Most forgotten item when packing: pillow

Don’t Pack Without Your Perfectly Plush Pillow

A recent Lifehacker post reminded us at Headleveler about planning late summer trips and adequately preparing. Writer Alan Henry offered his tips and suggestions for a great night sleep while traveling wherever life’s course wanders.  Among Henry’s recommendations (ranging from earplugs to pre-screening the hotel rooms), he advised bringing, “a travel pillow” and one’s own personal pillow. He noted, “Most of us won’t want to pack or check an extra bag just for a pillow, but don’t underestimate how much better you’ll sleep in a strange place if you have it.” We could not agree more: having a pillow is important for one’s comfort and health.

What is the point of packing a pillow? How does it impact me? 

Have you ever had a Goldilocks moment when staying in an unfamiliar place? You sit on the hotel bed, but the mattress is too firm. It feels like someone put layers of cardboard under a thin sheet and called it a slapdash mattress. You try the other bed in the room, but it’s too soft and pliable. You anticipate sinking into its quicksand and waking up with a backache worse than that time you thought you were still agile enough for stand-up roller coasters. Tragically, there is no third option and you elect the firm mattress, but you try sleeping and feel something intangible is missing: your trusted, beloved… pillow.

Why are pillows so important as a health investment?

Maybe, you’re the type that has customized foot orthotics in a dusty pink shade, very specific rules about which angle the seat of a car must rest at, a custom pillow… all proof of a healthy fanaticism for avoiding physical back or neck pain. Perhaps, you see a chiropractor or orthopedic specialist for help managing chronic pain. Yet, for all these investments we make for our health, it’s often the first thing we overlook while vacationing. It’s as though we automatically assume that since the brain is on vacation from the day-to-day responsibilities of life, our health is no longer applicable.

However, the great health is an investment, like a car payment. You can’t avoid a month because you randomly decided to since you must commit to paying on the car to retain it. You have your body for life, which includes those short, wondrous spans of vacationing.

Now, to return to that hotel room in question, there are limits to what one can control in their environment. Imagine if your room is next to the guys from The Hangover, rest might be impossible. However, there will always be one element you can control; bring your pillow! It’s often forgotten by most travelers, but it means resting easy without cervical neck pain!

If pillows are so important, why do we forget them? 

When people use pillows, the thickness and softness directly impact the level of support and preferred comfort of a user. In fact, our Headleveler pillows and other specialized pillows improve the pillow integrity as part of their innate design. The pillow’s stuffing is not displaced by ordinary night movements, or even the most restless hotel snooze. Additionally, customized pillows account for one’s neck length, acutely designed for our inner Goldilocks concerned for neck and spinal care. If you’ve already gone the length of purchasing a custom pillow or have your own personal favorite that you’ve kept forever, then it’s a waste of an investment to leave the poor pillow behind.

When it comes to traveling, you need great health and don’t want to face crippling back or neck pain for sight-seeing or optimal work performance. Since you can’t bring your own mattress, take along a pillow. When jet-setting, we usually remember the basics we need for our daily care, such as toothbrushes. However, when it comes down to it, our neck and backs are as important as our teeth, hair, and other products we use daily. Yet, the pillow is often forgotten because it’s not something we even notice, consciously hold, or handle daily.

Rest-assured, you’ll sleep better when you pack a pillow!