About Lisa Schirch

Our family has camped all over North America. We work at the University of Notre Dame and we have two kids. We love camping in Michigan at the many state parks throughout the state. We've taken our kids on big camping trips to national parks and these have been the highlights of our family life... nothing compares to the sheer awe of climbing a mountain, kayaking in a pristine lake, or sitting on a lakeshore and reading with a glass of wine. For many years we camped with a car and tent. Now we really love the convenience and comfort of our camping van. We built our own Sprinter camping van because we couldn't find anything out on the market that had the solar power and design that we wanted. Our design principles for Casper the van and our company Via Verde Vans are these simple principles: Functional: The van should be easy to use. The floorpan should allow people to sleep and lounge at the same time (so the dining area is separate from the sleeping area). Eco-minded: We care about the environment. We built the camping van on a Mercedes Sprinter base because it gets the best fuel economy of its kind and the engines tend to last to half a million miles. The Sprinter van has far fewer breakdowns than RAM and other van models. We added solar panels on the roof and a big battery bank so that we wouldn't need generators or propane tanks. We have interior lights, an induction stove, and refrigerator that require very little power. Camp-Style: We chose fabrics and flooring that hide the dirt and are meant for rugged use. We were thinking about families who like to be active and have gear that needs to be stored.