I might just buy a camper van

10 Jan, 2026

Snowboarding is expensive. Wait... let me say that again... Snowboarding is fucking expensive.

I just finished my last snowboarding trip. This time, I lived in my friend's camper for 5 days and, after surviving the first night (-5°C, pipes froze etc) and learning how to manage cold in such conditions, my mind automatically started to do some back-of-the-envelope math.

Let's consider the best-cheapest-case scenario:

Round trip to Andorra (by bus) => 70€
Cheapest hotel is available in Canillo (not my favorite choice) => 260€ for the weekend
Skip lunch (breakfast is included in the hotel - eat as much as you can) => 0€ Grátis
Simple dinner => 25€ * 2 = 50€
Grand Total => 380€ for a single weekend

Now, looking to my past seasons, I can safely say I go around ~18 days per season. For simplification, let's consider 9 weekends.

9 weekends * 380€ per weekend = 3420 € per season 🤯

I've been doing this for 6 years already. 3420 * 6 = 20.5k 💸 💸

At this point I stop for a second to think about it. It is not always that I manage to stay in the cheapest hotel, it is not always that I have breakfast included, it is not always that dinner costs only 25 bucks.

Then, I asked another friend of mine, who recently got a camper, how much his cost. 45.000 € with best-in-class conversion (expanding roof, heater, you name it). His camper is more or less what I'm looking for.

Let me get back to my envelope and consider I would use this camper exclusively for snowboarding trips:

45000 / 3420 ≈ 13

In 13 years time the camper's price would be amortized. Now some interesting questions start to pop in my head:

Do I see myself doing this for the next 13 years? [If I get a bit more realistically and consider a 5k spent per season, this number would drop to 9!]
Did I love the feeling of waking up in a 5-min walk from the chairlift?
Am I going to use this thingy for small trips all year around?
Would this thingy give me freedom to chase powder regardless of hotel availability / price?
If I regret, can I sell it for a decent price after the natural depreciation?
Are camper vans sexy as fuck and back in style again?

YES TO ALL! The more I think about it, more I realize that it would be stupid to not buy it, right? ...right?

I can't put a price tag on receiving an alert from snow-forecast and being able to just drive there and wake up for the good stuff. And let's be honest, Snowboarding is not getting any cheaper in the future, specially now that Andorra was discovered by the instagram army... sigh...

Now that I am convinced, I let me start to draft the requirements. But first...

Definition

Camper Van designed around my own lifestyle. Meant to be used in weekend gateways and snow trips hunting powder. This camper is not intended for long trips (although can be used during summer, when it's easy to shower outside). Great insulation is a must. Stealthy look. Fun drivability is desired, not required. This won't be used to "van life" indefinitely.