Lost in a hotel room

There’s hardly a night when I’m not woken up by my not-to-be-ignored bladder. I wouldn’t even call it ‘woken up’; it’s more like a state of half-consciousness in which my body informs the night-guard in my brain about the action that is needed. Preferably I stay as unconscious as possible at such times, so I can pick up the dream at the point where I left off once I return to bed. At home this works out very well most of the time. It does help that I can find the way from bed to toilet blindfold in my apartment, so switching on lights (which will certainly wake me up) is not necessary.
Since the air on a plane is very dry, we tend to drink a lot of water during our work. As a result of this, after a flight, the wake-up calls from my bladder are more frequent than usual. There’s no problem if the bed I’m sleeping in is my own, but when it’s a hotel bed, a visit to the toilet without waking up really is a challenge.

A lot of hotel rooms are more or less the same, with a short corridor as an entrance with a door leading to the bathroom. But when you’re in bed, it’s hard to tell which way it is to this corridor. And the night-guard of my brain doesn’t keep a record of all the furniture in every single hotel room either (I don’t blame him – his job is just guarding). So after bumping into the bed next to your bed (was there another bed in this room?), a floor lamp, the sharp corner of a desk and your own suitcase in the corner, you’ve woken up enough to decide that you need some light to get to the bathroom. But then you’ll encounter the next problem: where do I find a light? So you return to the floor lamp you just kicked over, you tussle with it for a time and then start to search for the on-off switch. It could be a button on top or at the bottom but there could just as easily be a cord-pull somewhere. If you’re really unlucky, this light can only be switched on or off using a button near the bed. Meanwhile your bladder is pestering you increasingly. When you finally return to bed, it’s as if you’ve never been as awake. And there’s no way that you’ll ever pick up that dream again.

Some of our frequent flyers travel even more than we do, and spend a lot of time in hotel rooms. I can’t help wondering whether they experience the same nightly inconveniences, but I never dare to ask.

Caroline

Lost

Posted by:   Caroline  | 
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KoenH

Yes, I do experience the same issue frequently… ;-). Need to switcn on the bright light to arrive safely at my destination at night, to please my bladder.

A. Chatziantoniou

Luckily I sleep very well – so the number of times I need to get out of bed in the middle of the night and interrupt my well needed beauty-sleep is limited.

But instead of relying on flashlights, open curtains and so on I just switch on a light (typical next to the bed) and when done switch it off again and return to sleep.

A. Chatziantoniou

Luckily I sleep very well – so the number of times I need to get out of bed in the middle of the night and interrupt my well needed beauty-sleep is limited.

But instead of relying on flashlights, open curtains and so on I just switch on a light (typical next to the bed) and when done switch it off again and return to sleep.

KoenH

Yes, I do experience the same issue frequently… ;-). Need to switcn on the bright light to arrive safely at my destination at night, to please my bladder.

A. Chatziantoniou

Luckily I sleep very well – so the number of times I need to get out of bed in the middle of the night and interrupt my well needed beauty-sleep is limited.

But instead of relying on flashlights, open curtains and so on I just switch on a light (typical next to the bed) and when done switch it off again and return to sleep.

Blog

I simply keep the curtain open just a little so I can see something at least without needing that very bright light :)

Blog

I simply keep the curtain open just a little so I can see something at least without needing that very bright light :)

Frans Dijkstra

I put my phone to flight mode if I am in a non EU timezone, so that I can sleep but still van use the screen light to navigate around at night, works perfectly as long a I use a light colored background image.

franssie

I put my phone to flight mode if I am in a non EU timezone, so that I can sleep but still van use the screen light to navigate around at night, works perfectly as long a I use a light colored background image.

Martijn Moret

Yep, the phone is your friend. It is hard though not to start reading the tweets, mails and others which wake you up even more.

Martijn Moret

Yep, the phone is your friend. It is hard though not to start reading the tweets, mails and others which wake you up even more.

Paul

Oh yeah, know the feeling. So I finally got a flashlight apps on my iphone and set it so it just gives me enough dim light to find my way and avoid stubbed toes and crashing sounds. Now I just have to train myself not to read mail and facebook when I have the iphone in my hand at night.

Paul

Oh yeah, know the feeling. So I finally got a flashlight apps on my iphone and set it so it just gives me enough dim light to find my way and avoid stubbed toes and crashing sounds. Now I just have to train myself not to read mail and facebook when I have the iphone in my hand at night.

Jannette003

What I used to do is keep a light on in the bathroom and the door a little ajar, so there was just enough light when I had to go to the bathroom.

Jannette003

What I used to do is keep a light on in the bathroom and the door a little ajar, so there was just enough light when I had to go to the bathroom.

Karin

The answer is yes! I’ve had nights where I get up and am convinced I’m still in the hotel from the night before. And because I’m determined not to wake up, I leave my eyes closed – it’s dark and you can’t see anything anyway, right? Only to walk slap into a wall, followed by the bump against the bed, crash into the lamp, bump into the suitcase, fumbling for the light switch.  Luckily my nightguard is trained well enough to switch everything off on my return to bed, so most the of the time it doesn’t take me long to go back to sleep.

Karin

The answer is yes! I’ve had nights where I get up and am convinced I’m still in the hotel from the night before. And because I’m determined not to wake up, I leave my eyes closed – it’s dark and you can’t see anything anyway, right? Only to walk slap into a wall, followed by the bump against the bed, crash into the lamp, bump into the suitcase, fumbling for the light switch.  Luckily my nightguard is trained well enough to switch everything off on my return to bed, so most the of the time it doesn’t take me long to go back to sleep.

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