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While not everyone bought a camper van during the COVID-19 pandemic, we all probably know someone who did. As people with money suddenly found themselves with time on their hands and no particular place to be, sales of compact but full-featured Class B camper vans soared, increasing 91.5% from 2020 to 2021, according to the RV Industry Association (RVIA). Van life became a hashtag, a lifestyle, and an aspiration. While sales have settled back down to pre-pandemic levels, the market for high-end vehicles remains strong, with manufacturers tempting new and returning buyers with an array of new models that push the limits of performance, luxury, and price. And then there are all the new rugged details. Not content to stick to the pavement, the latest cohort of van owners wants to get off-road, tooor at least look like they do. You may have spotted an increasing number of Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans bedecked with all manner of racks, ladders, spare tires, and fuel cans, traction boards, and outdoor gear. These are the overlanders. The overland category includes a variety of vehicle typesfrom 4x4s accessorized with trendy rooftop tents, to burly Class C camper trucks (see EarthRoamer.com), to all-terrain adventure vans that combine the comforts of much larger campers with the off-road performance of an expedition vehicle. The promise is appealing: get to wild places that others cant, and sleep comfortably (and maybe stream some Netflix) when you get there. With massive fuel reserves, freshwater tanks, and arrays of solar panels and lithium-ion batteries, todays top-of-the-line adventure rigs are designed to support days or weeks of self-sufficient off-grid exploration. [Photo: courtesy Overland Expo] This blend of comfort and adventure is exactly the draw for overlanders, who are largely an affluent, middle-aged bunch. According to the RV Industry Associations 2025 RV Owner Demographic Profile, 13% of current RV owners cite the ability to camp off-grid, or boondocking, as a primary motivator in their vehicle purchase. The biggest U.S. overlanding event, Overland Expowhere owners come to camp out and would-be owners come to check out vehicle builds, has grown from one event with 800 attendees in 2009 to five regional events in 2025. (The inaugural Southern California event this March had 19,000 attendees and 303 exhibitors. Subaru is the first-time lead corporate sponsor.) The 2024 event series attracted more than 80,000 attendees, up 35% from 2021. More than 12 million Americans are expected to overland in 2025, up from 8 million in 2024, according to the Overland Expos new 2025 Overland Industry Report. Here’s a look at that vanguard of compact RV innovation as we roll into the summer of 2025. [Photo: Storyteller Overland] An overlander from Alabama The brand that might best embody the luxury overland zeitgeist of 2025 is Birmingham, Alabama-based Storyteller Overland, which launched in 2018. Now in its second year of production, the hulking 2025 GXV Epic is the sort of thing you would choose to caravan across the Australian Outback while being pursued by zombies. The 30-foot-long turbo diesel 4×4 has an 1,800-mile range and comes equipped with a 200-gallon freshwater tank, an 18 kWh battery capacity (enough to power a small home for a whole day), and expansive solar panels for recharging. It can be yours for about $800,000. It takes 2,500 man hours to complete each Epic buildsince the vehicles launch in May 2024, the company has built roughly one per month. [Photo: Storyteller Overland] Storytellers GXV Hilt is another adventure truck that came to market last yeara deluxe camper capsule bolted to a Ram 5500 thats been upfitted with a liquid spring smart suspension system, a proprietary no torsion subframe system that allows the capsule to move independently from the chassis, and a heavy-duty spray-on coating to protect it from scratches. With a 52-gallon diesel-fuel capacity, 16.8 kW lithium-ion battery storage, solar panels, and 120-gallon freshwater hold, the Hilt is built for long hauls, but not for roughing it. Its got a full bath and kitchen, and two queen beds. Storyteller can build the $499,000 trucks at a rate of about one per week. [Photo: Storyteller Overland] But Storytellers bestsellers are its line of Mode camper vans. Built on the tall, boxy Sprinter chassis, the 2025 models cost between $185,000 and $250,000, depending on features. The premium Beast Mode XO boasts all-wheel drive, nubby off-road tires, and a heavy-duty suspension systemplus an expandable 90 W solar panel, onboard batteries, and a 21-gallon freshwater tank to live off-grid for days or weeks. The muscular exterior sports a front grille brush guard, a safari-style roof rack, side-mount ladder, rear cargo box, and