Smallist

If a Japanese capsule is too small, but you don’t need the full hotel experience, Yotel might be your thing. At this size and completely purple, I imagine they must have to beat Minneapolitan pop stars off with a stick. They also bill in 4-hour blocks. Whether short duration stays at an airport hotel can be marketed as an upscale experience? Well, that remains to be seen.

Via Treehugger.

There’s a Thai miniature festival in Phuket this week. The miniatures depict traditional Thai life:

The light and sound exhibition highlights villagers’ lifestyles, Thai culture, and especially a Traditional Thai Temple Carnival and also a Buddhist Parade, while some of the cute tiny things that attracted lots of attention were a miniature parade of Jatukam Ramatape amulets that have become a hot topic among Thais at the moment, as well as the displays of the smallest crystal elephants in Thailand, even inside miniature bottles, which most visitors have to see through magnifying glasses.

More at minithai.com, if you can read it.

Finally, you can pay fifty grand for a camper! Design Within Reach offers a redesign of the space-age Airstream trailer. But for about half the money, you can get the sleek Airstream Basecamp shown below.

And if modern convenience is no object but money is, there are plenty of originals to be had, for much less.

Via Uncrate.

The first ballots cast in the French elections belonged to residents of St. Pierre and Miquelon, two tiny islands off the coast of Eastern Canada. The windswept, foggy isles are part of France through and through — they even take the Euro. Their biggest claims to fame are cod, fog, and making a mint during Prohibition, when the isles were used as a storage base for Canadian liquor. A local bar on the island claims to have Al Capone’s hat.

They were pro-Vichy during WWII, and Canada briefly considered an invasion. But in December of 1941, De Gaulle took the island for free France, without a shot, with the strange hybrid submarine cruiser, the Surcouf. Also in tow for the occasion were three corvettes and a New York Times reporter who was kidnapped and smuggled onto the sub after asking questions about the invasion. War is hell.

Today, the islands make their money from fishing, tourism, and aid from the French government, which pours $25 million in aid to the 5,000 inhabitants yearly. But while this might make you or me lazy, it looks as though the residents plan to sponsor a Drive to France contest. This will be a surprise to Google maps; they won’t even let you swim.

For more images, take in the Saint Piere and Miquelon pool’s slideshow at flickr. And Wikipedia’s history page is pretty nifty too.

Leave it to the Dutch to take the “trash” out of “trailer”. The Deseo is an adorable camper with all sorts of space-saving features, like a fold out table for the outside, a dinette that becomes a bed, a screened-in skylight, and a bracket for fitting your motorcycle right in the middle. A modular design allows the beds to be switched from bunks to a single, or a couch. The video is worth watching for its plastic fantastic sixties soundtrack.

Via apartment therapy.

Elliott is trying to reduce his life to one bag. So far, the site looks very promising. For instance, he’s demonstrated the art of fitting dress shirts into a fedex envelope. Definitely one to watch.

On the topic of tiny hotels, Jules’ Undersea Lodge is worth checking out if you’re ever in Key Largo. Since it’s in a lagoon, “underwater” is a bit more accurate. You can even get married there. I’ve never been inside this thing, but I’ve visited the undersea park, and the hotel is quite close to the surface, so there’s no risk of the bends. Unfortunately, that also means you won’t get nitrogen narcosis, and since no alcohol is allowed, you’ll be sober for the duration of your underwater stay.

Hotel Móvil can be trailered to any location and set up “en solo 30 minutos”, presumably Castillian for “after watching a broken web video of hydraulic legs descending to royalty-free techno.” It has a 50-person capacity, split over 11 rooms, and can be rented for 8,000 euros per weekend. That means if you get 49 of your friends to pay 82 euros a night, you sleep for free. Assuming they don’t mind sleeping five to a room.

I’m not sure how bunkbeds and wood paneling can be called 5-star, however. And if their website is any guide, you can also expect loud piped-in music, blinking lights, and horrendous layout. Still, it’s a neat idea.

Via trendhunter.

So we’ve sailed small, now let’s fly small:

The Cri-Cri ultralight was developed in the seventies by French aircraft designer Michel Colomban, whose goal was an sub-$1000 (1970 dollars) aerobatic ultralight. It weighs 139 pounds in its original configuration, making it the lightest airplane in existence. You can also put tiny R/C jets on it, as depicted in the photo, to get up to 150 mph.

(more…)

Boating is a great way to get in touch with nature in an insect-free environment. But powerboats are loud, obnoxious, and get mileage that’s measured in gallons per mile. (No, really — a 48 foot yacht will suck up about 2 gallons for every mile of cruising.) If you don’t have to get anywhere in a hurry, there’s nothing better than a sail. Once you’re out of the harbor, you can hoist the main and turn off the little motor, and the only sounds are the wind and the water and the gentle clinking of various little metal doodads.

But even sailboats can be cumbersome, and marinas charge by the foot. So here’s some of the smallest models — called “pocket cruisers” by those in the know — that won’t get your ass wet.

(more…)