Well, we didn’t really buy a van. And we didn’t buy this van. But we put a $5000 deposit on a van and that is nearly the same thing.
The van in the picture is a Noovo Plus, a camper van with a seven-foot high interior, parked at the Adventure Van Expo in North Lake Tahoe last week. We had never seen one in person before we attended the show last Saturday. But we–my wife and I–had watched every video featuring the Noovo on YouTube and had spent a year and a half prior to that carefully considering (and visiting) other van models. So many videos. Having never touched one, having never sat in a Noovo Plus, we knew every feature, every comparison point with other brands, every pro and con weighed against our own needs and aspirations. Though we’d never been in a real Noovo we’d been in one virtually many times, and that is nearly the same thing.
Our van will be built in March of next year—Noovo is sold out until next August but there was a cancellation. With the launch of their new Sprinter-based model and the opening of their first showroom in Los Angeles next week, I expect that August date to quickly become September, October, November, or even into 2027 for new buyers, so I’m glad the March opening was available. The timing works well for our travel plans.
No van is perfect, all vans are a combination of compromises. It’s just a question of which compromises. The Noovo Plus, which we decided on only after a complete rethinking of what we wanted a van to accomplish, is the most perfect van for us. As we go along here at NOOVANGO I’ll try to share why that is so, and to share as well the decisions and planning over the next months until the magic date in March.