The Final Journey Car – Bearfoot Principle

If you happen to’re an out of doors fanatic who desires to get exterior extra and hit the open highway, the Storyteller Overland MODE van may simply be the right ready-to-go journey automobile for you. This versatile, succesful van is designed to get you off the crushed path and will let you expertise the outside in an entire new manner. On this full Storyteller Overland MODE van evaluation, I share precisely why.

I took a 2023 Storyteller Overland Basic MODE AWD Van for a spin round Southern Utah, exploring dust roads and secluded campsites, and I used to be blown away by how adventure-ready it’s. It’s simple to see that Storyteller Overland has completely perfected their design over time – each little element is impressively thought out. It comes geared up with all the things you want so you’ll be able to hit the highway straight away.

To offer you just a little background, I’ve toured many alternative camper vans, truck campers, and different journey automobiles over time. My husband and I’ve highway tripped and camped in our Volkswagen Vanagon throughout the Western U.S., pushed the Baja California peninsula many occasions, and even lived out of it for greater than a 12 months after we drove from San Diego to Patagonia. From assembly different vacationers on the highway to trying out journey rigs at occasions, we’ve seen automobiles which have spanned the gamut from funds DIY to luxurious RVs to insanely succesful Earth Cruisers.

I first noticed Storyteller Overland’s MODE vans in particular person at Open Roads Fest, Bearfoot Principle’s van life occasion, and was impressed by their well-thought-out versatile format, rugged design, and the best way they maximized the usage of house. Nevertheless, attending to expertise a MODE van on the highway was subsequent stage and gave me an amazing appreciation for a way superb these vans actually are.

After 10 days and almost 1,500 miles exploring the backroads of Southern Utah in a Storyteller Overland MODE Van, right here is my full evaluation and why I believe this is likely to be the final word journey automobile for outside fanatics who need a van that’s able to hit the highway.

The Van: 2023 AWD Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

We have been fortunate sufficient to take out a model new 2023 Storyteller Overland Basic MODE AWD van constructed on a 2023 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter. As with all Storyteller Sprinter vans, it’s a 144” wheelbase, high-roof Sprinter.

The very first thing we observed was how simple it was to drive in comparison with different camper vans and huge automobiles we’ve pushed. It dealt with extra like an SUV than a 9,000 lb camper van, zipping by means of cities and sliding into regular parking spots.

360-degree cameras make each side of driving a breeze whether or not you’re turning a good nook, parallel parking, or backing up. The entrance dashboard has a giant contact display that shows the digicam view when wanted and makes it simple to manage lane help and different automated driving options.

The van comes with all the opposite fashionable facilities you’d anticipate in a brand-new Sprinter van together with LED high-performance headlamps, heated swiveling driver and passenger seats, satellite tv for pc radio, a navigation system, driving help, Bluetooth, and extra. You may view the complete specs of the Storyteller Overland Basic 2023 MODE AWD Sprinter right here.

Storyteller Overland Basic MODE Van Inside

Step contained in the Storyteller Overland MODE van and also you’ll be greeted by a comfortable, practical dwelling house that’s designed so as to add consolation and comfort to your adventures. The inside format is well-thought-out, with quite a lot of cleverly designed options that maximize house and performance.

Seating

One of many issues we cherished most concerning the Storyteller Overland MODE van was the seating and sleeping setup. The van comfortably seats and sleeps as much as 4 folks, that’s why the STO makes our listing of the finest campervans for households.

There’s seating with seatbelts for 2 behind the motive force’s seat. Even higher, this seat – also referred to as Storyteller Overland’s patented GrooveLounge™ – folds down right into a mattress.

We traveled with our one-year-old so this setup was excellent for us. In seat mode, we have been capable of safely safe her automotive seat for the lengthy drives. The seat subsequent to her got here in useful so considered one of us may sit together with her when she obtained stressed and wanted leisure and snacks.

