I’ve been traveling for almost 4 months. And it’s destroying my sleep.

My Typical Regimen

I have a pretty serious routine/regimen/requirements list going when I’m at home, this is the essence: 

• No TV
• Limited phone time
• No screens after 7PM
• No sugar
• Workout every day
• Sauna every day
• Prayer and meditation every day
• Bible reading every day
• Gratitude journaling every day

On the road, even when I’m staying at our place in Florida, it’s hard to stay that dialed in.

My Travel “Regimen”

Here are some of the things that have been slipping since being on the road: 

• Slippery TV Slope. When the only place you can be is a hotel room, TV becomes a temptation. Still no binge watching or anything, but even now I’m writing from a hotel room and there’s basically a bed and a TV, no good common areas, no grassy areas, and I’ve already walked the neighborhood and lounged around the hot tub as long as I can stand. 
• Time Zone Travesty. I’m in a different time zone, so getting up early enough to fit in my meditation and workout before work is really tough.
• System Breakdown. In this one hotel room, turning on the light to journal disrupts my husband’s mellow. I’ve been going downstairs to the breakfast area, but it’s definitely adding obstacles. 
• LISS vs Strength. I’m hitting my calorie expenditure goals every day, but not the way I usually do. At home, I strength train 3 days a week, do HIIT 2 days a week, and do something fun like cardio or the rower or hiking 2 days a week. Here, I’m just walking around a dirty (really dirty) city and getting in a couple super limited strength training sessions at the hotel gym. No kettlebells. No pull up bars. None of my stuff. 
• Sayonara Sauna. I haven’t been able to go to the sauna every day at all. Been to a couple small depressing saunas, but not easy to get to and not regularly.
• Screens for Days. Travel really amps up my phone time. I do not usually have social media on my phone, but I always add it while I’m traveling (rethinking this one). Additionally, when you’re walking around a city that isn’t your own, it’s primo Pokemon Go time. 
• Eating Right! Still eating pretty well and essentially no added sugar, but allow one time per week if it seems worth it. It usually doesn’t.

So, it’s not going great. Not terrible, but not great. My sleep on the other hand is utterly falling apart. I don’t have my special pillow. I am going to bed at 8PM like I usually do, but I’m waking up and staying awake for hours and hours and hours. 

Pro Tip: Read Katelyn’s article On-the-go Sleep Tips, I wish I had.

My hypothesis is that my routine matters a lot more than I realized.

Here’s what I’m going to do to test the theory: 

• Pay for a month at LA Fitness so I can do my normal workouts and daily sauna
• Get up a half hour earlier and get my prayer and meditation on lock
• Do my fave Runyon Canyon hike this weekend (I’m in Hollywood right now)
• Gratitude journal in the bathroom if I have to, but making sure I get it in every evening

My guess is that by replicating my regimen more accurately here on the west coast, I’ll be back to sleeping like a champ in short order. 

So standby for part 2 of this journey. The comeback. [UPDATE: Travel Sleep Partially Regained]