high-intensity LED lighting. The cabin, insulated with sheeps wool, has air conditioning and diesel-fueled heating, a galley kitchen with refrigerator, sink, microwave, and induction cooktop, and a full bath with toilet and hot shower. [Photo: Storyteller Overland] Employing about 215 people at its Birmingham headquarters and at a production facility in Missouri, Storyteller has built more than 2,500 of its vans to date. Its sales are strongest in the Westwhere vast publicly owned lands provide ample off-grid camping opportunitiesbut are growing through the South, Midwest, and Northeast, as well. The company took a significant investment from private equity group L Catterton last year to accelerate product development, invest in manufacturing, and grow its dealer network, it said. Storyteller doesnt have a monopoly on adventure campers. Its success seems to have inspired old-school RV players such as Winnebago and Thor Industries to up their overland game. Adding to its existing line of Class B campers, last year Thor launched the Palladium and Talavera, built on the Ford Transit Trail chassis with all-wheel drive and off-road capabilities, starting at $110,000. This year, Winnebago launched its Revel Sport, a lighter, lower-priced version ($210,570 base price) of its popular Sprinter-based Revel 44E adventure van (base price, $245,463). If none of the off-the-shelf options fit the bill, conversion specialists including Campo, Ridgeline Van, Cascade Van, Papago, Tommy Camper Vans, and Sequoia + Salt offer custom builds featuring designer finishes, artisanal woodwork, advanced electronics, and morefor a van-included price of about $150,000 to $300,000. Changing demographics, endless upgrades Storyteller says that its customers include preppers, early retirees, and younger families, with the typical buyers being men over 50. Thats a decade or so younger than the consumer base for giant Class A RVs, and reflects a broader shift in RV ownership. According to the latest RVIA surveywhich covers owners of all types of campers and trailersthe median age of RV owners has declined from 53 in 2021 to 49 in 2025. (To get a sense of “overlanding” spectrum, check out van-focused We’re the Russos, started by traveling couple Joe and Kait Russo in 2018, and truck-focused TrailRecon, created by U.S. Navy veteran Brad Kowitz.) The new overlanders often come into van ownership via outdoor recreation, and use their vehicles as home base for other active pursuits. According to the RVIA, the leading hobbies while RVing are fishing (47%) and hiking (44%). The most popular recreational equipment hauled along on RV trips are bikes and kayaks, but the list for a well-prepared overlander could also include skis, surfboards, and more. Not surprisingly, accessories for carrying gearbike carriers, surfboard hooks, Alpine boxes, and safari-style roof racksare popular add-ons. But thats just the start. Even buyers who start with fully loaded adventure van soon find themselves wanting more. The 2025 Overland Industry Report found that nearly 80% of overlanders plan to make upgrades in the next yearwith a focus on durability, lighting, and storage. The aftermarket accessories industry has been surging: the number of eBay Motors overlanding listings for things like rooftop tents, swingout tire carriers, and winch kits increased was up more than 3,500% in 2023 compared to 2019. Online sellers that focus on the upscale adventure van setincluding Owl Vans, Main Line Overland, and Flatline Vansell everything from racks, ladders, bumpers, and awnings to lighting, lift kits, skid plates, and wheels. DIYers can even build out a full camper van interior with modular componentsbeds, tables, cabinets, and kitchen unitsfrom companies such as Portland, Oregon-based Adventure Wagons, or flat-pack style conversion kits made of natural plywood from Simi, California-based VanLab or Timber Van Kits, in Boulder, Colorado. For the current wave of adventure campers, being off-grid doesnt mean being offline. In the 2025 RVIA survey of van owners, 54% of those who work remotely do work from their RV. Companies such as Brooklyn Campervans have seen increasing demand for vans as remote offices, complete with Starlink antennas, solar panels, advanced energy storage systems (see Battleborn, Renogy, and Volta), and USB ports for devices. Starlinks ROAM program explicitly targets RVers and van lifers and its marketing leans in to the overlanding zeitgeist (if you can ignore the Cybertruck). To be sure, taking a Zoom meeting from the middle of a desert or a remote beach site is a particular kind of flex. [Photo: Peacevans] The future of van life is electric, and increasingly female Fully loaded camper vans canweigh as much as 5 tons, and theyre gas guzzlers. In optimal conditions, a diesel Sprinter-based model might get 25 mpg