The seating space additionally features a desk that may transfer, swivel, and be eliminated and stowed if not wanted. It’s excellent as a piece station by day and eating desk at night time. We stowed it throughout our journey since we used the GrooveLounge as a sleeping space and in addition wanted house for our toddler to roam round, however it’s good to have the choice.

Lastly, the entrance seats have been luxurious and cozy and each the motive force and entrance passenger seats swivel round for additional hangout seating and house when camped.

Sleeping

As talked about above, considered one of our favourite options of the Storyteller van is the GrooveLounge – the rear seats that flip into an extra mattress. It takes lower than a minute to fold down and it’s large sufficient to comfortably sleep one grownup or two babies.

When camped, we’d fold the GrooveLounge down and put our toddler’s Pack’n’Play proper on prime (it felt sturdy as is however we secured it with paracord so there was no probability of her knocking it over). Even with the Pack’n’Play setup, we have been capable of transfer across the van like regular and entry the kitchen space, the mattress, and the storage. There was even sufficient house contained in the van for us to suit our toddler’s excessive chair inside for dinner on chilly evenings.

The most important mattress behind the van is snug and spacious sufficient for 2 adults. The flares present that little bit of additional house wanted to have the ability to sleep sideways and maximize the house within the van. My husband is 6’ and was capable of match comfortably on the mattress from head to foot. If you happen to’re bigger than 6’ tall you would wish to make use of just a little diagonal house (which there’s room for) in case you needed to stretch out and sleep along with your legs straight.

The mattress is one other considered one of Storyteller’s distinctive patented options (often called the Dreamweaver™ Mattress/Convertible Work Floor) and is made up of two components which makes the again space of the van very versatile. You may fold up one facet of the mattress to make extra standing room and use the opposite facet as a platform for cooking or working. Otherwise you can fold each side of the mattress up to offer your self much more standing room within the again.

We traveled with the principle mattress in place the entire time since there was sufficient house within the cabin for us that we didn’t have to entry the again a lot. We cherished that there was no want to maneuver issues round or make up the mattress at night time, it was able to go. We discovered the mattress to be snug as is (no additional padding wanted) and slept rather well. We used a snug double REI sleeping bag and pillows from house as our bedding and it labored out nice.

Kitchen/Galley

The kitchen within the Storyteller van, like all the things else, is completely thought out (the truth is, it makes our listing of finest camper van kitchens). It makes use of the slider door house for optimum effectivity and appears out so you’ll be able to benefit from the views whereas cooking and cleansing. We discovered the counter house to be lots, and when the chrome steel sink shouldn’t be in use, the tap folds down and the sink lid sits flush on the counter creating further counter house as nicely.

The fridge/freezer was spacious and held sufficient meals for the three of us for our complete 10-day journey. The van even comes with a chrome steel microwave oven which got here in useful for reheating leftovers and shortly heating up dinner for our toddler.

The highest drawer of the galley holds the single burner transportable induction cooktop that comes with the van. This range was simple to cook dinner on and actually got here in useful. We introduced our double burner camp range pondering we’d wish to use it to cook dinner extra elaborate meals however didn’t use it as soon as – we discovered the only burner induction range to be all we would have liked.

The three drawers under supplied an excellent quantity of cupboard space for pans, dishes, cookware, utensils, Tupperware, and so forth, and made it handy to cook dinner and straightforward to scrub up afterward.

The galley additionally comes with a useful exterior fold-down desk on the surface that you need to use with the slider door open. There’s even an outlet proper above the desk (I’m telling you – they’ve considered all the things) so you’ll be able to plug within the induction range and cook dinner exterior. That desk was actually all we would have liked for outside cooking and eating and it was good to not should depend on an extra camp desk to arrange and pack away.

Bathe/Bathtub

There are two showers on board the Storyteller van – each an indoor and an out of doors bathe. The indoor bathe is exclusive to Storyteller in that it stows away when not in use. Just like the Groove Lounge, that is one other considered one of their ingenious patented designs. You may see a video of it in motion in our roundup of the finest camper van bogs.

