5 Unusual Places I’ve Slept: Where, How and Why

Because I’m a low-budget traveler (a backpacker most of the time), I’ve found myself sleeping in a number of…um…unusual situations. Sometimes it was due to the unique circumstances I found myself in. At other times, it’s been by choice…I simply chose one option vs another less desirable one.

Note: no alcohol was involved in any of these situations. Not even a drop.

And now, without further ado, here are the…

5 unusual places I’ve slept

1. On the floor of the Rome Airport next to a guy with a poodle

Why I did it

I had a flight to Copenhagen at 6 am the next morning. Rome was expensive. I’m a night person. There were no trains that were early enough to get me there on time. It was cheaper and more logical to take a cab to the airport at midnight and to catch a few hours of sleep versus spending on a hotel and not sleeping because I worried about oversleeping.

What it was like

Prior to that, I had only napped in airports. I never actually slept on the floor for the night. The anticipation of this was odd; I certainly didn’t look forward to it as one would to a bed. The airport felt completely abandoned when I arrived. I wasn’t even sure if I was allowed to sleep there. As for the experience…it wasn’t as bad as you would think. Sure my back and hips hurt just a tiny, but because of how I positioned my day pack as a pillow–up against my main backpack–my neck was comfy. And thanks to my earplugs and eye mask, I was able to drift into some sort of not-quite REM sleep. Knowing that the nice guy with the poodle was nearby gave me some bizarre sense of safety.

2. On a couch in the lobby of a busy hostel in Krakow

Why I did it

I’d made a mistake earlier in the day, traveling to a town in the country that was jam-packed, thanks to a national holiday I wasn’t aware of. The place was not quiet, as I’d expected. Worse yet, the room my hostel had found for me was unacceptable. It was a ‘pseudo hostel room,’ which was meant to be shared…with strangers. Not fellow backpackers. Instead, there were families and senior citizens there and the bed’s sheets had cigarette burns in them. The blankets were super scuzzy. My sleep sheet suddenly seemed irrelevant and useless. I just couldn’t do it.

I turned around and went back to Krakow (another 3 hours on the bus) and back to my hostel, which I loved. Got put in a room with 7 others, including a friend I’d made (an awesome guy named Sonny) who snored like a drunken sailor. I’m a light sleeper. Of course. And so, I had to leave the room. If I wanted to sleep. The problem? There was nowhere else to go–except the hostel’s lobby couch.

What it was like

It sucked a little bit, but wasn’t awful. I had to wear earplugs + iPod and an eye mask. But I somehow got some sleep. Hearing the door open and close was better than hearing the deep snores of my friend. Surprisingly, I actually got some sleep.

3. On the ground, in Parque Carolina, in the middle of Quito, Ecuador

Why I did it

Was with a friend. The weather was good. We felt like it…just because. We had not been drinking.

What it was like

It was OK. Not bad, actually, due to pleasant weather. We had sleeping bags and pillows, so we kept warm and were somewhat comfortable. But by morning, we were covered in dew–not unlike the grass and flowers. It felt odd–as if Mother Nature had gotten confused. Overall, it wasn’t bad, though.

4. In the desert, on the sand, in Wadi Rum, Jordan

Why I did it

When I was invited to be the guest of some Bedouins, the sleeping options were as follows:

• indoors in a room (where there were a lot of flies) on a cushion on a hard floor
• a really cool room that looked like a fancy Bedouin tent (but felt slightly claustrophobic)
• on the ground next to a house in town (the ground was dirty)
• on a mat on the sand in the middle of the desert surrounded by open space and with a big sky above me (this is the option I chose)
  

What it was like

Once I let go and trusted that my Bedouin buddy knew what he was doing (meaning that he would find a spot that was insect- and scorpion-free), I was fine. It felt odd to be on a mat on the sand, but then I got more comfortable with it. I felt very exposed since I wasn’t under shelter. But I also felt great, with a sense of freedom and connectedness to the vastness of the desert. It was quite amazing actually.

5. In the bed of a deceased man in a Cappadocian Cave

Cappadocia cave bedroom

Why I did it

I’d been on an overnight bus from Antalya and was tired. My low-budget room in Goreme, Cappadocia, was located near a construction site. One worker was drilling. Another was sawing. And there was music coming from the kitchen. I asked the guy running the place (a Gypsy who’d once danced Flamenco in Spain) for another room. He took me for a 10-minute walk to the hotel owner’s father’s home, down the street and then down a dusty path to a clearing…..in the middle of the fairy chimneys. The man and his wife were living in caves.

What it was like

After a warm Turkish welcome, I was shown to my authentic “cave room.” It seemed and felt odd and I was reluctant to get under the covers at first (odd, woolen and slightly dirty perhaps), but once tucked into my little cocoon, I slept like a corpse. Later, after I thanked the owner (who spoke German to me even though I don’t speak more than two words of it), I went back to my hotel and asked the Gypsy about the room.

Sure enough, it had belonged to the owner’s father–who’d recently passed away. I’d slept in his room and his bed. Sure it was weird, but the energy there had been nice and I did sleep well, so…hey, why not. Better than an airport floor, dontcha think?

How about you?

Have you slept anywhere unusual? If so, why did you do it? And what was it like? Would you do it again?

Photo Credit: The first three photos are from Flickr; clicking on the photo will take you to the page of the photographer. The only exception to this is the poodle shot. Credit goes to NightRStar, whose profile page is found here.