Toyota Hiace – a strong motor for the simplicity of life
Justin and Tori brought a Toyota Hiace and said „Goodbye“ to their luxury lifes. They now enjoy the simplicity of life and the outdoors.
Quick facts about the Toyota Hiace:
- car manufacturer: Toyota
- model: Hiace
- year of construction: 2004
- how many seats: 3
- complete weight of vehicle: 2.6t
- how many kilometers: 390,000
- output of the motor: 77kw
- consumption at 100km: 10L/100km
- motor fuel: diesel
- price: $16,000 including build
Can you tell me a bit about you and how did you end up living this lifestyle?
Justin is a qualified plumber, with a passion for photography and the outdoors. Tori works with bedroom furniture and also has a passion for the outdoors and being creative.
We chose to pursue this lifestyle as we wanted to strip back our day to day luxuries (e.g shower, running water, access to kitchen etc.) and enjoy the simplicity of life and the outdoors.
This is something we both find very fulfilling in our lives.
Why exactly did you choose the Toyota Hiace and not a smaller or bigger one?
We decided on the Toyota Hiace for the importance of reliability. Toyota motors are one of the strongest most reliable motors out and their parts are extremely easy to get.
So we decided to sacrifice on space so we could travel endlessly without the worry of breaking down all the time or having to always carry spare parts.
Where there any barriers while purchasing the vehicle?
We had 0 barriers while purchasing everything went smoothly!
Did you do anything on your vehicle yourself or did you get a carpenter?
Justin built 99% of the fitout himself, from insulation to framing to building the cabinets and even the benchtops from scratch, the only thing we paid a professional to do was our electrical, for security purposes and insurance purposes.
How long do you own your vehicle? Did you had others before?
We have owned our van since February 2017. Yes we have both owned other vehicles before but this is our first van, and also the first vehicle we have owned together.
How long did you worked on your campervan before you started your trip?
We started the build approximately August 2017. Justin spent anywhere from 1 day a week to 3 days a week.
We completed the van in June 2018 which is when we began our travels.
We took our time with the build to ensure we were happy with it.
Tell me like 2-3 things that you really love about traveling with a camper.
Our number one favourite thing about travelling in a camper is that we get to take our home everywhere we go.
Another thing that we love is that we do have more space compared to a 4×4.
We can have our stuff in permanent places. We also love that we are able to wake up in the most beautiful locations whenever we choose.
Which countries did you travel to with your Toyota Hiace? Which one was your favorite by now?
We have only been travelling within our home country, Australia.
What was the most beautiful road you have driven with your campervan?
The longest road we have driven was the Bruce Highway which is 1,652km!!!
Do you sometimes meet other people traveling with their vans?
Yes, meeting other people who travel with their vans is the best thing for us.
We love to talk with other like minded individuals about what they have discovered and their journeys.
Are there any things that really annoy you about that lifestyle?
Some days aren’t always as glamorous as some may think. Some nights we sleep at truck stops with heavy road noise, some days we sleep in gravel pits, some days we sleep in rest areas with people 1 meter away.
Most of the time life on the road is great, but some definitely can be hard.
Not everything is perfect, what would you change about your vehicle?
If there was one thing that we would change it would be to make it a 4×4 so that we have the best of both worlds. Other then that we love our van.
So, if not your vehicle-which one would you choose if you could?
If we had to choose a different vehicle other then our own, it would be a Mercedes Sprinter 4×4 simply for the extra space and accessibility to locations. Once again, we are very happy with our van.
Do you work online while traveling?
We dont work full time online but every now and then we pick up a small amount of paid work but not enough to live off, simply doing it because we love it and want our story shared.
Last but not least: is there any funny/weird/beautiful story that you wanna tell us about your experiences?
The best experience we have is in Agnes Water QLD Australia. We stayed at this place for about a week, and we met other vanlifers. We learnt how to surf, we went out and created content for our instagram „JustinSchryver“.
We had beach fires and danced around to music while sharing our stories. That was the best time that we have experienced so far on the road.
It’s not always about where you go, but who you meet and the impact they can have on the journey can make everything so much better.