or so. In addition to being hard to parallel park, theyre not ideal for running errands around town. While Trammel at Storyteller says that interest and sales in its vehicles are still good, the broader category has continued cooling even after the pandemic spell wore off. According to the RV Industry Association, sales of so-called Class B camper vans last year were 30% below 2023, and were slightly down year over in March 2025. [Photo: Peacevans] There are people who want to spend $200,000 on a really high-quality camper van, and [companies] satisfying that need, says Harley Sitner, a former senior product manager at Microsoft and now owner and manager of Peace Vans in Seattle. Is it starting to wane a little bit? Yes, absolutely. His shop focuses on a different segment of the market, specializing in dual-purpose small vans suited to daily driving and the kind of modest adventuring that most people are actually up to. You don’t want a dedicated camper van that sits idle in your driveway a hundred nights a year and your neighbors laugh at you, says Sitner. Until recently, his shopwhich employs 27 people, including contractorsspecialized in custom conversions of the Mercedes Metris van, a smaller-platform vehicle than the Sprinter, which was discontinued at the end of 2023. We did over a thousand of those, and we could have done another thousand if they kept making them, says Sitner. Starting this year, they began doing custom buildouts of Volkswagens new EV van, the ID Buzz (as well as converting older VW camper vans to EVs). [Photo: Peacevans] Long-term, all vehicles are moving to electric, although its not yet practical for real overlanding. The Mercedes eSprinter, for example, introduced in 2023, has a top range of just over 200 miles, a lower payload capacity than the diesel version, and no all-wheel drive option. But, the current ID Buzz, with a range of about 230 miles, is just right for Sitners customers, who want to go on two- to three-night camping trips, or have a comfortable place to chill between surfing sets. We’re not going to compete with Storyteller or Winnebago or all these custom builders, says Sitner. Were going to focus on the small niche and get most of it. Its not a $100 million market, but it’s a pretty big market. [Photo: Peacevans] For a full camper conversion, Peace Vans pulls out both rows of rear seats, replacing them with a foldout bed, and adding a kitchen unit with a sink, stove, and refrigerator. A small van, Sitner says, is like a boat. Every inch counts. Youve got to be really, really thoughtful about it. Peace Vans can also add a rear kitchen box, leaving more space inside for people and gear. And this fall, it will offer a new pop-top tent optiona beloved feature of vintage VW camper vans. The nostalgia factor is not to be discounted, says Sitner. Almost every one of our customers had a VW van in the day. Theres this innate organic demand. The customer demographic skews more female than the Big Van market; Sitner estimates that some 40% of his customers are single women over age 55. The ID Buzz is very yin. You’re not going to go stomp nature. You’re going to go hang out with nature. Sitner expects to work on 400 to 500 vehicles this yearat prices, vehicle included, ranging from about $80,000 to $120,000. The impact of Trump tariffs are a wildcard. He thinks that Volkswagen would absorb a percentage of increased costs, but he says that because of tariffs, we’re not going to scale as quickly, and its a bummer. The good news for us is our customers are not price sensitive.
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Zach Mercurio is a researcher who specializes in purposeful leadership, mattering, meaningful work, and positive organizational psychology. He works with hundreds of organizations worldwide, and some of his clients include the U.S. Army, USA Wrestling, J.P. Morgan, Delta Air Lines, Marriott International, the government of Canada, and the National Park Service. He also serves as one of motivational speaker, author, and business consultant Simon Sineks optimist instructors. Whats the big idea? When we think about what makes an impressive leader, we often color it in terms like inspiring, courageous, or even heroic. But research shows that, when asked about great leaders in their own lives, people dont talk about grand actions or noble qualities. More likely than not, people point out small interactionsmomentswhen a leader helped them feel seen or heard, illuminated gifts they didnt know they had, or provided affirmation. Psychologists call this sense of significance mattering, and the best leaders have trained in and practice the skill of showing people their value. Below, Zach shares five key insights from his new book, The Power of Mattering: How Leaders Can Create a Culture of Significance. Listen to the audio