Meet Matt Felser | Co-Founder / Co-Owner at DM Vans

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

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I grew up in Buffalo, New York, where I first learned to ski at age two and developed a deep passion for the outdoors. I went on to attend Williams College, where I volunteered on the local ski patrol and played on the NCAA golf team. When the ’08 stock market crash occurred, I saw it as his perfect opportunity to “avoid real life,” and achieve my lifetime goal of becoming a self-proclaimed “ski bum.” When I graduated in 2009, I immediately packed up my Honda Civic and drove west to dive head first into the powder, and my longtime dream of ‘mountain living.’ I spent the next two years in Tahoe City, California, before taking a job in Vail, teaching middle school Spanish. In order to take full advantage of my summers off, I bought a used RAM ProMaster cargo van and set out to build it out into a ‘no-frills’ campervan, with the help of many friends and countless hours on YouTube. I promptly put 13,000 miles on the van, traveling coast-to-coast with my mountain bike, golf clubs, and few plans in between, maximizing his time outdoors and pursuing the activities that made me happiest – all while living and working on a teacher’s budget.

It was during this time that I had my true “aha!” lightbulb moment, and realized that by ‘downsizing’ my life, I’d actually discovered the key to living more fully than ever, in a way that felt most authentic to how I’d always envisioned life in the mountains – and also helped me feel most integrated and connected with the people and community that meant the most to me. I realized that I’d never felt more grounded, or felt a stronger sense of community, than when I took to life on two wheels! And while the dream of mountain living seems to so often become skewed these days by aspirations of owning a giant house and tons of gear, my experience with Van Life completely reshaped my perspective on that.

Today, I live full-time in Eagle, CO – thanks in part to the savings I was able to garner while living from my van – and I still use the van to open up all sorts of adventures that help me take full advantage of all that the mountains have to offer. My passion for Van Life and the benefits it can provide to others led me to co-found an RV manufacturing company based in Colorado: DM Vans. The company manufacturers some of the most reliable, efficient and accessible campervans on the market, featuring ‘everything you need and nothing you don’t, with a mission to make Van Life accessible for everyone. In working on this business and towards that goal, we have been able to put over 550 other ‘van lifers’ out on the road.

Social Media:

Personal:
@matt.felser on Instagram.

Business:
@dm.vans on all social media platforms.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’ve chosen to call Colorado home for both myself personally and our business, DM Vans, for all of the obvious reasons: amazing access to the outdoors; a healthy, fulfilling lifestyle; and the amazingly supportive mountain communities. I could go on forever about the great things to see and do throughout the state, but I’m going to focus in on a van life adventure in my backyard, Eagle, and our business in Rifle.

My favorite place to camp in Eagle is up Bellyache road at the top of the Boneyard trail system. This is easily accessed by van, or other dirt road capable vehicle, just 15 minutes from the center of town. You have tremendous views of the surrounding areas from the vantage point of these campsites, including Red Canyon and New York mountain, and can hop on your mountain bike right from camp to ride some of my favorite eagle trails: Boneyard, Red Neck Ridge, Will’s Thrills and Pool & Ice.

With easy access to town, you can pop down for incredible sandwiches at Red Canyon Cafe or Pickled; authentic Mexican cuisine at Case Mexico or Garduños; or a nice dinner at Social Oak or Wild Sage.

For those into water sports, the Eagle River Park is an amazing place to hop on the natural waves with a SUP, River Surf Board, or Kayak. We also have incredible access to the Colorado and Eagle Rivers for world class fly fishing and white water rafting.

In the winter, you can access Vail and Beaver Creek in under 30 minutes from Eagle with access to some of my favorite backcountry skiing just north of Eagle near Sylvan Lake.

Heading west from Eagle towards Rifle, you pass through the incredible Glenwood Canyon with amazing hiking opportunities at Hanging Lake or a day of relaxation at the Glenwood Hot Springs.

In Rifle, the amazing new Hogback mountain bike trail system is a must do. The local mountain bike organization has been adding new trails to the system yearly and it’s an amazing circuit of well graded ups and fun, flowy downs. While in Rifle, don’t forget to stop at the Rifle Gap for a hike or a fun day on the water.

My last recommendation, another 30 minutes past Rifle in Debeque, is one of my favorite restaurants in all of Colorado: The Reckless Roadhouse. This one-of-a-kind experience includes tremendous, creative BBQ dishes; fantastic drinks behind the bar including their homemade snakebite shots; and live music on many nights of the week. If you ask nicely, they may even let you stay in your van overnight in the parking lot (after one too many snakebite shots of course).

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?
I’d like to shoutout the mountain community, and specifically the van life community, for supporting DM Vans from the start. It truly takes a village to build a van; and Dave and I feel extremely grateful to have had that village supporting our mission of ‘making van life accessible to everyone.’

Website: www.dmvans.com

Instagram: @matt.felser / @dm.vans

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-felser

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dmvans

Youtube: @daveandmattvans

Image Credits
Scott Bellow Rachael Galipo