Whereas an indoor bathe is normally stationary and takes up beneficial actual property contained in the van, Storyteller’s Halo Inside Bathe™ System is constructed into one of many overhead cupboards. Merely open the cupboard, pull out the bathe curtain, and open the FlexSpace™ Hid Bathe Pan constructed into the ground (which serves as a step as much as the mattress and cupboard space when not in use) and also you’re prepared to scrub up after a protracted day of journey.

The bathe head has a useful on/off button so you’ll be able to simply cease the water movement when you cleaning soap up, then flip the movement again on whenever you’re able to rinse – a useful solution to save water so you can also make your water provide final so long as doable.

The outside bathe is positioned within the storage on the water management panel. It’s excellent for shortly hosing off your self, your gear, and your pets whenever you don’t have to take a full indoor bathe.

In fact, in case you’re going to bathe you’re going to need sizzling water, and Storyteller Overland’s vans include a diesel-fired water heating system. You may have heat water when doing the dishes (the very best when tenting in chilly temps) and for a sizzling bathe anytime. The water heater works seemingly instantaneously when you have already got the cabin heater working, and in case you don’t have already got the heater working it takes just some minutes.

The Storyteller Overland van additionally comes with a transportable rest room that matches neatly contained in the bathe pan. For apparent causes, this was not included within the demo van so we don’t have any private enter on this, however having a conveyable rest room or different system for going to the toilet onboard is crucial when touring away from lavatory amenities.

Water Storage

The Storyteller van has an in-cabin 21-gallon freshwater tank and a 24-gallon gray water tank – loads of water cupboard space for every week of journey with out having to fret about refilling. With all of the onboard conveniences, we have been fairly liberal with our water use at first and went by means of most of our water provide through the first 3 days of our journey (faster than we usually would). After realizing that, we began utilizing water extra conservatively and have been capable of make it last more. You possibly can simply make 21 gallons of water final for every week in case you’re being conservative and never showering within the van.

The freshwater tank can simply be stuffed by attaching the included hose to a spigot. It will also be stuffed by way of siphon which is a very cool characteristic. The Storyteller can siphon water when a spigot can’t be discovered or in case you merely want to fill from a bucket or a 5-gallon jug.

For instance, in Sedona, quite than looking for a potable water spigot to refill the van’s water tanks, we discovered it simpler to fill a 5-gallon jug with water at a refill exterior of a grocery retailer and siphon it into the van. It took 4 rounds to fill the contemporary water tank however it was fast and straightforward and is a superb choice to have available for when you’ll be able to’t discover an accessible water spigot (which will be tougher within the winter months).

Local weather Management

The van comes with a particular Storyteller touchscreen management panel that permits you to monitor and management varied methods, such because the lighting, heating, and water, from one centralized location. You may open the vent and switch the fan on, management the heating and air con, test your freshwater and greywater ranges, and extra. We discovered this technique to be extraordinarily simple to make use of and it was so good to have the ability to activate the heater with a faucet after getting back from a chilly snowy hike.

To begin, the Storyteller van is insulated with all-natural sheep’s wool which offers a extra snug inside temperature proper off the bat. For instance, we stopped at an REI in Phoenix on a sizzling 80-degree day and determined to make lunch within the car parking zone earlier than hitting the highway once more. We comfortably frolicked within the van in peak afternoon warmth in full solar in a car parking zone with simply the vent open and the slider door ajar – that was fairly spectacular.

As well as, the window on the slider door and the window reverse (behind the motive force seat) each open to vent, and the window behind the van by the mattress slides open as nicely creating a number of air flow choices mixed with the roof vent and fan.

The high-powered ceiling consumption/exhaust fan was useful for venting the van after we have been cooking and for creating just a little airflow through the day when our one-year-old was inside napping. The vent has a rain sensor and can routinely shut if it begins to rain – very useful in case you’re away from the van with the vent open and the climate turns.

Between the window vents, the ceiling vent, and the fan, you will be snug within the van even on a sizzling day. We by no means used the cabin air con however it’s accessible in case you end up tenting in actually sizzling temperatures and want just a little noon escape.

