Courtesy of Jane Glenn Haas

Joszi Meskan calls it "the steamer trunk lifestyle" for aging boomers. And I'm ready to sign up!

Forget "assisted living," she says. Don't think about a "retirement" home. Instead, travel the globe, spending several months in New York City, for example, maybe a few more in Paris or Rome or Beijing.

Instead of renting a hotel room by the day, find hotels that have adapted rooms to rent on a monthly basis.

In case you wonder what those rooms might look like, Meskan, a San Francisco based interior designer, has created a sample that she showcased at the recent Boomer Business Summit, part of the American Society on Aging conference, in San Francisco.

"Hotel rooms are, for the most part, only 50 percent occupied today so this seems like a win-win solution," she says.

Her model room is the standard 18 x 30-foot hotel size. But instead of a bed taking up the center, there's a sofa bed with drawers underneath and a desk with pullout space for a computer.

All very modern, compact, efficient and friendly.

"It's the way the rich used to live," Meskan says. "Use the hotel as a base camp. Spend your money traveling."

She has a point.

With expected life spans stretching into the 80s now, why pick an age-segregated lifestyle until disabilities force that upon you?

Meskan figures she's got a win-win idea for a recession-plagued economy. Hotels, she points out, have huge payrolls to meet whether rooms are rented or not. Renting rooms by the month gives the operator some guaranteed income.

"Put your personal stuff in storage," she says. "You should think about ridding yourself of stuff anyway."

She has another point there.

We all have too much stuff. Everything from drawings our kids made in first grade to photos collections that span the decades to souvenirs from long-ago vacations.

I went through those boxes about a decade ago, when we downsized from what I called our "Brady Bunch house" with 3,000 square feet and four bedrooms to about half that space.

There was something liberating about putting photos on CD disks, sending my kids their mementos, tossing and shredding and discarding junk.

"It gives your life purpose and freedom," Meskan says.

And then you can take off for places known and unknown.

You can live downtown near the hub of cultural events, shopping and the special attractions of whatever city you choose.

In your hotel room, you should have a small refrigerator and a microwave oven - which is all you'll need, Meskan says. "If you pick some sort of assisted living or retirement home you'll be eating in the dining room anyway," she says.

Meskan's model room is all white - which may not be the choice for everyone. But it's a start.

I like the idea of the "steamer trunk lifestyle."

Yes, you get tired of traveling. Weary of seeing the sites and the sights.

So then it's time to settle down. To maybe go back to your original hometown.

Weary of traveling. What a concept!

Meskan sold me. Now she just has to sell the hotel industry.

And I hope to report more on that later.