versionread by Zach himselfin the Next Big Idea App. 1. Were facing a mattering deficit. Let me take you back 10 years to a hospital room. I was meeting my newborn son. I remember looking down at this tiny crying human, and he tilted his head, locked eyes with mine, and reached his arms out frantically. When I reached back, he gripped my index finger and wouldnt let go. His crying stopped, and his whole body calmed. I was experiencing 6 million years of fine-tuned programming. Scientists call that grip I felt the grasp reflexan automatic action we take to secure our first caring relationship. From your first breath, survival depended on mattering to someone. None of us would be listening to or reading this if, at some point, we hadnt mattered enough to someone so theyd keep us alive. As we grow up and go to work, the survival instinct to matter evolves into the psychological need to feel seen, heard, valued, and needed. When this need is met, we experience mattering. Mattering is distinct from belonging or inclusion. Belonging is feeling part of and connected to a group. Inclusion is being able to contribute to a group. Mattering is knowing youre significant to individual members of that group. When we experience mattering, we flourish. Were more motivated and grittier and experience greater well-being. But when we feel that we dont matter, we languish and either act out in desperation or withdraw. Imagine the absolute panic of a child reaching out and finding no one. In a way, thats whats happening today. Too many of us are experiencing the same stress of feeling insignificant. In January 2025, Gallup reported that employee engagement is at a 10-year low. If we were an organization, seven out of 10 of us would be emotionally uninvested in our work. Thats despite services to improve engagement becoming a $1 billion industry. The average adult sends 30 to 40 text-based messages daily and spends more time in meetings than everyet were still lonely. So, whats going on? Two data points stand out: Just four out of every 10 employees in the Gallup sample group felt that someone at work cares about them as a person, and only 30% believe their potential is invested in. Last year, a different poll showed that 30% of people felt invisible at work, and repeated surveys reveal that six out of 10 people feel underappreciated. Were not facing a disengagement crisis. Were facing a mattering deficit. The most glaring symptom of this deficit is loneliness. The advice to solve this has been to connect more. The result has been that were in more meetings and on more platforms. The average adult sends 30 to 40 text-based messages daily and spends more time in meetings than everyet were still lonely. Research shows that the quantity of interactions doesnt matter much when it comes to reducing loneliness. The quality does. To have a quality interaction, people need to experience what researchers call companionate lovereceiving the interpersonal behaviors of attention, respect, and affirmation. The opposite of loneliness isnt having more people around you; its feeling like you matter to the people around you. Thats why just putting down our phones wont reduce disconnection; what we do after we put down our phones will. The solution isnt to connect more; its to relearn the skills to connect better by showing people they matter to us. 2. Mattering happens in moments. Think about when you most feel that you matter to others. How many of you are thinking about getting your direct deposit, or when you won Employee of the Month? If youre like most people we posed this question to, youre thinking about small interactions. Mattering happens in moments. Jane is a custodian at the university where I do research. She was part of a study we did on how frontline service workers experience meaning. She told me she only took the job because she was nearly homeless and needed to put food on the table. Her friends kept telling her cleaning was a dirty job, and she started internalizing that. She told me that during her first month, she would clock in, clock out, and continually think: Why couldnt I have done something more with my life? She said, I felt useless and worthless. But then, she described to me how a couple of minutes changed everything. A supervisor noticed she was struggling. He invited her into a training room, handed her a dictionary, and asked her to read the definition of custodian: A person responsible for looking after a building and everyone in it. Thats you, he told her. She looked at me and said, That was the first time in my life someone made me feel worthy and important. Realizing she was responsible for a building and its people changed her beliefs about herself and her job. Shes been there for 18 years. Thats the power of a moment of mattering. The best leaders tend to turn regular interactions into moments of mattering. 