Simple things I have come to miss while traveling

It’s been 2 years now since I left my small, yet comfortable, apartment in Brooklyn. And though I’m glad to have simplified my life to a single duffel  bag, and a Timbuktu for my computer, there are certain, simple, comforts I miss about having a home.

1.       A toilet seat: I don’t want to go into too many details, but let me assure you – this is one thing you only think about when you don’t have it. Running water to make it flush is also a bonus.

2.       A soft towel: I don’t care how fancy and advanced travel towels are, nothing beats, or dries better than, a soft cotton towel you can wrap yourself in after drying off

3.       A hot shower: to be fair, it is usually so freaking hot that you can’t even think of getting into a hot shower, but in the mountains, or on cold days, or when you want a shave, its absence is sorely felt

4.       A bed: I would say I have slept in a bed more often than not in the last two years. Though I do have a great deal of experience with floors, hammocks, couches of various sizes, inflatable mattresses, and tents. The beds are often worse than the floor, with springs poking me in the ribs, or the middle entirely collapsed, or smelling of questionable previous guests. All in all I have spent less than 3 weeks out of the last 2 years not missing my Tempurpedic.

5.       A good knife in the kitchen: nothing drives me more crazy than not having a good knife. Cutting surfaces can be improvised, as can the use for various pots and pans, even plates and cups are overrated, but nothing can replace a good knife. Even in some of the better homes I have stayed, the knives, for some reason have been horrible- making the cooking process longer and more tedious than you want it to be, especially when everything else is pretty tedious already.

Some other things I wish I had: freshly ground pepper, a good olive oil, a Turkish coffee pot or French press, a lack of insects (and screens on windows), a good fan, a properly proportioned table and chair combo for writing. But these are luxuries, I know.

To be sure, I’m not complaining… well, maybe a little, I just wanted to take a moment and remind you of the simple things you have, which you may take for granted, but which are not a given in other parts of the world.