I used to joke with my wife that the Journey song “Faithfully” reflected our relationship.
“being apart ain’t easy on this love affair,
Two strangers learn to fall in love again,
I get the joy of rediscovering you.”
Lines like these really hit home with me. For most of my eighteen year career I was a single guy traveling the country without a care in the world. I barely spent any time in my hotel rooms. But once things got serious with my girlfriend, who is now my wife, I started spending more and more time chilling in my hotel rooms. One thing you learn about hotel rooms, that initial “Oh, this is pretty sweet” spark of walking into your fresh room always fades away with time and you realize how sterile hotel rooms are… for the most part. I’ve had some pretty ridiculous rooms that I’d want to live in but that’s a completely separate blog.
Since I spend about 40% of the year in hotels I’ve had to figure out a way to make them feel like home. I’m married now, I’m cough, cough older and well, most of the cities I travel to I’ve been to a number of times so that excitement has also worn off SO I spend even more time in my hotel rooms. So making my room feel as comfortable as possible is extremely important. Here are some of my tips for all of you nomads out there!
WHEN TRAVELING BY PLANE
*Pack Slippers
*Pack or buy an awesome smelling candle… My go to is Apple Maple Bourbon from Estella Grace.
*Pack your own soap… this is more key than you might imagine.
*Gots to have some sweat pants, pajama pants, gym shorts or whatever the hell you wear around your home!
*Also, bring some chill out shirts. I’m a big fan of my 2016 Cubs World Series Champions shirt 🙂
*Download the Postmates app… This app saved my ass one year in Indianapolis. I really like Indy but I was working insane hours around thousands of people. The last thing I wanted to do on my down time was be around people. So I ordered in almost every night from Postmates. It was magical!
*Bring an HDMI cable in case you want to hook your laptop up to the big screen.
*Bring your favorite snacks… I’m a protein bar and almond guy myself.
*I always hit the store for something to sip on. Hotel bars are some of my favs but now I have a family to worry about so buying a $28 bottle that will last me the whole weekend is much better than $15 per bourbon at the bar. And in most cases the hotel staff are left with a little gift.
*If your hotel has nice glassware, grab a glass. Don’t be sipping on good hooch out of a shitty plastic cup!
WHEN TRAVELING BY CAR
*Bring everything listed above!
*Now I can bring something from home to sip on… num num.
*100% bring one of your nice drinking glasses… See above! Say NO to shitty plastic cups! If I really want to go above and beyond, I’ll bring my try with large ice cubes! It’s my favorite way to drink a bourbon so it’s nice to have when I’m away.
*I typically will pack lunches for the weekend (You have to do some research to make sure your hotel offers a mini frig in the room. This goes for the ice tray situation above. If not, bring a cooler and use the hotel’s ice)
I know a lot of this may seem obvious but you’d be surprised. Bring all of this with you and you’ll feel more at home than you’ve had in a hotel room.
I’m going to continually write about tips and tricks to traveling along with all my favorites from cities to events to hotels to airport terminals.
Would love to know what you think and/or any tips for making a hotel room feel more like home so hit me up on Twitter! https://twitter.com/TrevorAnthony
“Circus life under the big top world
We all need the clowns to make us smile”
-Journey
Trevor Anthony 