3. Theres a difference between knowing someone and noticing them. Theres a difference between knowing someone and noticing them. You can know your best friend but not notice that theyre struggling. You can know a team member but not notice that they feel unheard. Janes supervisor noticed she was struggling and took action. Noticing is the deliberate act of paying attention to the details, ebbs, and flows of others lives and offering an action to show them were thinking of them. Noticing takes time, attention, and practice. You can know a team member but not notice that they feel unheard. In one distribution ceter where I worked, there were 20 teams that all scored low on employee engagement surveys, with one extreme outlier that consistently showed high engagement. When I met with that team, they all told me some version of: Its our supervisor. She just gets us. Wed do anything for her. So, I asked her what she did. She pulled out a black Moleskine notebook. Every Friday, she wrote down one thing she noticed about each team membernerves about a meeting, a struggle on a task, a child starting a new sport. Then on Monday, she reviewed her notes and scheduled micro-check-ins, starting with, I remember last week. She said to me, You know, Zach, theres magic in being remembered. Weve come to call it her noticing notebook. She also asked her team two questions every week: What would you do if you were me? and What are you struggling with, and how can I help? Leaders who are great noticers tend to do these three things: They have a process and practice for observing the details of peoples work and lives. They note those details, which is a powerful way to retrain our attention. They share back what they observed. Noticing others creates understanding and understanding creates trust. 4. Affirmation can be more powerful than appreciation or recognition. When Janes supervisor defined custodian, he provided her with indisputable evidence of her significance. Thats what makes affirmation different and more powerful than appreciation or recognition. Appreciation is a form of gratitude for who someone is. Recognition is a form of gratitude for what someone does. Affirmation reveals how someones uniqueness makes a unique difference. One way to affirm someone is to give more meaningful gratitude. Any time you say, Thank you or Good job, go one step further and show people the difference they make and exactly how they make it. First, name peoples unique gifts. Everyone offers us four unique gifts every day: Strengths: what they love and theyre good atPurpose: the impact they makePerspective: how they see the worldWisdom: what only they can teach us from living their life Second, show them vividly the unique impact they make. For example, a facilities manager I worked with at the National Park Service would take photos of park visitors using projects his team worked on. He had a process of emailing them every Friday and attaching the pictures. He simply wrote: Look what you did. Thank you. He gave them indisputable evidence of their significance. 5. When people feel replaceable, they will act replaceable. To feel that we matter, we must feel needed. In 1913, the French agricultural engineer Max Ringelmann had groups of students pull on a rope as hard as possible. The rope was attached to a device called a dynamometer to measure force. Then, he had the same students pull the rope as hard as they could as individuals. He added up the force readings. Who do you think exerted the most total force: groups or individuals? It was the individuals. Why? Because they knew they and their effort were indispensable. To feel that we matter, we must feel needed. When people feel replaceable, they act replaceable. But when people feel irreplaceable, they tend to act irreplaceable. When I interviewed people and asked them when they most felt that they mattered, people frequently mentioned some version of these five words being said to them: If it wasnt for you Think of someone you rely on. Now think of the last time youve told them, If it wasnt for you If you say these words to them, youll see and feel the power of mattering, and youll be putting into practice a skill that sets great leaders apart from the rest: showing people how they matter. This article originally appeared in Next Big Idea Club magazine and is reprinted with permission.
