I tried a 'pillow carrier' to see what all the fuss is about
Are pillow carriers worth their weight in gold, or are they just another useless accoutrement?
Time for some pillow talk.
I confess to being one those types who insists on travelling with their own pillow. Whether I’m camping, overnighting at a friend’s house or heading on holiday my puffy feather-stuffed, slumber-inducing bundle of comfort and joy always sits pride of place atop my luggage.
Sure, it might look a little impractical lugging it around the place (some might say childlike?), but I am solid in the knowledge that using my own pillow is key to having a crick neck-free sleep, be it in a car, on a camping mat, on the plane or in bed. In the jet-lagged world of excessive travel this is no small attribute.
Curiously, my family is similarly enamoured with their own pillows. We’re into different styles (you’ve got your neck supporter, your rubbery, your feathery) but we share the same obsession for comfort. One sister, who spends a lot of time on planes between Sydney and LA, even had her own pillow carriers made in a durable cotton fabric, with a zip at one end and a handle for easy carrying. It was a thing of beauty.
Dianne Tipper, founder of Sleepkeeper, is similarly inclined (and more than a little handy with the sewing machine). She prototyped her own pillow carrier and, after garnering the support of friends and family, ended up turning it into a niche business.
If grubby hotel pillows fill you with dread, Sleepkeeper promises to help you easily bring your own along with you.
Her design is essentially an elongated pillowcase in a hardy nylon material that conveniently rolls your pillow up to a compact third of its size. Teflon strips, securing it in place, and a handle, make it convenient to stack in the boot or slip onto the top of a suitcase for hands-free carrying.
Diane has seen an uptick in the number of people travelling with their pillows and believes current trends might be the reason.
“The increased focus on health and wellness has seen people prioritizing a good night's sleep while travelling,” she tells me via email.
“Another factor could be the rise of budget airlines that charge extra for amenities like pillows, blankets, which could incentivize people to bring their own pillows to save money."
“The Covid-19 pandemic might have also played a contributing role, with travellers feeling more comfortable using their own bedding and avoiding shared items in hotels and other accommodations.”
Adding weight to the claim, she cites a story in Accom News revealing that a hotel running at 70 per cent occupancy with guests staying an average 1.4 nights equates to around 180 people a year sleeping on a pillow, “each imprinting their unique blend of oils and odours”. Ugh!
As cumbersome as an aircraft carrier? Not quite...
On a recent trip to Bali I flight tested Dianne’s pillow carrier. From what I can tell, she’s onto something. The water-proof covering protects it from grubby hands and germy airports, and the compact size makes it easy enough to slip into the overhead compartment. Alternatively, it can be used as an elbow rest or fully unrolled to aid in-flight sleep, especially handy on those killer red eye routes.
You can upgrade your Sleepkeeper by purchasing a pillow case from an array of bright Australiana designs. They are perhaps a little bold for my Scandi-beige bedroom taste, but there’s certainly no danger of losing them amid the commercial white pillow slips at a hotel, which is how Diane intended it.
There is one place I felt a little silly taking my own pillow. At Sydney’s The Langham hotel the king beds are puffed and pouffe’d to perfection with six luxurious plumped feather pillows, a fluffy duvet and a 10-centimetre thick mattress ‘pillow-top’. On the bedside table, a pillow menu offers choices fit for a princess, including a 1400gram duck- and down- ‘fragrance’ pillow, filled with 240 grams of dry lavender “to relieve tension, calm irritation, lower blood pressure and prevent flu”.
Needless to say my own pillow stayed wrapped up tight in its handy little carrier, ready and waiting for the flight home.