What I miss most while traveling?

Having just returned home after four months away, I thought that I would share with you What I miss most while traveling? My last months had not been planned travel, they were a “forced” time away from home because of an accident. However, these months became my longest time living out of a suitcase and an experience to tell this and other stories.

I left Florida in September on a short trip planned to the Hudson River Valley, New York with only one carry on. My week trip turned into four months of recovering and resulted in filling four large suitcases and that same carry on for my return home. Typically, I am a light traveler, but this time I was not moving or sightseeing, but limited because of my injury; thus, I turned to my natural instincts to, “pack like a rat,” everything from DVDs, magazines, books, clothes, and the like.

During my time away from home, I missed people the most, but in this story I would like to mention , in particular, the things I missed: the ability to hang up my clothes in a closet instead of piling them on a chair and on my suitcase, knowing the ins and outs of my own tv and cable remotes, having a junk drawer for things you just don’t know what to do with yet, adjusting the water temperature to just right in the shower, the taste of a my particular brand of coffee, and the smell of my laundry detergent.  Yes, many of these things may seem rather trivial but my trip was not a chosen hiatus, but a short trip turned very long via, “an act of nature.”  (If you would like to read about my accident click here)

Regardless of the circumstances that extended my stay, I bet that many avid adventureros and even business travelers can attest that the number ONE missed item when traveling for long periods of time is………

Your BED.

Despite the newer sleep number beds, decorative throw pillows, turn down service or no, there is no substitute to your own bed and pillow whether you like it with one sheet, two sheets, comforter, quilt, throw blanket, or more or even less.

I have just recently returned to my bed; “Oh how I missed you.”  I will not include a picture because I have chosen not to make my bed today. And, I can do that because it is my bed. The pillow is just right, not too big, not too flat.  The mattress is also just right, not too soft, not too firm. I almost feel like I am recounting Goldilocks and the Three Bears, but my bed is just right for me.  Now, bear in mind that I have been known to sleep very well on docks in Southern Spain, boats transversing the seas between Turkey and Greece, every transaltantic flight possible, and even camping in the Rockies or the Sahara.  However, a night’s sleep is never as sweet as in your own bed.

For those traveling and reading this, I leave you with, “sleep tight don’t let the bed bugs bite.” For those that are home, “sweet dreams.”  I will be enjoying my bed tonight, tomorrow night, and the next.  I will let my suitcases rest for awhile; thus, I will unpack later.