PROJECT AHO FREEDOM OF CHOICE TRIAL

вЂњWe have people going down to Death Valley and Baja. вЂњYou have to build a house thatвЂ™s going to survive an earthquake every day,вЂќ says Jonathan Feld, the companyвЂ™s president. Sportsmobile West is one of many van conversion companies that have taken off along with the van life movement, turning Sprinters into customized motorhomes for a wide variety of professionals and adventurers, including veterinarians, doctors, law enforcement officers, doomsday preppers, campers, hikers, electricians, and plumbers.Д«ut the companyвЂ™s most challenging jobs are for van lifers, a rapidly growing clientele that needs something durable enough to take off road but equipped with enough amenities to be able to live out of full-time, like bathrooms, showers, and refrigerators. Those companies still cater mostly to retirees and baby boomers who want travel trailers or вЂњClass AвЂќ motorhomes, which are much larger than a Sprinter. But they arenвЂ™t getting these vehicles from traditional RV manufacturers. The Mercedes Sprinter, a vehicle now made in America, at a new plant in South Carolina, has become a symbol of the van life movement and the vehicle of choice among millennials living on the road, in addition to the Ford Transit and the RAM ProMaster. And sometimes van lifers find themselves creating small businesses, or using existing businesses in novel ways, to fill unexpected needs on the road. As van lifers seek vehicles that suit their needs, theyвЂ™re also supporting businesses, from van conversion companies to the sellers of DIY conversion materials like insulation and solar panels. The details differ, but the coupleвЂ™s story has played out countless times across the country as the van life movement has grown over the last 10 years.

вЂњThe whole process was hard, but definitely well worth the effort.

PROJECT AHO FREEDOM OF CHOICE TRIAL

вЂњReally we just watched a lot of YouTube and did a lot of trial and error,вЂќ Pochiba says when asked how they learned to customize their van.

The van now has a king-sized bed, a storage area underneath the bed with a 33-gallon water tank, a kitchen with a stove and oven, a shower, and an вЂњofficeвЂќ with two iMacs mounted into a desk. It took three months of labor for six to eight hours, seven days a week, to finish it, he says, not to mention months of planning beforehand. They bought a brand-new 2018 Mercedes Sprinter for $42,000, and then spent another $25,000 on materials to convert the back into a living space. Chris Pochiba and Sara Aho were living in Seattle when rapidly rising rents convinced them to join the growing van life movement, a contingent of nomadic millennials seeking refuge from office life by living on the road.

Project aho freedom of choice