Nearly a full decade after finishing her last Big Lap, Cynthia Anderson is about to hit the road again, but there’s one thing she’s not looking forward to … more sleepless nights!
“We travelled for two years last time and I loved it,” said Cynthia.
“But, as we get closer to heading off again, I can’t stop thinking about some of the horror nights I endured.”
While Cynthia has always been a light sleeper, she said being in a new and unfamiliar environment every night took things to the next level.
“My husband Mark sleeps like a log, of course,” she said. “So, I was left to face the terror of scurrying possums, distant trains that sounded like approaching bikie gangs, and scary-sounding leaves rustling in the wind, all on my own.”
Eeeek! Maybe that distant rumbling noise was a group of scary bikies! PIC: Pexels
While it’s clear Cynthia’s over-active imagination was not well suited to remote free camps, she said things didn’t really improve when staying in caravan parks.
“It seems like most of the parks really are hives of activity even in the dead of night,” she said. “I would listen to the sound of van doors opening and closing, and the steps of people heading to the amenities block … if you can’t stop yourself listening for it, it never stops really.”
On their last trip, Mark and Cynthia had a camper trailer with canvas walls, and so they hope their newly-bought ‘conventional’ caravan will offer better sound protection.
Cynthia has also been working hard on developing relaxation techniques to help herself sleep better.
“I just hope that I don’t go backwards when we go travelling again,” she said. “And I think it’s going to be raining everywhere for a while yet, so I can just imagine how loud that will be on the van roof!”
While everyone is different, previous American research has shown that – in theory at least – grey nomads should sleep better on the road than they do at the home.
“By increasing our exposure to sunlight and reducing our exposure to electrical lighting at night, we can turn our internal clock and sleep times back and likely make it easier to awaken and be alert in the morning,” said researcher Kenneth Wright, of the University of Colorado.
We always sleep better when travelling, especially in small remote free camps.