The benefits of travelling with your own pillow for work or leisure, are relevant to everyone’s vitality and well being. Especially to people whose work includes extensive overnight travel and long-haul flights yet must achieve excellence in the public arena.
Understanding sleep and pillow routines
Your perfect pillow is a key part of your overall sleep routine. Experts have identified that sleep routines underpin much of what we do in our waking hours and that healthy sleep patterns allow us to perform at our best. The routines that facilitate us to sleep – can involve environmental factors that influence sleep such as light, noise, and temperature as well as your mattress, sheets and pillow.
“Your body craves a stable routine and bringing along familiar items will help keep your sleep schedule on track” Russell Rosenburg, National Sleep Foundation, “pack the comforts of home – at least your pillow – do whatever is necessary to guarantee you will be well rested and ready to enjoy vacation.”
The Benefits for individual health and wellbeing
One of the more alarming aspects of using an unknown pillow while travelling, is the potential for contact with new bugs, bacteria and mould.
Professor Ashley Woodcock led a research study at the University of Manchester in the UK looking at synthetic and feather pillows used for periods ranging from a few months up to 20 years and found an average of more than a million fungal spores in each pillow.
Mould and fungal spores in pillows are an issue for all travellers. Asthma sufferers are just one group of pillow users who are affected. Dust mite allergy can also trigger hay fever, rhinitis and eczema.
Brian Johnston in ‘Is your pillow making you sick?’ (News.com.au, 2011) concludes: “We spend all night with our faces pressed against them, but a pillow could be a fungus breeding ground… You can never get rid of all mites and fungal spores, but good pillow care will reduce their numbers substantially.”
Kate Jackson, editor of Accom News, reveals: “A hotel that runs at 70% occupancy with guests staying an average 1.4 nights will have around 180 people a year sleeping on a pillow, each imprinting their unique blend of oils and odours.”
Making sure your pillow is on board
The facts highlighted here confirm that travelling with your own pillow has many health and well being benefits.
In the past, travelling with a pillow has been made difficult because of space related issues and airline restrictions on cabin baggage sizes.
SleepKeeper’s versatile water-resistant travel bag has been designed to compact a pillow to one third of its original size, providing all weather protection and ensuring that pillows remain fresh, dry and portable
PRODUCT:
Sleep Keeper Pillow Carrier
A versatile water-resistant travel bag will compact your pillow so it can easily travel with you.
If you like to travel with a pillow but find it a challenge to fit it in your luggage or carry it under your arm… Then the SleepKeeper is for you!
This post has kindly been brought to you by the team at Sleep Keeper. You can visit their website for more information.
Original models of SleepKeeper (Black and Navy) are made from 100% nylon. They’ re lightweight and durable and blend in well with most travel luggage. Our new colours (Royal and Red) were released in 2017 made from 100% polyester. With a higher water-resistant rating and the same durability. These are perfect for the backpacker travelling in all weather.
