In a plausible future…
(Seen in an interview in The Exponential Times.)
Boothers: A New Lifestyle
Although it’s not for everyone…
This week we interviewed Michael, who along with his partner Elizabeth refer to themselves as Boothers. For those of us who are not familiar with this way of life, it’s a way of living that takes full advantage of the options offered by autonomous transportation. But let’s let Michael tell us about it…
Exponential Times: For anyone who hasn’t heard about it, what does it mean to be a Boother? And what is a Booth in this context?
Michael: It’s basically someone who uses an autonomous vehicle a lot in their day-to-day life, so much that they spend quite a bit of their life inside it. Many cases are because of commuting to work that’s far away, others because they travel long distances for leisure.
In our case, for example, we live in Monterey but work in San Francisco. It takes us a little over 2 hours to get there with the current average speeds of autonomous vehicles. So we spend at least around 20 hours a week in our vehicle.
We call the vehicle a Booth and we call ourselves Boothers because we live like this.
ET: Why did you decide to live like this?
M: Well basically because I wanted to be able to work at what I love and live in my hometown at the same time.
Even though there are many jobs you can do remotely in the tech industry, Liz and I work we have in-person jobs. We can only work from home a small percentage of the time.
In Monterey we live in a home right on the beachfront and we love that.
Some people think they couldn’t handle spending that much time in a vehicle and prefer living closer to their work. For us it’s worth it.
ET: What is a normal day like for you? What is your routine with the Booth? Any funny anecdotes you have experienced while organizing yourselves this way?
M: Well, I wake up on the way to work in the Booth in the morning, I wash up, get dressed, go over the grocery list, and by the time I’m done with breakfast I’m already getting off at my work’s doorstep at eight fifteen.
Liz keeps going to hers, and arrives by eight thirty, when she gets out of the Booth.
We finish working between four thirty and five. The Booth picks me up first and then we pick up Liz.
Then we head back to Monterey, usually arriving by seven or seven passed.
On the way back in the Booth we talk about our day, take the opportunity to read, nap a bit, do some strength exercises, eat something… whatever each of us feels like doing.
When we arrive, on some days we go running along the boardwalk where the Booth drops us off. We love that. Other days we meet friends for a drink or visit family. It depends on the day.
At home we shower, have dinner, and spend time on our hobbies. We usually spend that time apart because we’ve already been together in the Booth.
After that, we go to sleep in the Booth’s bed and that’s how our day ends. In the early hours, the Booth, when the algorithm decides, starts up and takes us to San Francisco so we arrive at eight fifteen.
ET: Is it comfortable? Any anecdote about the lifestyle?
M: Well, you have to get used to it, but for us it is comfortable. We’ve also made changes over time to get to the routine we have now.
There are drawbacks, of course. Before, for example, we used to go to bed at home and set an alarm to move to the Booth’s bed and another one to get up, and that was uncomfortable. But we realized it didn’t make sense, because we were making two beds and interrupting our sleep.
Actually, one day when the second alarm went off for me to get up and get ready, I opened my eyes and saw that I was still at home at Monterey. I jumped up in a panic, because now I couldn’t make it on time. I had to take the day off.
Liz was on her way to work. She did get up at four and I didn’t. But she didn’t notice that I hadn’t followed.
These are the kinds of things you fine-tune over time. Now we already know what we want to do and what we don’t.
ET: And what is the Booth like? Have you always used the same one?
M: Well, I’ve gone through several.
We currently have an aRB 7000 for the two of us. It has a queen size bed, a bathroom with a shower, a small kitchen, and a living area. It’s like a tiny house on wheels.
I was lucky, really because there are people who, when they start working, take long commutes in standard cars. And of course… you can’t sleep or wash up properly in those. I was able to skip that part, but you can’t keep it up for too long anway.
In my case, because I already knew other people doing my route when I started working, I was able to start in a large multi-seat Booth. The only thing was that upon arriving in San Francisco, I had to get off before everyone else and take another transport because my job wasn’t conveniently located on the route they already had. And the same on the way back. Plus, when you’re with more people there are always conflicts over space or stuff.
Then I moved on to a single-person rental Booth. It saved me time and some money because I didn’t have to take more transportation. But of course, since it was shared, I couldn’t leave my things inside and it wasn’t always as clean as you’d like.
Then I bought my own single-person Booth for convenience and because renting is more expensive than buying one if you use it daily for work.
And finally the one we have now, which we got after Liz and I got together. Since we were doing the same route, we bought a bigger double Booth to be more comfortable. Having a full bed was important to us because after all, we use it every night.
ET: How did you meet Elizabeth?
M: At a Boother event that was held in a parking lot for Booths. It was through the parking algorithm, which tends to put together people who take the same route, unless you request otherwise.
ET: In your Booth or in mine?
