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YOUR PLANE LEAVES at the crack of dawn, the train has arrived at some unknown hour of the morning or you’ve just missed that last bus. All the hostels and hotels are full, you’re down to you’re last dime, or perhaps you’re just looking to save a few bucks.
While you’re traveling there will be at least one occasion when you have to face spending the night without the luxuries of a bed and comforter.
Here are a few hints and tips to ponder before you close your eyes for the night:
Photo by barto
Get Advice
You’re missing out if you bed down in an airport without first consulting www.sleepinginairports.com, with reviews and practical advice from practically every airport in the world.
Find out which airport has comfy sofas in the departure lounge, or where you can expect to be woken by rats running across your face. Some train and bus stations are also included on this useful website.
Make sure you know the opening and closing times, if applicable, of anywhere you might consider sleeping. For example, Paris’ budget airport Beauvais chucks out sleepers at 11 pm every night.
With little except fields around Beauvais, if the weather is less than warm and dry you’ll be in for a very unpleasant night.
Follow Your Instincts
For a good nights sleep you need peace and quiet, a soft place to lie down and perhaps some shelter should it rain. The city park or a local beach typically meets all of the above requirements.
Unfortunately, all the low-lifes of the city, the dealers, pimps, alcoholics and other petty criminals, also seem to like these kinds of areas.
Several travelers have reported spending the night on Rio’s beaches, only to be woken in the early hours threatened with a knife and a less than polite request for all of their belongings.
Photo by motoyen
If an area doesn’t look safe, or even if you just have a ‘bad feeling’ then it’s best to follow those instincts and look elsewhere.
Love Your Bags
A passenger recently stranded in Phoenix Airport fell asleep with his laptop strapped around his body. In the morning the strap remained, but his computer, camera, passport and bag had disappeared.
Use a locked storage area if possible or hug your luggage and don’t let go. One Internet blog even suggests duct taping everything to your body so that there’s no risk of limp arms letting go of anything.
Your passport, money and credit cards should be so well hidden on your body that not even a thorough customs search could retrieve them.
Don’t Expect to Sleep
With your head stuck between an armrest, the metal frame of a chair sticking into your side and the departure area full or passing travelers, it’s not always easy to fall asleep.
There’s nothing more frustrating than tossing and turning all night, especially when you have no room to toss and turn.
Ear plugs are indispensable for blocking out the sounds of announcements and passing cleaners, but also bring a good book or a full iPod to pass those early hours when sleep isn’t possible.
Be Prepared for Company
While it’s nice to have some peace and quiet while you sleep, if you see other people bedding down for the night it means that this is probably a safe (ish) place to stay. Resist the urge to head to that dark, quiet corner far from anywhere.
No matter where you choose to sleep, be aware of who’s around you.
I once awoke on an overnight bus in the U.S. to find my male neighbor attempting a ‘massage’ of my upper thigh area. A close friend of mine once had her sleep disturbed at a the Berlin Train station to find a semi-naked man trying to lick her toes.
While these occurrences are rare (and tame in comparison to other backpacking tales), ask yourself if you really want to risk getting groped by a stranger.
Photo by bratha
Are You Legal?
New York’s JFK airport does not allow ‘lying down’ inside any of its buildings. Neither does the entire city of Singapore.
If you can’t perfect the art of sleeping in an upright position, expect to be woken up by some less than polite security official. While it is rare, they may be within their rights to detain and/or fine you.
Consider the Alternatives
While you might succeed in getting a good night’s sleep, roughing it is never the most pleasurable night of your trip and your safety can never be guaranteed.
Before you resign yourself to a rough night, think about what else you could do. Perhaps sitting on an overnight bus/train to another destination, going to an all night café or finding a friend with floor space may be a better option.
It may even be worth shelling out those extra dollars for a nice hotel.
Community Connection
Sleeping rough is more dangerous for female travelers. Check out 7 Must-Know Personal Safety Tips for Solo Female Travelers for candid advice.
A silk sleeping sack is a great piece of gear for sleeping rough. Check out Matador editor Tim Patterson’s review of the Travel Hammock silk sleeping sack.
Have you slept rough while traveling? Tell us about your experience by leaving a comment below.
Matt Scott
Having spent the majority of his adult life traveling and working abroad, Matt Scott has plenty to write about; his writing and photos have appeared in publications around the world, both on line and in print. Originally from the UK he currently lives in Paris, where he works as a trip leader for an active travel company.
