Back to preparing for Europe, I realised I’d previously been a tad cautious with my sleeping arrangements. A cheap, thin ground mat has sufficed for several decades now and a pillow always consisted of a rolled up jumper or jacket, normally leaving me with a button or zip pattern emblazoned across my face in the morning. Now, at 55 years young, the time has maybe come to be a little kinder to my creaking bones so I set out to research the many sleeping pad and pillow options now available.
Choosing a mat was a bit of a minefield. Options abound and the lines between quality, comfort and price seem rather blurred. A mat costing £250 GBP looked fairly similar to one costing under £7 GBP from AliExpress.. I decided to not be cheap and settled on the Sea To Summit Ether Light XT Extreme in the larger and wider rectangle format, which duly emptied my account of £213.
I essentially sleep on my side but will toss and turn throughout the night, so a little more real estate will always be welcome. The size and weight look about right, and for the price, I’m expecting the quality to be right up there but we’ll soon see..
Next it was the pillow. I didn’t spend a great deal of time researching this one, instead trusting a couple of YouTube reviewers who seemed enamoured with the Sea To Summit Almohada Aeros Premium.
My intention is to review these via live stream from Europe during my upcoming trip. That might turn into a recorded video link but either way I think both of these will be best reviewed in video type format. Expect that to happen at the end of June or beginning of July.
Where To Buy
Sea To Summit Ether Light XT Extreme Pad
Sea To Summit Almohada Aeros Premium Pillow