I love going on holiday, but one of the things I always miss while I’m away is my own bed. There is nothing worse than an uncomfortable bed.
During my travels, I’ve slept in some interesting places:
1. Koa Cabins where the beds had rock-hard bases and no pillows. I didn’t sleep well until we went to K-Mart and purchased a small pillow each. Note – I do love Koa cabins though, despite their rock-hard beds!
2. In Egypt, one of the places we stayed had mouse dirt on the pillows. We changed rooms and the second room had the same problem. In the end, we gave up and made the best of it. I slept with one eye open all night, on the look out for rodents.
3. In Africa – we pitched our tents after dark, and they were on a slight hill. We slept on thin sleep mats and mine was on top of a rock. I ended up sliding down the hill, just trying to avoid that rock! Actually, this has happened in lots of places. Murphy’s Law applies here – if there’s a rock you will pitch your tent on it.
4. In Pakistan – the “hotel” where we stayed was owned by a very strange man with only one eye. At one stage, he was brandishing a gun after drinking a little too much alcohol. Several of us shared a room that night and we barricaded the door. We were pleased to leave the next morning!
5. In India – all the hotels were booked out because of a festival. Several of us had to sleep on the hotel roof with our sleep mats and sleeping bags. The mosquitoes had a real party that night and the dogs started barking in the small hours of the morning. They serenaded us for HOURS! The roof was very hard and uncomfortable. You might recognize this since my characters in Wanderlust experienced the same thing.
6. In Africa, we had to pitch our tents on the road because both sides of the road were thick jungle. It was wet and rainy, hot and humid and uncomfortable. We also had to get up really early before the trucks started coming through.
The ideal situation: We have a slat bed (I think you call them sleigh beds in the US). I like at least two pillows so I can prop myself up and read, but always sleep with one fairly flat pillow. I like crisp cotton sheets, hate flannelette sheets and electric blankets and king-size beds are good. My hubby is like a furnace, which is good in the middle of winter when I have cold feet, but not so much fun when it’s summer and really hot!
What is your preference when it comes to beds, linens, mattresses and pillows?
Related posts:
March 22nd, 2010 at 12:38 am · Link
I’m really hard to please when it comes to sleeping. First the room has to be cool. Not cold but really not hot. if it’s too hot, I can’t sleep and I like it to bed cool because I have to have a blanket. A soft blanket that I can feel on me and bundle up in.
Second, the room has to be dark and devoid of noise. if there is even a hint of light…I can’t sleep. The noise part really gets to me ebcause I’m such a light sleeper and everything wakes me up. So I started wearing foam ear plugs to bed everynight so I can’t hear anything. The tick tock of the clock, the whirr of the air conditioner, the beeping horms outside, the dogs barking…yep, all of that will wake me up and when I don’t get enough sleep, I’m a bear.
And Third, the bed has to be soft. I want to slip down into the bed and feel like the bed is cushioning me. Not laying atop a slab of concrete in a hard bed.
Also I like to have at least two big pillows and be propped up a little when I sleep. Like I said. I’m really picky.
March 22nd, 2010 at 1:09 am · Link
Mary – once I get to sleep I’m okay. I know my husband has resorted to ear plugs during his golfing trips. Some of his golfing buddies snore terribly!!
I do like to have something covering me, be it a blanket or sheet, otherwise I can’t sleep.
March 22nd, 2010 at 3:09 am · Link
You’ve stayed some interesting places, Shelley. LOL
I like clean, fresh sheets and a bed that’s not too soft or not too hard. *g* I sound like Goldilocks.
March 22nd, 2010 at 4:15 am · Link
I love a not too soft,not too hard kind of mattress. I need two pillows so I’m propped up a bit, I can not sleep with my head flat. A soft sheet and thin blanket.
Carol L.
March 22nd, 2010 at 5:36 am · Link
Whew, Shelley! Those appeared to be some pretty bad places to sleep! I tend to bring my pillow with us on our trips.
March 22nd, 2010 at 5:57 am · Link
I haven’t traveled all that much but I do know the one place I loved to sleep — our bed. I know most people will say that but it’s the only place I can rest comfortably. When we take our anniversary trips, I always sleep horribly. It’s not until we get home and I’m back in our bed that I can settle in and get some zzz’s.
March 22nd, 2010 at 7:06 am · Link
I need a bed. I don’t think I could’ve experienced those first 6. LOL!
You are a brave woman.
March 22nd, 2010 at 7:41 am · Link
LOL I’m clearly not very adventurous as the thought of sleeping rough doesn’t thrill me at all!!