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Caregiving is often viewed as a personal duty separate from our professional lives, instead of another layer of that life, one that can strengthen and improve how we live. Caregiving has strengthened my skills rather than detracted from my role in the C-suite, providing a masterclass in how to lead. Caregiving is core to my success on my corporate leadership path. It doesnt exist on the sidelines of my career but has played a significant role in my growth. In every aspect of my life, from being global inclusion officer at Ogilvy and cofounder of several ventures, to motherhood, marriage, and even hosting my podcast, I lead in spaces that demand empathy and strategy. The lessons learned from sleepless nights, navigating healthcare decisions, and balancing emotional labor alongside executive duties have been instrumental in shaping the way I lead. Its taught me resilience in times of uncertainty, adaptability in rapidly changing environments, and a deepened sense of empathy that transcends into the workplace. Ill never forget the day we discovered my daughter had a severe allergy. Shed accidentally eaten something at school, and we had to drop everything and rush to the ER. In the middle of a packed workday, I notified my team, shifted priorities, and once she was safe at home, I used the evening to catch up. That moment reinforced that caregiving teaches daily resilience, focus under pressure, and the ability to lead with heart. In a world where corporate cultures increasingly demand human-centered leadership, caregiving is not a detour from executive growth but a path that fortifies it. 4 tangible ways caregiving strengthens leadership: Resilience becomes your foundation: At its core, caregiving is a daily exercise in resilience. It is about showing up even when exhaustion looms, problem solving under pressure, and finding patience in moments of chaos. These very qualities mirror the demands of leadership. When leading global initiatives, the resilience Ive honed through caregiving becomes my anchor. The silent strength propels me to navigate complexities with grace and confidence. You adapt in real time: Schedules shift. Emergencies happen. Caregiving builds the muscle of agility. That skill becomes invaluable when leading through crises, managing cross-functional teams, or responding to evolving market conditions. When we scaled initiatives into Latin America, the ability to flex, listen, and adjust quickly allowed us to lead with both strategy and cultural awareness. Empathy becomes a leadership superpower. Caregiving in tandem operates similarly to vulnerability. This proximity to real-life challenges fuels empathy, a quality often discussed but rarely practiced in corporate corridors. You learn how to read between the lines, anticipate needs, and lead with patience. These qualities build trust in teams and drive inclusion that is not performative but lived. During intergenerational conversations in Asia-Pacific countries, deep listening shaped how we created space for everyones voice to matter. You prioritize people, not just productivity: Imagine if corporate cultures embraced the principles learned through caregiving: resilience, adaptability, empathy. What would change? In my work with The Brotherhood Program and the 30for30 initiative, Ive witnessed firsthand how integrating these values reshapes team dynamics, strengthens organizational trust, and drives sustainable impact. Caregiving doesnt just inspire leaders to be better, but it compels us to build better environments for those we lead. How leaders can practice care inside their companies According to a 2025 KPMG survey, 76% of working parents believe that becoming a parent has increased their motivation at work. Furthermore, 83% of C-suite executives who are working parents report that their companies encourage open discussions about the challenges of managing work and parenting. These statistics underscore the deep connection between caregiving and leadership resilience and the importance of organizational cultures that embrace these dual roles. Leaders can develop and practice these principles at work, by following these tips. Check in with genuine curiosity. Replace Do you have bandwidth? with How are you managing today? Lead by example. Show your team that you take mental health and out-of-office time seriously. Give flexibility that matters. Let employees shape the way they work based on real life. Normalize asking for help. Encourage vulnerability by being open about your own needs. Identify caregivers on your team. Offer mentorship and resources that reflect their reality. Caregiving is not a detour from professional growth; it is a crucible for it. The leadership skills honed through caring for others are needed in todays evolving corporate landscape. For those of us balancing both, its a testament to our strength, adaptability, and unyielding commitment to leading with heart and purpose. Authentic leadership, after all, is just another space to extend the resilience, empathy, and adaptability we practice daily. Tope Ajala, global inclusion and impact officer at Ogilvy, and host of podcast Life to a Teee.
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