Maybe most significantly for us, the van has a diesel-fired heating system which was a godsend on our journey in late March. It has been a moist, snowy 12 months and it nonetheless felt like winter after we have been on the highway. We camped within the snow in below-freezing temperatures on the Grand Canyon and persistently had nights within the 30s all through our journey. Within the night when the temps would drop, we’d hop within the van, set the thermostat to a snug 68 levels, and luxuriate in cooking and consuming dinner in consolation.

The diesel heating system is each a cabin heater and a water heater multi function. For the cabin heater, you’ll be able to management the temperature and the fan stage (low, medium, or excessive) so you’ll be able to actually warmth issues up shortly when wanted or maintain issues at a snug temperature when sleeping at night time. It’s also possible to use the auto setting and set the temperature to the place you need it and the heater will care for the remaining. This was particularly necessary to us with our little one-year-old so we may sleep simple understanding she was heat and comfy at night time.

Lighting

Lighting has a huge impact on ambiance, and the lighting within the Storyteller van was thoughtfully laid out, practical, and handy, similar to the remainder of the van.

The lights are divided into completely different areas in order that with one contact of the management panel you’ll be able to activate the cabin lights (the principle lights down the middle of the van), the studying lights (lights alongside the perimeters of the van beneath the cupboards which you could click on on and off individually), and storage lights. All of the lights are LED and absolutely dimmable as nicely. This was good for creating the ambiance we needed and was particularly useful for turning issues down within the night when it was time to wind down our toddler for mattress.

Storage Area

There’s loads of well-thought-out cupboard space all through the van.

Up entrance there’s overhead storage for each the motive force and passenger (the right place to retailer your hat, sun shades, beanie, headlamp, and so forth for straightforward entry), three storage compartments on prime of the dashboard considered one of which has USB and Bluetooth ports, and two units of twin cupholders. These might all be customary options of Mercedes’ 2023 Sprinter vans however they have been tremendous handy nonetheless.

Within the cabin there are overhead cupboards that line each side and supply loads of cupboard space. All have click-in button locks which might be tremendous useful – simply click on the button in when closing the cupboards to lock them in place for driving for a rattle-free journey and click on them open whenever you’re stopped and have to entry one thing.

We used the cupboard closest to the galley as a pantry for espresso, tea, oatmeal, and snacks. The cupboards above the mattress have been excellent for storing all our garments which we put in packing cubes to make it simple to seek out what we have been in search of (one packing dice for tops, one for bottoms, one for undergarments, and so forth). Having a spot for all the things actually helps maintain issues organized so you’ll be able to spend your time exploring exterior, not looking out excessive and low on your socks.

Storage

The storage could be very spacious and makes bringing large gear objects alongside simple. It’s a giant open cargo space with a heavy-duty ground and L-track so you’ll be able to retailer and safe bikes, paddleboards, climbing/backpacking gear, and anything you may want. We solely introduced climbing gear on our highway journey so we didn’t make the most of the storage to its full capability, however it was useful to have a lot house and be capable of simply throw our gear again there.

Along with all of the cupboard space within the storage, you’ll additionally discover an out of doors bathe and your entire water management panel the place you’ll be able to fill water, empty water, and winterize the system when wanted. It’s all very simple and straightforward to make use of.

Further Options

The Storyteller van comes with a full set of bug screens put in on each the facet and rear doorways so you’ll be able to benefit from the contemporary air with the doorways open proper off the bat. These are important for heat months when the bugs are out. They’re simple to roll down when wanted and roll up when not. When in use, a magnetic strip makes it simple to go out and in of the van and shut the display behind you to maintain bugs out. We solely used the bug screens on the primary day of our highway journey earlier than we reached colder temps the place there have been no bugs and we discovered them to be very handy.

One other characteristic that I take into account an absolute necessity is insulated privateness window covers. Fortunately, the Storyteller van comes with a whole set of high-quality window covers for every window within the van. Every is labeled with its location and simply attaches by way of the magnetic lining. Along with offering privateness, these assist insulate the within of the van from each cold and warm temperatures exterior.

