Getting Your Best Travel Sleep

By Doris Gallan –

The value of a good nights’ sleep, we’re told, cannot be undervalued. I say, double that when traveling. Without peaceful rest, you can hardly be expected to explore all day, absorb tons of new information, cope with myriad differences, and try to have fun doing it!

If you have trouble sleeping when you travel, you should know that with a little extra care in booking your accommodations and in the preparation of a sleep kit—you might just improve your slumber on the road.

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Accommodations Tips

When booking somewhere to stay, check critique sites as well as the hotel/hostel’s own website. Verify its location with an eye on descriptions such as ‘historic’ or ‘central to everything’. These terms often indicate rougher parts of town meaning either your nervousness or the sirens will keep you awake. You can mitigate the situation by booking in hotels with good security and getting a room on a higher floor.

If you’re arriving late at night or intend to spend a lot of time out in the evenings, make especially sure that you’re comfortable with the location. You may want to check whether an in-house restaurant exists and what its hours are so that you need not venture out a night. When arriving by automobile, you’ll also want to ensure that a secure parking area is available so that you can walk from your car to the hotel safely and that your vehicle won’t be at risk overnight.

Sleep Kit Tips

Certain travel accessories assembled into a sleep kit will enhance your slumber. Depending on which of your senses are most sensitive to outside disturbances consider bringing: ear plugs to block noise; a sleep mask to keep light out; a scented balm (for example, Tiger Balm) to cover odors; and, if all else fails, over the counter sleeping aids to knock you out. I also add a travel alarm to my kit so that I’m not dependent on the hotel’s services or clock radio and I’m sure to have one I can see in the dark.

Like everything else related to travel, a little advance planning can take care of the causes of sleep loss. Of course, you may also want to heed the usual warnings to avoid caffeine, heavy meals and sugar late in the evening and replace these with quiet activities or long, hot baths.

Waking refreshed and full of energy, you’ll enjoy your travels so much more.

Doris is a boomer who has traveled to all seven continents, 50+ countries and lived in five. Her travel tips are available through a series of ten tips booklets as well as her book The Boomers’ Guide to Going Abroad to Travel|Live|Give|Learn. You can receive her free daily travel tips and her weekly newsletter at http://www.babyboomerstraveling.com/.

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Getting Your Best Travel Sleep
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