【Frivolous Lola】
Maybe you're reading this while slogging through soul-crushing traffic during the long holiday weekend. You might wish you could Frivolous Lolajust curl up with that book stowed away in the trunk or catch up on some sleep from a tiring week at work.
None of that is happening on this road trip, but when Cabin, a sleeping bus, launches later this month, getting a full night's sleep in an actual bed while riding on the freeway won't be just a dream.
SEE ALSO: This could be the tiniest hotel room in the worldThe special double-decker buses will take paying passengers between San Francisco and Los Angeles starting July 14 on tour buses re-outfitted with 24 beds, or sleeping pods, and a lounge space, bathroom, and, of course, Wi-Fi.
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Cabin co-founder and CEO Tom Currier calls the buses a "moving hotel" since "buses have such a negative brand perception."
While hotel might be a stretch for the stacked rows of sleep pods that provide 36 inches of overhead clearance, it is a full bed with a fluffy pillow, hotel-style mattress and comfy comforter, along with a reading light, outlet, AC vent, window, and a privacy curtain for good measure. It looks a lot like these sleeping nooks on long-haul Virgin Australia flights.
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable During a tour of the bus led by Currier, he made it clear this isn't a packed-in-like-sardines experience. "This is the polar opposite of a bus," he said. While it's technically very much still a bus, walking through the lounge and up the stairs to the beds, it feels something like a cross between a dorm room and a first-class luxury plane cabin.
Cabin's buses (the San Francisco startup has built three so far) are not a cheap Megabus alternative to travel the nearly 400 miles between the two major cities, but for $115 you get some shut-eye in a real bed and get to wake up at your destination. The bus leaves at 11 p.m. and arrives by 7 a.m. But you can keep sleeping until 9 a.m. if you need a few more Zs.
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Cabin, which until a few days ago was known as SleepBus, was a hit last year with three days of sold-out test drives up and down California. From the success of those trips with more than 20,000 people on a wait list for what was then only $45 trips, Cabin became a full-fledged hospitality transportation company with more than $3 million in seed funding announced last month.
Based on how the SF-LA trips go in the coming weeks, more routes could come to New York-Boston, Boston-Washington, D.C., and NYC-D.C. next.
Meanwhile, Currier is having fun hosting a slumber party on wheels. He said during a trial drive last year, he was up until 3 a.m. in the lounge chatting with a group of passengers. A Harry Potter-themed Night Bus ride is in the works.
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable For those who truly want their eight hours, each pod comes with socks, a water bottle, ear plugs and Dream Water -- a melatonin-infused concoction that claims to facilitate sleep.
Heading down Highway 101, which Currier said is a somewhat smoother, slower ride than the well-worn, speedy I-5 truck route, is "soothing." He compared it to the effect of a drive around the block to lull a baby to sleep.
Something about being in a moving vehicle seems to calm people down -- and the whole laying down in a real bed thing helps, too. Just don't get up too quick, there's a hard ceiling just above your head. This is a bus after all.
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