Would Kerouac Be a Nuppie?

The evolving lifestyle of nuppies—nomadic urban professionals—and upscale designers' efforts to outfit them catch the attention of Greg Beato, writing in Reason. Casulo, a trunk "crammed with enough stylish furniture to outfit a studio apartment," is one such easily transported option; a pair of mobile homes intends to take things further (and, ahem, farther).

Kerouac's On The Road protagonists, Beato writes, "remain so committed to constant movement … because the accommodations are so squalid whenever they actually arrive anywhere." Enter the $50,000 Design Within Reach Airstream Trailer, "with an interior suitable for a Dwell centerfold," and GMC's Pad, complete with satellite TV and Kohler fixings— "the liberating mobility of the Beats with the liberating autonomy of having a simple, Walden-like shelter even Martha Stewart might envy." (More nuppie stories.)