City camper van converted by Cascade builders in Nevada City, California. After I sold my rural home last year, I could afford to get a loan on a new Ram Promaster cargo van. I paid $10,000 USD cash for the van conversion with 4 installed, aftermarket windows & extra exhaust fan (including California sales tax).

Almost 7K miles later, I also attended the first annual East Coast Cascade Camp Out sponsored by Vander who rents three of these vans in the District of Columbia (DC) metropolitan area. https://www.vanderoutdoors.com/

The sofa makes into a 42” wide by six feet long bed. Highly suggest you get XL twin sheets with deep pockets for both the 6” thick, Cascade vinyl cushions. I have thin polyester gray ones for warm temperatures and velour fluffy ones for winter season.

**42” wide x 6’ 4” long sofa bed inside van**

**4 piece deep pocket, twin XL bed sheet set**

My Two Cents

After purchasing my 2020 Ram Promaster City cargo van in November 2020, I had Cascade professionally convert it to a 2-person camper van. Five months later, I saw this article posted on a Facebook (Cascade Campers Customer Forum) page. It made me chuckle, plus reinforced my personal reasons for choosing a Cascade conversion over the more costly, Recon pop-top van:

https://www.marketplace.org/2021/04/26/why-older-single-women-are-buying-camper-vans/amp

For two years, I had searched for reliable, micro vans at affordable prices. I fell in love with the Recon Envy pop-up camper on a Nissan NV200 cargo van platform. But their $60K total price including the cost of a new cargo van, sales tax, registration and shipping fees broke the bank for me. That hefty amount would make a good down payment on a condo or single family home! Another huge factor is that Nissan had announced its future discontinuation of NV200 cargo vans. Wonder if the Recon builder in Southern California and their new facility manager in Michigan got the memo or read the news release last year (2020)?

Source: https://carbuzz.com/news/nissan-will-discontinue-three-models-next-summer

**Recon Envy on a Nissan NV200 cargo van chassis**

**Inside the** **Recon Envy (Nissan NV200 van)**

I also researched why pop-tops are so expensive to install on vans. They require most of a metal roof to be removed with an electric saw. This adds a minimum of $10K to the price tag. Like many other pop-tops, the Recon Envy latches from the outside. This eliminates stealth features for urban parking. Imagine trying to stay secretive in a Walmart parking lot with a pop-top in the “up” position! You might as well unroll the awning or put a camp chair & fire pit outside the van.

During the Pandemic of 2020, camper van builders increased their costs at dramatic rates. Only Cascade Camper Vans in Nevada City, California remained reasonably priced at $8K for their basic camper van conversion package. Windows are extra at @ $400 each, installed by a local Grass Valley window company. Two exhaust fans now come standard. Note: California sales tax is not included in the Cascade (build) price. It’s an extra add-on.

As a recent owner of a 2020 Cascade Camper van and someone almost six decades in age, I want to give my two cents why older women are buying micro vans today. #1 reason is affordability over pop-top & Sprinter vans. #2 reason is maneuverability and great gas mileage. Micro camper vans can go anywhere there’s a paved or gravel road. Air down the tires and go on dirt paths, overland style, if the hills are not too steep for vehicles like the Ram Promaster City van, Nissan NV200, Mercedes Metris or Ford Transit Connect.

My conversion cost me $10K because I had 4 extra windows installed, plus I ordered a second set of curtains & a second, electric vent fan not included last year. Cascade builds on the Ram Promaster City Tradesman cargo van platform only! No passenger vans with rear seatbelts or rear airbags allowed. Their sofa bed is sideways instead of forward facing to make more room for sleeping. It’s very difficult for any camper van builder to get DOT approval for seatbelts without strenuous and lengthy safety inspections. Cascade’s comfortable couch converts into a 42-inch-wide, 6 foot 4 inch long, two-person bed. It now comes in two vinyl colors: desert tan and slate grey. Forest green was discontinued in Spring 2021.

**Cascade Comfy bed with tan** **vinyl covering**

Cascade Campers will convert a Ram Promaster City cargo van up to five years old. This gives a van owner greater affordability unlike other builders who only convert brand new vans! Therefore, I came to a financial conclusion that a new Ram Promaster City Tradesman cargo van with a two year extended warranty (cost $25K including sales tax and Ohio registration) plus the $10K Cascade van conversion is a much better investment than a $60K micro popup camper van! I can park my Cascade inside a standard condo garage protecting my asset as a daily driver, weekend camper van and “bug out” vehicle!

https://www.cascadecampers.com/