#VanLife - The Estradas Converted Their Sprinter 2500 4x4 - 144" into a Japanese Teahouse Inspired Home
Welcome back to the third installment of our #VanLife series. The purpose of the series is to take a closer look at #VanLife that goes beyond the one-size-fits-all portrayal we often see on social media—because people live in vehicles for many different reasons that don’t necessarily involve increasing their follower count. Our series is about real people, with real lives, and very real goals. Some are facing difficult circumstances, and most are simply trying to make better lives for themselves.
This week we’re excited to introduce you to Saul & Ayaka Estrada. They are a couple living in the Bay Area in their 2018 Mercedes Sprinter 2500 4x4 - 144” wheelbase. While they enjoy spending time outdoors together hiking, biking and snowboarding, #vanlife to them is not about recreation. It’s about securing a financial future that includes land ownership and a custom built home—not an easy feat in one of the least affordable housing markets in the country. Single family median home values in the Bay Area recently fell 2.4% to $803,200 which is still significantly higher than the national median home value of $243,000 according to the Mercury News.
Photo credit: High Grade Development Partners
“A million dollars barely gets you in the door; and even with that, you’re going to have to put more money in to fix it up,” said Saul. “Our dream has, and continues to be to one day find some land and build our own home.” Their Sprinter, which they have named ‘Ryovan’, is an investment in their future.
The vehicle cost just over $50k pre-conversion. Saul and Ayaka used a combination of savings and financing to make the purchase in 2018. Since then, they’ve spent another 50k in custom build costs which they completed themselves.
They both work full-time: Saul is a builder who manages construction projects for clients and Ayaka is a marketing manager for a clean energy company. The 旅 - van conversion, which took over two years to complete, is based on a Japanese tea-house aesthetic—to include the custom milled Port-Orford cedar that covers the interior. Japanese tea-houses have a specific architectural style called sukiya-zukuri or 数寄屋造りthat incorporates modest spaces, recessed storage and natural materials.
Saul was incredibly intentional about the design from day one. He approached a friend, architect Andrew Keating from Stack + Co, to draw up plans for the build. Then he built it slowly over the next two years. After all, the van isn’t just their home, it’s an experiential marketing tool for Saul’s business, High Grade Development Partners; and it’s a means of getting them to their end goal of land ownership.
For now, Saul and Ayaka’s “goal is to continue building independence in our professions so that we can work from wherever we want, whenever we want,” Saul explained. “We’ve been working hard on this for a while now and it’s starting to pay off!” They believe that they can “use the van as a marketing tool to create even more opportunities for ourselves,” he added. “It’s a big investment no doubt, but much better than having a big ass mortgage, and also a cool tool to feed our entrepreneurial efforts.”
Keep scrolling to learn more about their conversion…
Can you tell me about the aesthetic/design of your van?
From the beginning, I wanted to do something that was very architectural in nature. I just felt strongly that a van could be more than just a van. I also really wanted to incorporate modern design concepts, which are typically reserved for more traditional structures like homes. I knew that the Japanese have a tradition of working with small spaces, and are really good at making these spaces feel bigger than they actually are. The teahouse is one of the most iconic of these structures. It’s also heavily influenced by zen philosophy and is designed to create a greater connection between the individual, and nature. This is the essence of the Ryovan and why we were determined to go this route. We are also very proud of our Japanese traditions and think it’s a great way to share a part of us with people everywhere we go.
Why Port-Orford cedar?
The Japanese have traditionally used a type of wood called Hinoki, or 檜, for building tea houses and temples. It’s clear grain is very distinctive. It also has strong aromatic properties and good strength, even though it is light in weight. This makes for a full sensory experience.
We thought about tracking down some Hinoki from Japan, but this was not practical. Instead, we did a lot of research, and learned that Port Orford cedar was a very close cousin. In fact, it’s technically not a cedar, but rather a cypress, just like Hinoki. It’s also native to the Southern Oregon/Northern California region. California is home for us so we really loved this. It’s not easy to find this stuff though. Fortunately, we were able to track down a sawyer in southern Oregon who works exclusively with POC (the only one of its kind on the west coast). They custom milled all our wood for us to specification. It took a lot of effort to figure all this out, but it is undoubtedly the most important aspect of the build, in our opinion.
What was the most challenging aspect of the build-out?
There is a simplicity to the build that we really love—but executing this was really difficult. There was temptation all along the way to add things that don’t necessarily align with the overall vision. You also get tired and are tempted to do things the ‘easy’ way. We had to be patient with ourselves and willing to do things the way we knew they could be done, even if they meant doing it over again.
What is your bathroom setup and how did you decide (e.g. - compost toilet, chemical RV toilet, bucket toilet, pee bottles, gas stations, etc.)?
We rely on pee bottles and public bathrooms everywhere we go. We’d rather not sh*t where we eat/sleep, so it was never really a priority. We’ve spent a lot of time on the road and I can’t really ever remember needing a bathroom but not being able to find one. We also plan our travels with this in mind and always try to identify various public options ahead of time.
What is your shower set up and how did you decide (e.g. - baby wipes, we don’t, solar shower, 24/7 gym membership, etc.)?
We don’t have a shower. When we’re on the road for weeks at a time, we’ll use wipes daily and pay to use showers every few days at roadside options or local RV sites.
What do you use for heating?
Our van is well insulated so it does pretty good without any supplemental heat. We simply heat up the van before bed and then cuddle under some warm blankets. We do spend a lot of time winter camping, so for mornings that get a little chilly, we run a small propane Mr. Buddy heater in the morning, and that gets temps up rather quickly without having to turn the vehicle on. For really cold nights, like anything in the teens (Fahrenheit) or below, we have an electric heater that we run off of shore power.
How often do you meet other people who look like you on the road?
Not often, but we try not to let that get us down. Most people we meet certainly share our spirit, so we think that’s pretty cool. Every interaction with someone new is an opportunity to learn from each other, so we do our best to be friendly and share our story everywhere we go.
Know a #VanLifer of color who we should feature during our #VanLife series? Send us an e-mail.
Keep scrolling for more outdoor articles featuring people of color.
Our second feature from our #VanLife series is BASE jumper and skydiver Ben Yue. Oh, he bartends too! And he’s a dog dad to a pup named Cornbread.