In excess of 200 beds - And So To Bed

I’ve slept in a lot of different bedrooms with a lot of different people in my life! Now before you think you’ve accidentally stumbled across some kind of Reader’s Wives confessional forum instead of the And So To Bed Pillow Talk blog, read that sentence again; a lot of different bedrooms with a lot of different people.

Let me explain. I was lucky enough to have been sent to a British boarding school as a child, my father was sent when he was just 7 years old, but I boarded between the ages of 12 and 18. One of the abiding memories will always be the dormitories, sharing space with up to 8 other lads, the inevitable ‘great escapes’, the hatched plans and rebellions, the gang mentality and the midnight pillow fights.

Things must have improved since my father’s time there as I never had to chip the ice off the sinks to wash my face in a morning like he would recount but it was certainly no luxury retreat; drafty dorms, creaking beds and lumpy mattresses were the normality - certainly no Vispring or Tempur.

During my 20’s I set off on a round-the-world trip, becoming the clichéd backpacker and once again found myself in dorm rooms in hostels, filled with all manner of nationalities, the largest of which contained 26 beds! One dose of food poisoning and the place would become the hospital wing it so clearly resembled. Looking back it may well have been a converted hospital, mental or otherwise.

Again, this type of bedroom would count as a negative star rating in any hotel guide, the facilities were always at the bare minimum but it never mattered. The bed was simply there to recharge your batteries, between days of exploring and experiencing the wonders of foreign travel. Inevitably all of these experiences have shaped the way I feel about bedrooms now. I tried to count in my head how many beds I slept in during my three year travels around the world, it has to be in excess of 200!

So now my bedroom is a haven of peace, tranquillity, relaxation and purpose – something all personal bedrooms should be. Gone are the schoolboy pranks and the late night arrivals, tripping over backpacks and being woken by an argument in Israeli over who ate the last packet of chicken flavoured Magi-Noodles.

Actually I might just start a midnight pillow fight with the wife tonight, over that last packet of Magi-Noodles, you know, for old time’s sake.

Posted by Iconography Ltd
18th July 2012

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