"What are you going to travel in, an old Volkswagen bus?"

    I heard that question more than any other, it seemed, when I started making plans to travel the country to look for work. In their minds, many said, they saw me driving around the country in a VW bus bedecked with stick-on flowers in multiple colors. Yikes.

    "Nah," I would answer, "they don't really have enough room for what I want to do. Besides, I'm in my late forties, for chris'sakes, not back in my teen wandering years of the 60's."

    I knew I wanted a vehicle I could park in a regular parking space that would still have enough comfortable room inside in which to spend considerable amounts of time. One in which I could set up a small mobile office and still have enough room to take along my old carpentry and painting tools and for my dog, Akena. Not that Volkswagen buses and campers are not comfortable, but they are designed more for occasional use or shorter term camping than what I had in mind.
    I wanted something I could live in and work out of for long periods, did not have to pop up every time I wanted to use it, would have as much storage space as possible, and which would be easier to repair, if necessary, while on the road in North America.
    After a good bit of research and looking at what various campervan conversion companies offered and seeing how extremely far out of my financial reach even good used ones were, it was easy to see I would have to purchase a much older vehicle. I'd considered trying to find a used cube delivery van, an old step-van, or a small school bus, but did not want to fight the wind all day while driving. Great in the cities, perhaps, but too much straight, flat, surface area for windy highways and the open road. I'd need something a little more aerodynamic. If I could find it.
    I needed an American van. A big one. Long wheelbase, extended body, with a permanent high top. One that had already been converted for what I had in mind or that I could convert over time--without too much trouble--to my needs.
    It became more and more apparent that most available conversion vans were set up for partying and watching television, not for living in any length of time. I could not afford anything very new or finished off, so kept looking on the bulletin boards and in the classifieds.

continued . . .