March 4, 2022 |  By Bryon Dorr

This ex-Hostess delivery van has been turned into the ultimate van-down-by-the-river by pro-whitewater-kayaker Stephen Wright. It’s now up for sale and is quite possibly the ultimate stealth camper.

Stephen Wright has been traveling the world for nearly 2 decades as a pro-whitewater-kayaker. He is a six-time U.S. National Freestyle Kayak Champion and a Squirt class Gold medalist at the Freestyle World Championships.

He’s also heavily involved in the industry, as a marketing and R&D specialist at Jackson Kayak and one of the top coaches in the world — probably best known as the lead instructor of the OKS Keener Program, one of the top youth whitewater kayaking programs on the planet.

And wherever the best playboating on the continent has been in that time, this van is usually in the parking lot. An old Hostess workhorse, this custom step van served as Wright’s home for the past 8-plus years, traversing North America many times over.

Today, Wright puts his custom home-on-wheels up for sale, as he’s recently purchased an old Airstream trailer to fix up.

Wright will continue to live on the road full-time with his partner and dog. But the bigger space of the Airstream will allow more comfort, while a 4×4 truck to tow it will allow for more remote river access opportunities.

Wright says he’s “spent around 200 hours and a lot of money in the past 6 months to make this rig fully turn-key and move-in ready.”

It’s currently located in Columbus, Ga., but he’s willing to work with a buyer to make delivery arrangements. The asking price for this custom home-on-wheels? $20,000.

While it has been covered in Wright’s signature flame graphics and the Jackson Kayak logo for years now, it is now back to looking like a white delivery truck, perfect for stealth camping anywhere you might find yourself for the night.

This manual transmission Cummins 4bt diesel-powered, 16-foot cargo space, ex-Hostess delivery van has about 200,000 miles on the odometer and is said to “start up immediately every time and run smoothly” while getting 15 mpg. It has two passenger seats with seatbelts.

You get about double the living space of a long-wheelbase Sprinter van and a much more wide-open floor plan, which has a wood grain/industrialized look.

It’s designed to be off-grid/boondocked for months at a time, in all seasons, with a burly solar power system, and only the overhead AC requiring shore power to operate. And there’s a Dometic fridge/freezer, propane heater, three-burner propane stove, flat-screen TV, and so much more.

Adventure gear storage is not an issue either, as the van comes with a tow hitch, roof rack, and tons of internal storage. It even has an interior bike rack and additional mounts in the ceiling for more big gear storage. Interior storage for big gear is awesome, as it’s way more stealthy and offers much more security.

One of our favorite features of this van is the custom rear door. It opens up the van to the outside world, and basically acts as a rear awning.

This van isn’t perfect, as it’s a 25-year-old delivery truck turned RV. The speedo doesn’t work, nor does the parking brake, and yes there are a few dents. It is also not exactly quick and it leaks a bit of oil, as you’d expect from an old diesel box-van.

You’ll probably want to put in some sort of toilet system and water system as well.

If you’re interested in buying this stealth adventure van, you can contact Wright through Facebook Messenger.

Bryon Dorr caught the outdoor adventure addiction through whitewater kayaking, and worldwide adventures to remote places ensued. He crafted his own professional path as a photographer, journalist, and marketing consultant in the automotive and outdoor industries, while full-time overland traveling for nearly 8 years. You’ll usually find him out exploring by 4x4, adventure motorcycle, or sports car while seeking out opportunities to ski, mountain bike, and kayak. Bryon now has a home base in Portland, OR, and runs our sister site AutoWise.com.

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