These ideas just pop into our heads. We research. We discuss the options. We consider price, shipping costs, quality, weight, and most of all, how badly do we need it.
Both Tom and I cringe at the thought of bed bugs. Who doesn’t?
We currently have a dual king Sleep Number bed, for us, the most comfortable bed in the world. The fact that the head and foot of each side of bed raise up by two individual remote controls (as well as adjusting the degree of firmness), resulting in the necessity of two separate mattresses and box springs.
The only drawback has been the difficulty of the cuddling, being divided by a crack between the two mattresses. We have managed to compensate for this quite well, thank you. Use your imagination.
Giving up our bed is not easy for me. It is the only piece of furniture to which I will sadly say goodbye. Suffering with a painful spine condition, the bed has been a lifesaver for me over the past 9 years since we made the pricey purchase. Tom could sleep on a bed of nails! He won’t miss the bed.
As we wind down here, the topic of bed bugs has come to the surface. Will our vacation homes have more or less risk of bed bugs as opposed to a hotel? We’ve decided that we would rather haul around a solution than haul around several thousand bed bugs in our luggage.
As a result, we will need zippered high quality bed bug proof mattress, box spring and pillow covers! Yes, we’ll now be hauling an extra 9 pounds (approximate weight. We will weigh them when they arrive). This may sound foolish and overly paranoid. But, I ask, have you seen photos of bed bugs or the risks to one’s health? Yikes!
Yesterday at noon, laptop in hand, frosty iced tea beside me and parked in my comfy chair, the online search began for the zippered high quality bed bug proof mattress, box spring and pillow covers.
A new dilemma, entered the picture. What size do we buy? A few of the houses we are renting, have a king sized bed, some are queen while others are simply old fashioned double beds (talk about cuddling). It would be impossible to haul varying sizes.
Most king-sized beds have a split box spring. After much research, we discovered the importance of covering the box springs as well as the mattress.
Solution: purchase two zippered queen-sized box spring covers in the event of double box springs on the king beds and, purchase one zippered king-sized mattress cover, although too big for the smaller beds, can be tucked in under the mattress.
After searching through ten various bedding sites, to determine full retail price, quality brands that we also allergy proof, bed bug proof and comfortable to sleep on (no vinyl, no latex), I found my way back to eBay for some serious bed bug free shopping.
This was not the easiest item to find. The quality and pricing was all over the place. After a good hour and a half of searching, I finally found what we needed, the king mattress, the two queen box spring and the two king pillow covers, all meeting our criteria. Grand total $173.17.
Each time we will arrive at a property, before unpacking our bags, we will have to cover the mattress, box spring and pillows of the bed we will sleep in. We may be exhausted from traveling, may have been flying for 24 hours or more, may want to fall on our faces on the bed.
Then again, when we leave for the next location, we’ll have to remember to take them off of the bed early enough to wash and dry them, and fold them properly to fit into our luggage. Not an easy task. If we have an early departure with no time for laundry, we will be bringing an airtight sealed bag that we will carry on in order to keep it separate from our luggage until we can launder them when arrive at the next spot. Not an easy task.
We console ourselves for this daunting task by reminding ourselves: no more lawn to mow, no weeds to pull, no windows to wash, no hauling patio furniture, inside and out, no carpet to shampoo, no cars to wash, no hatches to batten down in winter, no more utility bills and on and on and on.
Life is filled with trade-offs. Yes, we are trading one load of tasks for a whole new world of tasks, in a new environment, with new people around us, with new scenery to enjoy. But one thing remains the same, we will have each other. And that, dear readers, is how and why we do this; to share a once-in-a-lifetime experience with our lover, our best friend and our favorite companion with whom dreams are made and ultimately realized.
So, one more item is knocked off the list, that will give us peace of mind, reduce stress and add to the enjoyment of “living in the world” for no less than three years and maybe, health providing, many more years to come.
Be well.