How did JUSTGO begin? It started with one spontaneous decision in May 2017: buy a classic VW Westfalia camper van and see where the road would lead.
That first Westfalia became the beginning of JUSTGO - a Vancouver Island campervan brand that would grow from one van into a fleet of vans, RV's and Jeeps, a library of original travel media and a much bigger idea built around helping people discover what’s out there.
Out of a personal love for van life and exploring Vancouver Island, JUSTGO founder Lisa Ostrikoff made a spontaneous decision in May 2017 that would eventually become the beginning of JUSTGO.
With a professional background in television news, video storytelling and digital media through BizBOXTV®, Lisa was already building businesses around capturing, producing and distributing stories. JUSTGO would ultimately bring that media background together with another passion: exploring Vancouver Island.
While travelling through Duncan on the way to Victoria, Lisa spotted a 1982 Volkswagen Westfalia campervan for sale. She saw it one day — and had the dealership deliver it to her home the next.
She was in love - and so was almost everyone she showed it to.
There was something different about the Westfalia. Lisa quickly noticed the smiles the little van generated as it rolled by, the conversations it started and the instant sense of community among other Westfalia owners she passed along the way.
It wasn’t just a vehicle. It created a feeling.
Beyond being unlike anything else she had driven, there was something about travelling and camping in a Westfalia that simply felt good - freedom, simplicity, adventure and the ability to go almost anywhere.
Lisa really wanted to find a way to share that feeling with other people...
Within two weeks of bringing her first VW campervan home to Nanaimo, JUSTGO Campervan Rentals Inc. was born.
A second van soon followed: Olive, a 1972 Volkswagen Westfalia, discovered online by Lisa’s daughter Ella right here in Nanaimo.
What had started with one spontaneous purchase was becoming something much bigger.
Just over one year after JUSTGO began, the original Vancouver Island fleet had grown from one VW Westfalia to six Volkswagen campervans... then came the Jeeps...
Building an RV rental business from the ground up wasn’t always easy.
It has been a lot of hard work, problem-solving and the occasional moment of wondering what we had gotten ourselves into.
But then we’d get back behind the wheel — or feel the excitement of another JUSTGO traveller heading out on their own Vancouver Island adventur... and remember exactly why we started.
We love the open road.
We love nature.
We love discovering what’s out there.
We love freedom.
We love our Vancouver Island Westfalia camper van ... s. 🚐💨
+ we want everyone to experience what the Vancouver Island #vanlife can feel like, if even for a few nights.
The potential is unlimited how far justgo... will go.
We are thankful to have you, and all of our travellers along on this journey with us...
The Story Was Always Bigger Than the Vans
From the beginning, JUSTGO wasn’t only about renting campervans or RV's.
With Lisa’s background in legacy television, video storytelling and then digital media through BizBOXTV® since 2009, the adventures surrounding the vans were being captured, produced and shared across social media too - the roads, beaches, campgrounds, people and places that made Vancouver Island worth exploring.
The vans created the experiences.
Media allowed those experiences to travel further.
That combination of travel + storytelling + discovery would eventually become the foundation for the broader JUSTGO Media and digital ecosystem... Coming Soon! #StayTuned
