We ended up settling down in Seattle, courtesy of a free place to stay while we got back on our feet (aka $$$) after 8 months on the road. I can’t recommend transitioning from sunny central/socal to rainy Seattle in november to anybody. The first few months were pretty miserable, but we made the best of it (this winter we plan to get ski gear to be able to escape in to the mountains more).
Sportsmobile Forum - nyyankees588's Album: Seattle - Picture
Throughout it all the van has performed admirably - we bought it for $3k, put $4k in to the build out and have since dumped another $4k in to it for mechanical work. While there are a lot nicer rigs out there, I’ve been amazed at how much we’ve done on a relatively shoestring budget.
I now work at a shop that builds high-end wooden travel trailers (kind of like a wooden airstream) - besides being a sweet gig, I learn new skills, have access to tools and material, all which I can apply to the van. After 8 months full-time in it, I have literally pages of typed notes of things to update/adjust. My goal is to share these here (I've got a couple already that I'll post this week) in the hopes that I can get some great insight from everybody, and possibly inspire a few projects for others
(also if anybody is in the PNW area, I'm always down to meet up and talk van shit/help out with projects. I have access to A LOT of nice scrap wood from the shop I work at, so I can likely help you get some project material fo free.