Meet Blake Prince | Van Builder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Blake Prince and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Blake, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
After spending 20+ years building and remodeling homes, we decided to turn our love for building and our love for adventuring into a business – Adventure Life Vans. We love camping and getting outdoors, and a camper van in the perfect platform for outdoor adventures. Our semi-custom vans enable our clients to get outdoors and explore, while still enjoying all the comforts of home. A comfy bed, hot shower, fully equipped kitchen and loads of storage for all of your adventure gear. We build our vans with the same durable, trusted products we use in our own adventures, knowing that when you are on the road, the last thing you want to worry about is your transportation and lodging. We love being able to get up and go at the drop of a hat for whatever adventure is calling.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We create one of a kind, handcrafted camper vans for the adventurous spirit who also loves a touch of comfort in their outdoor adventures. We created our business based upon the idea that we love getting out but wanted a vehicle that could go offroad, off grid and still deliver on comfort at the end of a long day on the trail. So, our vans come equipped with heaters, hot showers, comfy beds, solar, and even Wi-Fi if you want that.

We started building in 2021 after years of traveling in large RVs that never really fit our adventure style. After decades of building homes, we wanted a product that reflected our attention to detail and craftsmanship, but also something that would be easy to drive in the city and on freeways. As Erica says, our vans are your Airbnb cabin on wheels! We wanted comfort mixed with adventure – plenty of room to store those mountain bikes and whatever else you might want to bring along.

We always talk about the camping adventures we both had as kids, and we’ve spent almost two decades camping with our own kids. These are lifetime memories. Sitting around the campfire, eating s’mores, riding bikes, frying up a fish you just caught in a mountain lake… whenever we’ve faced challenges in our business, we go back to remembering why we started it. To create durable yet luxurious camper vans for the adventurers who are ready to make those lasting memories. We love getting photos of our van customers out exploring. Hiking in national parks, mountain biking in Moab, hot springs hopping in Idaho, fly fishing in Central Oregon. There is no limit to the adventures we can create!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Our favorite place to explore just a few hours from Boise is in the Sawtooth mountains. We love hot springs hopping on the way to Stanley, Idaho (at least half a dozen hot springs you can visit on the way there!), eating a delicious meal at the Stanley Supper Club or the Mountain Village Restaurant, then hitting up a few more hot springs just outside of town. The next day, take the mountain bikes and SUPs to Stanley Lake to ride the Elk Meadows loop then paddle board afterwards in the lake. Plenty of camping spots in this area to dry camp or rent an Airbnb if camping isn’t your thing. From there, head on over to Redfish Lodge. Take the lodge boat shuttle up the lake for additional hiking adventures or spend the day paddle boarding on Redfish Lake then dinner at the lodge.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
We definitely need to give a big shoutout to Erica’s dad, Eric Davis, owner of Eric’s RV in Sequim, Washington. Eric has spent the past several decades in the auto repair and RV performance industry. His industry knowledge has helped guide us in many of our original design and product decisions as we grew the business. And, growing up, Erica’s love for the outdoors was fueled by her dad getting her out on adventures, whether it was sailing, fishing, hiking, camping… these adventures are really the driving vision behind our business today! We want to help other families create the same adventures we are creating with our family, and that we grew up experiencing as kids.

Website: https://adventurelifevans.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adventurelifevans/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@adventurelifevans

Image Credits
Creative Co Studios, Abie Young