March 22nd, 2010 at 8:13 am · Link
I love a huge bed and fresh sheets and a firm mattress. I need to cover up if only with a sheet but my feet has to stick out from under the covers..even in winter. I tease my hubby that I breathe by my feet. ha ha susan L.
March 22nd, 2010 at 8:58 am · Link
I’m a comfort gal, give me a large, not too soft bed with a couple of pillows and a sheet, (because where ever we stay the ac is blaring the whole night long). I wouldn’t make it through the night if I had to rough it, you are of stronger stock than I am.
March 22nd, 2010 at 9:12 am · Link
Very interesting blog about sleeping….I prefer a mattress that is slightly firmer/harder than sinking down deep into one. As long as I have enough covers I’m fine. Yeah it’s Spring… now I can take the electic blanket off.
March 22nd, 2010 at 9:27 am · Link
I often come home with back and neck aches from hotel beds. Not fun!
March 22nd, 2010 at 9:33 am · Link
i never minded any sorts of sleeping arrangements when i was younger. now i must always bring my two pillows from home with me. i must have my eqyptian cotton sheets near my face.
MicroFiction Monday – Sh!
March 22nd, 2010 at 1:07 pm · Link
I have to have it completely dark and quiet. If I stay in a hotel or share a room with anyone I will always have ear plugs in my purse LOL. I don’t go anywhere without them and they do come in handy. I also like my room cool. In the winter (if you can call it winter in Texas) I love to snuggle under the covers. During summer (hotter than hades) I sleep with maybe a sheet and the fans are going to kee me cool so I can sleep. But my bed is a cross between not really hard and not really soft and my pillow is not flat, but it cannot be too poofy LOL. I have also gotten spoiled with my sheets, they are Northern Nights sateen and they are so soft. I have earned having my bed the way I want it LOL
March 22nd, 2010 at 1:36 pm · Link
NJ – there’s nothing nicer than climbing into a bed with crisp, clean sheets.
Carol – it sounds as if a few of us are fans of more than one pillow.
March 22nd, 2010 at 1:38 pm · Link
Barb – when we travel it’s usual for at least a month and space is at a premium so the pillows get left at home. You’d think rolled up clothes would work, but no! They don’t. they’re uncomfortable and make for a lumpy pillow.
March 22nd, 2010 at 1:38 pm · Link
Jaime – there’s nothing better than your own bed. That’s definitely the place to collect lots of zzzzzs.
March 22nd, 2010 at 3:10 pm · Link
I like a fairly hard bed with lots of pillows and clean sheets. Sounds like you’ve been to hell and back in some places …makes me kinda glad that I haven’t travelled much..lol
March 22nd, 2010 at 5:13 pm · Link
I love to be warm and not cold in bed. I simply don’t go to sleep if my feet are cold and that has happened a lot this winter. I certainly have not done the traveling you have done, but working with Boy Scouts for about 15 years, I slept in a lot of tents. That was great fun. We did experience a terrible lightning storm once when camping out with a bunch of Tiger Cubs. Those are the youngest Boy Scouts (kindergarten age) in case some here aren’t familiar with scout ranks.
March 22nd, 2010 at 7:49 pm · Link
Such wonderful travels, Shelley. Even if the sleeping situation wasn’t always the best. There is nothing like our own bed. It just feels right.
March 22nd, 2010 at 7:50 pm · Link
My bed can’t be to soft or to hard and I need to pillows and at least two blankets and of course clean sheets.
March 22nd, 2010 at 8:12 pm · Link
I wanted to add, that once I bought some black silk type sheets, fitted and other, pillow cases and a lightweight blanket.
I hated it! First off, all those little dry patches on my feet and toes would catch on the sheets and cover sheet. It tore them up after a few nights.
I had the silky pillow cases on both of my pillows and every time I moved they would shoot out one side or the other because they were so slippery.
I wear silky pajamas and damn near fell out of bed because I would slip and slide everytime I turned over.
I never thought I would say it…but I will never try silk or silky sheets again. Those things are dangerous. lol
March 22nd, 2010 at 9:51 pm · Link
LOL Mary, that’s funny. I’ve had a silky night gown before and found them very slippery. I hadn’t thought of dangerous sheets though! I’m going to have to write that into a story!!
March 23rd, 2010 at 12:48 pm · Link
Omg, lol that would be funny as heck to read in one of your stories.
March 25th, 2010 at 3:20 pm · Link
I have had that problem whit the rock under your sleeping bag my self it was there no mather were i move.I love soft Beds and Lots of Pillow i have to have a body pillow to hold a night to sleep.
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