Where to Rent a Camper Van for a Last-Minute Summer Road Trip

Your Instagram feed tells you that the van lifestyle is a blur of unbridled adventure and relaxation, but like most people on social media, road-bound online influencers tend to highlight the awesome while leaving out the ugly. If you own your own camper van, you're one step ahead of the game; if you're renting, the company you choose can mean the difference between a trip defined by claustrophobia and stress and an excursion that lets you brag online without even lying. Here's a look at the top national and regional rental companies, online rental options, and person-to-person sites that let you test drive #VanLife.

Jucy is known across Australia, New Zealand, and now the United States for its trademark purple and green vans and RVs, which the company designs and builds itself. The company's "Jucy Perks" program includes relocation specials, festival specials, and hefty discount deals with RV parks, resorts, and campgrounds, including nationwide KOA campgrounds, Sunland resorts, and Urban Adventures.

Like Jucy, Escape Campervans traces its roots to the van camping culture of New Zealand, where three friends started the company in 2003. Today, it maintains North American locations in 12 cities on the East Coast, across the West, and Southwest, and in Canada. Escape is lauded for its stellar customer service and well-stocked vehicles — but is more famous what's outside its vans. Escape has an impressive stable of artists who paint each van into a rolling work of art.

If you're on the West Coast and looking to score a deal, Lost Campers operates out of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Salt Lake City. Family-owned since 2007, Lost Campers has served 15,000 renters and, unlike many RV companies, specializes in camper vans. Prices are good and the vans come with a host of amenities, such as cooking and dining kits, picnic tables, and roadside assistance. They're famous, however, for having the most comfortable beds in the industry.

Campervan North America boasts low-season rates starting at less than $50 a night and offers a heap of city-to-city specials and long-term, one-way discounts. The company has locations throughout the West — including Las Vegas, Denver, Seattle, and Bozeman, Montana — and the company's high-mileage fleet includes five models that sleep from two to five people.

RVshare is one of the biggest players in the direct-rental market, serving kind of like an Airbnb for RVs, but does a huge amount of business with camper vans too. In fact, it maintains a dedicated page with advice and tips for renting. Although prices average about $150 a night, RVshare boasts deals starting at just $10 a night.

A peer-to-peer site like RVshare, Outdoorsy operates in 14 countries and says its average camper van rate is $160 a night. The company runs DMV checks on renters and puts owners and renters together before a trip begins — resulting in a stream of five-star reviews of experiences on the Outdoorsy website.

Campanda is another good option for renting direct, although inventory is more limited than Outdoorsy and RVshare. In addition to pairing renters with camper van owners and dealers directly, Campanda carries the potential for money-saving deals. Many available vans come with nightly price tags in the double, not triple, digits.

CamperTravel USA follows a simple, three-step process to van rental familiar to anyone using sites such as Trivago to find hotel rooms. CamperTravel USA doesn't own, maintain, or manage vans; it just partners with those who do to provide options. Just select pickup and drop-off locations and travel dates; select a vehicle; and pick it up at a depot from across the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, South Africa, and Canada.

RVnGO follows a business model similar to CamperTravelUSA. Once you register, you can peruse inventory by location, vehicle type, activity, or date of travel. You'll contact the host directly before you book, and your adventure will be backed by $1 million auto liability and 24/7 roadside assistance policies.

Cruise America specializes in RVs, but rents a line of compact models that sleep up to three. Each compact comes with a full line of amenities, showers, freshwater toilets, generators, and gas cooktops. Deals include free nights and 50% off mileage discounts.