Let There be Darkness! The Hidden Benefits of the Annoying Hassles of Travel

Picture this: I’m checked into one of the most beautiful hotel rooms I have ever seen. Everything about it is presented with great flair. Even the lighting is itself a great production, a work of art. And I’m feeling around in the dark trying to figure out how to turn on the light in the bathroom.

Or I can’t figure out how to turn off a light so I can sleep in darkness.

On the underside of all your travel pleasures and adventures is the fact that every time you check into a hotel room, no matter how stunning it is, you have to figure out how everything works for the first time.

The first time you encounter a hotel room, you probably are dragging after hours of transfers from house to car to airport to airplane to car to hotel. Encountering your new home for the first time, it is turned out in its most attractive form, ready to win your heart at first glance, down to every detail. 

The hotel business is innovative and highly competitive. This presentation is part of remaining competitive, having the latest and flashiest features and amenities. 

Part of that presentation is the lighting, which might include a variety of light sources, including track lighting, desk lamps, ceiling lights placed creatively to create an eye-catching composition. But before you can really get comfortable there is a whole series of things that must be done as you set down roots and turn the place into your own little territory for a night or a few.

So besides a basic unpacking ritual, putting your toiletries in the bathroom, setting up your computer, doing whatever bathroom rituals are essential when you arrive in a hotel room, again, you have to figure out how things work.

PHOTO: This may be the most beautiful room I've ever slept in! Now where is that light switch? (Photo by David Cogswell)

It seems like such a small thing. But when you are traveling, so much energy is spent getting from place to place. There is so little time to set up your living apparatus that some little added puzzle like how to turn off the track lighting over the bed so you can go to sleep can drain what little energy you have left.

When you’re really tired from traveling and at the end of your reserves, a little thing can make you angry, and when you get angry you burn up a lot of energy in an instant. Then you are even more tired.

Ironically, the more beautifully presented the room, the more innovative features it offers, the more time it may take just to get to the point where you can lay your weary head on the pillow and sleep.

These are the kinds of things that happen to you when you check into a new room for the first time no matter how great the hotel is. It’s inherent in the experience of staying in a new room.

However, there is a hidden upside to these kinds of hassles.  

Mounting evidence from brain research shows that problem solving exercises are good for the health of the brain.

Many of the best things that happen in life seem initially like nothing more than intrusions and irritants. But the mental exercise of working out new little puzzles is great for the mental muscles. It fits into a whole constellation of novelty that is one of the best things travel brings you.

When every ordinary experience, like going to a grocery store and seeing what is on the shelf, is novel and new, it has a great refreshing effect on the mind. You can’t beat it. TV can’t touch it. Travel is full-dimensional, real time, omni-directional sound, always new. It’s a learning environment that the finest university cannot beat.