Sweet Dreams!

I don’t know about you but I’m having way too many WTF moments when reading the news these days.  A charitable interpretation would be that 24×7 news coverage forces news providers to dig deep to find new things to talk about so some of the stuff they trawl up is questionable.  But I think the real explanation is that the human race has pretty well self-lobotomized itself and that Bob Dylan was spot on when he said, “We’re idiots, babe.  It’s a wonder we can even feed ourselves.”

What makes me say that, you ask? 

Actually the observation about self-feeding is a nice segue to the answer.  Think of the things that pretty much come naturally to us and that we really don’t have to learn.  Things like breathing, eating, crapping and—sleeping.

I know there are a lot of people who have real problems with sleep for various reasons, but for most of us, sleep comes pretty naturally.  Think about the number of times you’ve had to fight to stay awake. 

But the reality is that most people who claim to be sleep deprived could solve their problems by getting their phones and TVs out of the bedroom.

With that background, I invite you to consider the new vacation trend I just heard about—sleep tourism.

Apparently, hotels and resorts are now providing sound proof rooms and meditation/relaxation apps to help people sleep.  Of course you pay for the service and there are even places that have multi-night sleep restoration packages.

So why has sleep suddenly become such a big focus for the travel industry?  It only gets dumb and dumber.  The theory is that people book hotel rooms to sleep in them.  But the hotel industry has historically “focused on things that detract from sleep.”  Of course—eating big meals, staying out late and all the things a normal human does on “vacation.” 

Because people aren’t sleeping in their hotel rooms, the result, according to the research, is that people come back from vacation sleep deprived.  That conclusion required research?  I knew that years ago when everyone would come back from vacation and say they needed a vacation to recover from vacation.

The leap of logic is that if people are getting sleep deprived on vacation, a focus on wellness would indicate that we should sleep on vacation. 

My reaction–You go right ahead and sleep on your vacation, I’m going to have fun!

The article I saw talked about a hotel in London which now provides a “Sleep Concierge.” To me that conjures up the idea of someone who bops you on the head so you go to sleep.  But actually, it includes a “sleep-inducing meditation recording, a pillow menu with options that cater to guests who may prefer to sleep on their back or side, the option of a weighted blanket, a bedtime tea developed specifically for the service, and a scented pillow mist.”

What do these people do when they are home?

And what happens if you check in and prepare yourself with a sleep-inducing recording and tea and pillow mist and can’t sleep because you’re so excited about the prospect of a good sleep?  Do you get your money back?

But the more I think about it, the more I’m convinced that sleep vacations won’t become a big thing.  After all, what fun would it be to put pictures of yourself sleeping on Instagram?  

And isn’t Instagram, not sleeping, the point of vacations?

PS—Don’t forget to eat.