M: That’s right, hahaha.
ET: So, is it financially worthwhile to be a Boother?
M: For us, its more or less even. We have high paying tech jobs and if we add up the cost of our home in Monterey plus the aRB, it’s more or less equivalent to a home in San Francisco and one or two normal cars for commuting. But we get
ET: And where is the Booth while you’re working? Do you park it?
M: Ours is pretty big so it’s not usually easy to park. It usually stays in a Booth parking lot. If we’ve marked that we need something from the grocery store it goes there first so they can load it up, then it heads to the parking lot.
Booth parking lots are great, because you can also spend the night there. They have everything you might need, and you can form a community there too.
We use it if we stay overnight in San Francisco for dinner or a late event. That day it doesn’t make sense to go back, so we stay to sleep in the parking lot.
ET: In general, what are the advantages of being a Boother?
M: For us there are several. Having the job we want and living on the beach in the afternoon and on weekends is the main one.
Also, we organize our routine better. We have our breakfast during the commute before getting off, rather than before leaving home, for example.
And once we have the Booth, we do weekend getaways, leaving directly after work on Fridays. And in the summer we do Booth trips further away. It’s the way we prefer for travelling.
ET: And the drawbacks?
M: In this lifestyle, the downside is the time you spend inside the Booth. You’re in transit to get where you want to be and you can’t get out. We bought the aRB 7000 so we’d have plenty of space and that means we don’t have issues with that.
It’s also true you sleep a bit worse. It’s not so much the number of hours of sleep, but the quality, because in the end you’re in motion. But you can partially regulate that by indicating when you’ve slept poorly so it adjusts its speed the next time.
ET: For being a Boother, does age matter?
M: I think it depends more on your mentality and way of living expectations.
Young people are usually more willing to do certain things to earn more money or to have a better job. And that’s why there are more of them.
But then it’s something you have to like, or at least you have to think it’s worth it for what you want in life. Starting in your thirties, if you don’t like it, you give it up.
ET: What happens when you have kids? Is it compatible?
M: Everything is more complicated with kids. We don’t have children yet, in fact we’ve considered stopping being Boothers because of that.
ET: So do people stop being Boothers when they have children?
M: In some cases yes, in others no. We’ve been asking around and among the Boothers who have kids and each family organizes however they can.
For example, one couple takes them with them to San Francisco for school. So they have breakfast with them and when they’re done they spend time together in the Booth on the way back. The advantage is that if something happens or one of the kids gets sick, they’re in the same city as you are.
Another couple we know, however, leaves the kids at home with the stAIward to handle breakfast and taking them to school. After school they spend time with their grandparents until they arrive. That way they keep a family bond with grandparents too.
Like I said, everyone figures it out in their own way. I suppose we’ll find a way to make it compatible. I’m optimistic.
ET: Would you recommend this lifestyle to everyone?
M: Of course not. It’s something you have to like.
When people ask me about when someone should consider starting with a Booth, the answer is clear: It’s when you already spend a lot of time in transit in vehicles. For example, if you go every weekend to the other side of the state for some reason or if you like living far from where you work and make long commutes for that.
In those cases, I’d recommend starting by trying out renting a Booth. You’re more comfortable than in other forms of transport, and you can rest better.
When you’ve been traveling in a Booth almost daily for about three months, you already know if it’s for you or not.
ET: Do you have any funny anecdote that’s happened in your day-to-day life as Boothers?
M: Well, one day Liz and I were waking up on our way to San Francisco, having a good time, when the Booth received an order to pull over for a police check, and of course…
We got quite a scare at first, but we had time to react.
The robocop just stood there for a moment and turned around, I guess we weren’t what it was looking for.
We actually laughed a lot about it.
ET: Commuter interruptus, we could call it then…
M: Yes, hahaha, in every sense.
Now we know where those checkpoints are, just in case, hahaha.
ET: Thank you so much for giving our readers a look into this lifestyle.
M: Thank you for providing visibility.
The background
When all cars and other vehicles are autonomous, there will no longer be traffic jams. Nor hardly any accidents.
Highway speed limits can also be higher because traffic will flow without stopping, like water in a river does. And it will also be possible for some vehicles to go lower speeds while maintaining that flow.
All of this will make journeys even more predictable.
So, by eliminating driving and traffic jams, commutes to work or long journeys can be relaxing. Leisure becomes the main focus inside the vehicle.
Today there is already a floating population that goes to work in cities by train, bus, or car, which returns home to sleep. Or people who, for work reasons, spend a lot of time in the car or another type of vehicle.
Likewise, there will be people, as in our story, who are willing to live farther away for whatever reason and do part of their daily life in a vehicle. There will also be, as there are today, people whose job entails a lot of travel and who prefer this means or lifestyle for getting around.
But until then…
Have a good future!