Posh Sleeping

When I made this trip almost all the way across the country, & because I would definitely need to rent a vehicle to get around for a few weeks (which was gonna cost me much moola even with uber discounts included), I realized long before I hopped aboard the Greyhound that I'd be best off to "car camp".

In my general inexperience with car camping (just an overall affection for camping) I figured that as long as I got myself an SUV for a rental, I'd be set & I could fold down the backseat, leaving a long amount of space for me to stretch out. It turned out that I only needed to fold down a portion of the backseat leaving ample width for this whether I'd be sleeping on it or inside of it. This, in turn, left space where I could also set up & consider which things from my checked luggage bag I'd need at certain points during my trip.

I set myself up just fine for my first night - where my only "glitch" became the unexpected learning experience of being farther north than my "hometown" familiarity being much more unanticipated daylight than I could process. Well, that's an exaggeration, yes. It was July & not June anymore, after all. And therefore a time of year when it's sensible - rather, assumable - that each day's daylight will be the appropriate minutes shorter that it should be. And, well, it is, for each given area.


I'd learned years ago how Alaska has daylight all day for half the year & then darkness all day for the other half the year. Or, something like that. Similar to those who believe that Earth is flat, I somehow got it into my head that it's only in Alaska, down to the jagged borders of the state's line, where this "extended daylight" happens.

😂 Well, yes, the tears of laughter are all on me! As well they should be!! I mean, really people, c'mon! There's no practically, no logic - because, well, I simply hadn't ever really thought about it. I knew it to be true for Alaska & so I "locked" it in as being "only in Alaska". And that it is definitely not.

It's a gradual phenomenon (okay, so "phenomenon" might be a strong word to use here, although when one discovers something that seems on equal level to comprehending that the Earth is round & not actually flat, "phenomenon" has a bit more reasoning than might otherwise be acceptable). And by "gradual" I mean similarly to how the time zones exist, in part, to maintain modern day latitude fluctuation, there's something to be said for daylight in regard to longitude as well.

And so, in addition to all of the other "unexpected learning" I experienced on this trip to cross the finish line of two marathons, I also learned, first hand, how much more daylight there is further north than where I typically spend my time. And whereas I expected, in mid-July, for the sun to be going down (for it to be practically dark, or absolutely dark) definitely by 9:15 or 9:30 at night, well, that's not what I did experience that first night of sleeping in the back of an SUV (so no curtains on the windows) & in a parking lot (so no trees - definitely none of appreciable abundance) while I tossed & turned a bit anyway out of general heightened anticipation for the first of the two marathons, which I'd be crossing the finish line for after I slept like this three more times. On the positive note, I certainly had the time to adjust my body to this alternative (car camping) sleeping style. I really do believe it was roughly 10:45 that first night when darkness fell upon that parking lot. And so it was.


When I awoke needing to use the store's restroom, & figuring that a "stretching out" walk through the store would do me well anyway, I found myself contemplating the home fashions department just a little bit more. I was hesitant because I knew whatever I'd chose to buy would be large or bulky & that I'd not want to pitch it out, rather to manage forcing the zipper closed on my checked luggage bag once I did pack it back up for the return trip.

Since I'd been silly enough to reason I'd potentially read six books (when I ended up bringing back a seventh book too) & where I furthered my reading of one of the original books & managed my way through nearly a third of another, there simply wasn't space for me to be buying anything of substantial size that I'd not be eating or recycling, etc.

Alas, I found this. I found it to be reasonably priced & felt that I'd be ultimately be able to wrap my belongings around it in order to get it shoved well into the checked luggage. And, in the end, it folded down incredibly (intense compression) & everything else got piled heavily atop it with additional items originally not included with the carry-on, now adding to the carry-on after all. Because, yes, it did all. work. out. to bring it back with me.

And, because I did purchase it, I was able to set it up underneath this. The extra cushioning (or cushioning in general 😊, because otherwise I was stretching out directly atop the barebones "carpet" of the SUV) became a welcome respite.

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