SEATTLE — Peace Vans is a Seattle company that rents out vintage Volkswagen camper vans for road trips.
Owner Harley Sitner gets photos all the time from customers: A happy family posed in front of a Volkswagen bus on a sunny day circa 1970-something.
"She starts telling me about how she's recreating a family road trip from the '70s, and she's going in one van and her parents are going in another, and she sends me this photo and this is her!" Sitner exclaimed, pointing to the towheaded child in the mother’s arms, "And I'm like, almost tearing up at this!"
That's because this is no mere rental. A trip in a Peace Van is a flashback for folks who want to pull into the slow lane. And make new memories.
"We like to think we’re in the business of making people happy by getting them outdoors,” said Sitner.
Business is booming since they started renting vans in 2016 - and the most popular getaway destination?
"By far the Olympic Peninsula. Just under half of our renters head out to the Olympic Peninsula I don't blame them it's an amazing trip.” Sitner also says it helps that the Seattle to Bainbridge ferry, the gateway to the Peninsula, is just a couple of miles from Peace Van’s shop.
This year they've added a fleet of new Mercedes Metris rigs for people who want the camper van experience without the vintage VW quirks. The new vans are outfitted the same, with little refrigerators, stovetops, and sinks, as well as seats that fold into beds. And yes, the new vans have the all-important pop-top.
Also, new this year, you can rent camping equipment. Without the van.
"People see the amazing stuff we put in the van rentals, these curated kits of everything you need to go camping and then say ‘Oh my god can I rent that and put it in my Prius?’,” Sitner laughed.
Camping equipment rental starts at $250 for three nights and goes up depending on how many campers and how many nights. It’s been popular with folks traveling to the Gorge for concerts and with people flying into the PNW to camp who don’t want to schlep their gear on a plane. There are backpacking and car camping options, and they may include tent, sleeping bag, cooler, chairs, camp stove, utensils, even a pantry in a box with spices:
“Garlic powder, basil, red pepper flakes, and the number one most requested spice that we added because we didn't have it last year – cinnamon! New from Peace Vans in 2019!” Sitner explained as he dug through a box showing off condiment packets and spice jars. Cinnamon was added to the kits by popular demand, an example of how responsive this small business is to customer requests.
Wild We Roam, a couple of YouTubers who chronicled their camper van adventure recently, proved Sitner right, documenting every detail of their road trip in a Peace Van, right down to, yes, cinnamon going into the morning oatmeal.
Some happy campers bring back tokens from where their vans took them, Harley gets everything from fern fronds to walking sticks.
Some end up buying a van for themselves.
For the owner of Peace Vans, the best gift a customer can come back with is a good story.
"Every van goes out with a cute little sketch pad guestbook and the comments that come back are so amazing,” said Sitner. "They're amazing stories about transformative experiences customers have had in these van rentals."
Peace Van - 2443 6th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98134 (206) 467-8267
KING 5's Evening celebrates the Northwest. Contact us: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Email.