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We used sleepingairports.com once for Athens. It was highly rated there and for good reason, there were a few others who had the same idea. The floor space they recommend is right out front of a little chapel, so you can get your prayer on as well if you like. The carpeted area was actually all taken, but luckily we had our thermarests and sleeping bags. And yes, earplugs and eyemasks are essential!
I have had different expriences.
I once got into Auckland around 1 am and wasn’t sure if my friend would be arriving or not, so I waited for him. I also coulnd’t call him, so I was very nervous of having to travel around NZ on my own, since all the trips, cars and hostels were booked under his name and credit card.
Fortunately they have a Samsung station at the airport, with free internet. So I got in touch with my brother via IM and told him to call him in Australia and find out what the deal was. After finding out that my friend would be getting in around noon the next day, I stretched out on the 4-seat benches, which were quite comfortable and had a good sleep. There also was a Mc Donalds and clean toilets and I felt really safe. All in all I quite enjoyed having all that time to sleep, read, and listen to my iPod.
What wasn’t too much fun was spending a night at the Central Staion in Sydney. While it is quite safe with security patrolling the station, it was really cold. There is no sheltered area to sleep or wait and it is completely open and windy. On top of that the seats of the benches are seperated with arm rests which makes it impossible to sleep. The stone floor was far too cold to sleep on and even with sleeping bags we were freezing.
Oh, this is fun!
I’ve slept outside innumerable times, most of them in Europe. I’ve slept on park benches, outdoor train stations, sitting on my backpack in the area where trains adjoin, many, many beaches (a lot of them rocky, unfortunately, and one night through the most intense thunderstorm I’ve ever seen), below a beach home on stilts in Italy (was driven out by a huge, growling man with a bat), in a sandbox in switzerland (woke up at 5 AM to a group of shady-looking men tossing duffel bags into the lake), creepy parks, a grassy area in Pamplona during San Fermin amid many wine-covered drunks….
The strangest outdoor sleeping experience I’ve ever had, though, was in Paris. At the naive age of 17, I arrived with my high school boyfriend at 7 pm by chunnel, deposited into a much shadier version of Paris than I had imagined. I was armed with decent French, but that was about it. Had no plan whatsoever. Not much money. All rooms in our price range were full. We decided to sleep in a park. As we lay down, we began to realize, from the looks of passersby, that we were in the red light district. Exhausted, we resigned to it, and cuddled up behind a tree when all of the sudden we heard something: moaning.
A woman was giving a man a blow job against the tree in a front of us. We both froze, trying to stay as still and quiet as possible. After a couple minutes, we saw another man approaching, heard his pants drop, and then a female shriek. The onlooker (who I believe was homeless) was um, well, pleasuring himself. The woman flipped! The man took off, and she threw her heels and went after him. She wrestled him to the ground and just clobbered him over and over with her purse.
Now we were really trying to remain invisible.
Of course, we didn’t for long. On her way back to the tree, the woman spotted us. So, we got what was coming – at first. She came behind the tree and started screaming at us, her skirt hitched up, her heavy makeup running down her face, her hair teased and tangled. She was incredibly drunk. Thank god that I had paid attention in french class. I managed to calm her down and explain our predicament. So, naturally, she transitioned from anger to hysterical tears, and brought out her liquor bottle, willing us to share with her.
We somehow politely declined and ended up spending the night awake on a stairwell, accompanied by a stray cat. It was a lovely introduction to Paris.
o’hare is freaking cold in the winter!! even with the paper thin blanket they dropped on the floor next to me.
Referring back to your note about Beauvais airport : Beware! French airports – even the major ones – just shut up shop at night.
Having lived in France for 25 years and done a lot of outdoors living, my advice to travellers would be to give the country a miss. Any pleasant green patch, little bit of woodland that looks good for a bit of stealth camping should be carefully examined. Dogs are myriad in France and their owners don’t clean up after them. Globally, the standard of hygiene, both persoanl and public, is abysmal.
“New York’s JFK airport does not allow ‘lying down’ inside any of its buildings. Neither does the entire city of Singapore.” HAHAHA.
But Singapore airport very nice got flat-ish chairs specifically for travelers with a long wait to lie down and sleep on!
(Source: I slept on them many times d. )
I now realize I am definitely not cut out for roughing it.