The included transportable bluetooth speaker was a pleasant contact as nicely. It’s housed proper above the galley subsequent to the microwave the place it conveniently prices so it’s prepared in case you wish to take it exterior. This small however considerate characteristic added to our enjoyable and made it tremendous simple to create a enjoyable ambiance whereas making dinner and hanging out with out having to have the automotive stereo on.

Storyteller Overland Basic MODE Van Exterior

Off-Street Functionality

One of many main highlights of the Storyteller Overland Basic Mode AWD Sprinter camper van is its off-road functionality. This van is constructed to sort out tough terrain and take you to distant locations that aren’t accessible by common RVs. The van is supplied with all-terrain tires that present glorious traction and stability together with a sturdy AWD system and 9.5 inches of floor clearance permitting you to confidently navigate by means of difficult landscapes.

We took this van on many dust roads throughout our highway journey, lots of which have been muddy and rutted from main rains within the days main as much as our journey. We put it to the check and drove up the notorious Cottonwood Canyon highway in Southern Utah – it dealt with very nicely and made it by means of some impressively deep mud.

Power System

The ability system is ready as much as enable you the liberty to be stationary for a number of days and nonetheless have entry to the facility you want.

The van comes with a 90W photo voltaic panel on the roof together with a hefty home lithium battery that additionally prices when you drive by way of the high-output auxiliary alternator. We drove nearly day by day throughout our journey so we by no means needed to fear about energy and solely took the battery right down to round 70% even with utilizing the lights, music, microwave, and charging our electronics.

The van additionally comes with a 30A energy wire in case you wish to hook up at a campground or RV park.

The Volta touchscreen show subsequent to the principle Storyteller management panel makes it simple to show the inverter on and off and to see how a lot energy you’re utilizing and the way a lot you may have left.

There are loads of 110V and USB energy retailers all through the van, all strategically positioned proper the place you may want them. There are additionally just a few 12V retailers in case you want them.

Exterior Equipment

The van comes with a low-profile roof rack (full with a wind deflector) that creates a big platform on prime of the van the place you’ll be able to sit and benefit from the sundown with a drink in hand. This additionally provides you the choice to simply connect gear or a rooftop tent.

The roof will be simply accessed by way of the facet ladder which has a useful nonslip grip.

There’s additionally a hitch on the again the place you’ll be able to connect a motorcycle rack (in case you don’t wish to journey with bikes within the storage) or different exterior equipment like a spare tire (see our evaluation of the further Owl Vans equipment that Bearfoot Principle’s founder Kristen has on her customized Outdoors Van).

The van additionally comes with a powered awning which you could prolong and retract with the contact of a button. It’s even lined with dimmable LED lights so you’ll be able to have outside lighting whereas stress-free exterior at night time.

Total, we have been past impressed with the Storyteller Mode Sprinter van and the way sturdy, well-built, and adventure-ready it’s. A lot in order that we have been unhappy when the time got here to return it. We’re now dreaming of getting one for ourselves so we are able to proceed adventuring with all of the consolation and comfort it offers, particularly with the toddler onboard.

How one can Get a Storyteller Overland Van

Storyteller Overland’s MODE vans can be found by means of quite a lot of sellers throughout the U.S. You may discover a native supplier close to you to see one in particular person.

What’s very nice about Storyteller Overland’s vans is that they’re able to go proper off the lot – no large design choices to make, no ready for the construct, no second-guessing your choices. Only a well-thought-out, confirmed design that’s been perfected over time.

If you happen to’d wish to take a Storyteller van out for a spin earlier than taking the leap, take a look at GoCamp – they provide absolutely geared up camper van leases by proprietor and have a lot of Storyteller Overland vans of their fleet. Use the code GOBEARFOOT to get $50 off your rental.

I hope you discovered this Storyteller Overland evaluation useful and that you simply discover the fitting off-grid-ready camper van for you.

Associated