BY: ROB HOFFMAN
Perhaps you’ve felt the pressure of the rising culture of road-hipsters. They’re exploring the continent while living out of vans or rigged-up trailers and making you feel like shit about the $1,000 you pay every month to sleep in the same city. Dropping everything to move into an Airstream trailer isn’t always a viable option, but if you need a few days out of the city, a new website is making it possible to play pretend.
Trailermade is an Airbnb-style rental service that specializes in adventure-vehicles like Airstreams, hippie-vans, RVs and trailers. You have three options: rent a stationary camper, take one on the road for a pre-determined period of time, or park your own vehicle on someone’s land.
The company was started by “two cousins tired of rising house prices” who “ditched their corporate life to live out of an Airstream and start Trailermade,” says their website. The fact that the company was founded by people who genuinely lead the nomadic lifestyle they’re selling, makes the company infinitely cooler.
The website offers an extremely valuable service, too, especially when compared to the alternatives. Rental cars are loaded with hidden costs, shady tactics designed to wring the money from your wallet, and in general are a huge source of stress, particularly if you’re under 25. For about the same price, Trailermade gives you options that come loaded with beds, kitchens and sometimes even surfboards.
On the other side of the coin, the website is a handy way for travellers who already own vans and trailers to make some extra dough in the off-season.
The company is growing rapidly, teaming up with a number of renowned adventure-oriented companies, like Patagonia and Snow Peak, according to GrindTV. Their user base sits around the 300 mark—but growth thus far has shown an exponential curve. Currently, (not surprisingly) most of the listings are in California and Colorado.
Sources: trailermade.co, grindtv.com, instagram.com
