On a recent morning, Nino Rabhi awoke inside his van in a Walmart parking lot in Milwaukee.

He hit the Planet Fitness next door, where he got in a workout and a shower, and then he went on with his day, checking out another city.

Just another day in the van life.

For the next several months, the 25-year-old Michigan man plans to live out of his custom-retrofitted Ford Econoline 150 while traveling across the United States.

Nino Rabhi in front of the Cloud Gate sculpture in Chicago.

He spent weeks converting the 1999 van, which was in rough shape, into a "house on wheels" that he now calls Vanessa.

With his van equipped with a twin bed and stocked full of essentials, Rabhi recently set off on his westward adventure, leaving his hometown Ann Arbor.

In the coming months, he plans to visit several cities, national parks and landmarks, enjoying the scenery along the way and connecting with friends and family.

He already stopped through Chicago and Milwaukee. When he spoke by phone earlier this week, he was on his way to Madison.

From there, the journey continues west to the Black Hills in South Dakota, and then Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park, Colorado, Albuquerque, Arizona, Las Vegas, California, Oregon, Washington and even Hawaii.

He plans to visit extended family in Seattle, San Francisco and Portland. From there, he plans to fly to Hawaii to work on a farm for a month.

Rabhi sees new adventures and self discovery on the horizon. But more than that, there's a specific purpose behind his journey.

He's looking for a new place to live and start a career.

'Complete faith'

Before he owned a van, Rabhi, a 2009 graduate of Huron High School and younger brother of Ann Arbor politician Yousef Rabhi, ran a food cart.

He started his business, Spicers Grill, during his final year at Michigan State University in 2013 and brought it back to Ann Arbor after college.

He decided last year that, by his birthday in February, he wanted to be either on his way to opening a restaurant or moving out of town in a camper van.

Given the slow growth trajectory of his business, he decided to stop operating the food cart last fall. He then got a job as a server at a restaurant in Ann Arbor while he figured out a plan to travel across the country in a van.

First, he decided, he had to sell his food cart and his 1998 Jeep Cherokee, and then he had to find a van to fix up. He ended up getting the van in June in an even trade for his Jeep, which had 260,000 miles on it.

But the van, which had 185,000 miles on it, was in pretty rough shape and wasn't driving well. Rabhi sunk about $2,000 into repairs.

The first mechanic he visited stopped short of completing a full inspection, advising him the van was a piece of junk.

"I was devastated," Rabhi said.

Then he took it to another mechanic, a family friend who toiled to make most of the necessary repairs by the end of July.

"He did a great job," said Rabhi, who made some of his own repairs, including rewiring the dashboard and patching holes where the floor had rusted out.

Rabhi, who quit his server job, said he spent about three weeks putting his carpentry skills to the test.

He tore out the old carpet and seats. Getting under the van to unbolt everything was a nightmare, he said.

He used sheets of aluminum to patch the holes he found in the floor and then put down a layer of insulation.

The van's extension top was fiberglass and would get really hot, so Rabhi glued insulation to the ceiling, which he said was difficult.

He cut pieces of plywood to make a floor, which he screwed down. He then followed sketches he drew, taking inspiration from other so-called van lifers on social media, and began building a twin bed and a series of storage spaces, cabinets and drawers for his belongings, including food, kitchen supplies, clothing, cooler, camping stove, and even a bicycle and snowboard.

"I just kept adding stuff from there," he said. "I had these plastic shelves that I screwed into the top, fastened those down. That was nice and easy."

He stapled a colorful tapestry to the ceiling, repaired some of the screens and put in a couple more curtains.

He estimates he spent about $300 transforming the van, not counting the money he paid for mechanical repairs.

The van already had screened and tinted windows with blinds, which Rabhi said he needed, so he figures that saved him some.

But he ran into issue after issue with the van. One of the door handles even broke when he was about to leave to start his trip.

The van still has a minor head gasket leak and he's making sure to monitor the coolant, oil and tire pressure.

Rabhi said earlier this week it also appeared there was a leak above his bed that he needed to patch up.

But other than that, it's running great.

"I have complete faith in this van," he said.

Standing 6'7" tall, Rabhi said he's had to adjust to sleeping on a twin-size bed, but he's making it work.

As for where to park to sleep at night or go to the bathroom, he's relying on rest stops and places such as Walmart, as well as friends and family. And when he's not staying somewhere with showers, he has a Planet Fitness membership.

"Planet Fitness and Walmart are everywhere," he said.

For doing laundry, he'll be relying on laundromats, as well as the friends and family he's visiting.

Rabhi said a friend gave him a 160-gigabyte iPod, which he has loaded up with plenty of music for the road. And he has a portable solar panel to keep his phone and other devices charged while he's on the go.

He said he's getting about 14 miles per gallon in the van, so it's not bad for "a big old thing."

'A rite of passage'

This trip has many meanings for Rabhi, but the main purpose is finding a new place to live. He said he loves Ann Arbor and Michigan, and it will always be his home, but he's ready to start a career in a bigger city.

"Ann Arbor was just a little too small for me right now. I'm definitely planning on living there later in life," he said.

He's hoping to put his degree in food industry management to good use and get a job in sales and distribution for an organic food company out west.

Even though he's 25, graduated from college, and has owned a business, Rabhi said he feels he won't fully be a adult until the end of this trip.

"It's kind of like a rite of passage," he said.

Rabhi has traveled with his family and seen other parts of the world, but he's been anxious since high school to get out and explore more.

"I wanted to take a year off after high school to do this kind of thing, and then I went to school instead, and then I started a food cart business, and then I was in a longterm relationship, so I couldn't just pick up and leave," he said.

"I feel like I've never really spread my wings."

With his relationship and business both coming to an end, along with his dog dying this year, Rabhi was ready to make his next move.

"I'm just traveling the country to see firsthand what all these places are like -- what areas I like, and do I like the climate," he said.

"I brought pretty much everything I'd need until I have a job."

He's planning to start applying for jobs in March. He said he should have an idea where he wants to live by then and he'll stay in the van until he gets a job.

At the moment, he's thinking he'll end up either somewhere in northern California, Portland or Colorado.

"I might discover some new places. I'm keeping my antennas out and ears open and seeing what's cool," he said.

"Chicago was awesome," he said of the first big city he visited so far. He said he hadn't been there since he was a kid.

"I was very impressed. It's an amazing city. Nice neighborhoods with trees. We had fun at the bars and stuff. I stayed with one of my friends."

He said he left his van in the suburbs and spent a day walking for miles around Chicago and went down by the beach. He posed for an obligatory photo in front of Cloud Gate (the big bean-shaped sculpture) and visited Wrigleyville.

"I'm going to be in the wilderness for most of this trip," Rabhi said, noting he will be camping in the national parks.

On this trip, he's embracing what it means to be an American.

"We're not just Ann Arborites or Michiganders," he said. "As an American, I want to see my whole country."

Ryan Stanton covers the city beat for The Ann Arbor News. Reach him at ryanstanton@mlive.com.