Every couple years, those of us with wanderlust feel compelled to throw everything we own into a suitcase and switch cities, states, or even countries. Enter Travelbox, a set of basic furnishings made out of aluminum and wood, all of which pack up into a single shipping box. Bonus: There's room for a bike, so you can pick up and leave whenever you want.
Designed by Stefan Juust, an Austrian architect, the Travelbox measures about 7 feet long, 4 feet tall, and about 1.5 feet wide. It's not light—it weighs about 132 pounds—but it is incredibly streamlined, consolidating all of the essentials of your life into a single package: bike, table, and chair. The Travelbox even doubles as a way to ship your bike, while the box itself turns into a bookshelves and a dresser set when it's not in use.
"In its closed position it is rigid, efficient, and ready to endure the inevitable bumps of international travel. Upon arrival the Travelbox can be unfolded to instantly transform your new abode into a comfortable home," Juust says about the project as part of its official description on his Facebook page.
Think of it as the steamer trunk of the 21st century. Just as the high-society flappers and dandies of the 1920s would pack up all of their belongings into massive trunks as they skipped between American and European cities, the Travelbox is a way to efficiently move cities without having to leave all your belongings behind each time. MIT's made a more high-tech version that might seem similar, but it's not transportable. This is.
The Travelbox is only available by custom order directly from the architect, who can be reached via his official Facebook page here.
[via PSFK]