We had a really nice experience working with Tim and would absolutely rent from him again. The van worked fine and, with some instruction from Tim at the front end, we were able to operate the systems quite easily. When we did have questions, Tim was responsive and helpful.The van itself. It’s new, well-appointed, and drives surprisingly easily. This model has a popup roof that opens to find a second queen-ish size bed accessible by a folding ladder. We slept on the bed in the main cabin and used the upstairs area for storage at night. Because it has a poptop, there is no awning; so if you want to set up a living room or kitchen under an awning bring your own. There are four folding butterfly chairs stashed in the back. The cockpit/driving end is comfortable and features plenty of storage for water bottles, Maine Gazetteers (maps), guidebooks. The two-section side view mirrors do a good job of keeping you aware of where you are and where other vehicles and objects are. The rear-view mirror has a camera feature that can be left running so you always have a full, wide view of what’s behind you without distractions.Kitchen. There is a surprisingly large fridge, a two-burner propane stove, a sink, and a pull-out cutting board/prep space. This all worked well although the stove’s knobs didn’t have push-to-turn safety features and should have. (The display on the stove itself instructs users to push to turn, but the push feature doesn’t exist.) There are plenty of utensils and other kitchen basics like towels, dish soap, cups, plates, and flatware. The pot/pans were limiting. We had to borrow a pot to cook pasta in. If you have a nesting camp pots/pans set you might want to bring that.Bed & bedding. The bed in the main cabin is a two-part fold-down murphy-style unit. Because it’s in two parts, if you want to fold it up during the day, you can’t leave it made. That’s a minor issue because it’s easy to make. There were four pillows and good linens/blankets/duvet. The mattress was fine, but we had a bit of a Goldilocks moment: It was too hard for one of us and OK for the other.Water & toilet systems. All the water systems worked well. The cartridge toilet is simple to use. The freshwater tank display took us a minute to really see clearly, but once we had it, it was fine. You can also use it as a night light or low-level lighting. The water gets hot quickly. The shower set up is tight, but fine. You’ll want to use a bathmat outside the enclosure: Some water will escape from the enclosure onto the main cabin floor.About Outdoorsy. We purchased emergency insurance for the trip. We were told this included 100% coverage for emergency towing, repairs, etc. They lied. We were boondocking at a Hipcamp site, not a fully prepared campground site with a concrete pad, water, and electricity. We took the van down a small road and got stuck in a muddy patch. We called Outdoorsy’s insurance broker to arrange a tow. We learned that 100% emergency coverage doesn’t mean 100% emergency coverage. So, caveat emptor on the Outdoorsy insurance. Our personal AAA account didn’t include RVs (we don’t own one, so….), either. Our campsite host offered to call a couple of her neighbors with farm trucks and tractors to come and try to pull us out, but in the end, we called a local towing service and paid out of pocket for the pull-out. An expensive learning experience.
4 Photos submitted by Carole F.
