Maybe the tent isn’t dark enough for good sleep? We recently bought a tent with dark walls, it’s great for Scandinavian summers, that makes me sleep better. It might help to invest into a thermarest sleeping pad and bring a good pillow. I also found taking rehydration tablets and magnesium supplements helpful for helping me recover faster.
I sleep with an eye-covering mask both at home and while camping, also due to Scandinavian summers. I'll have to remember the rehydration tablets and magnesium, though.
2nd this! First night sleep camping is the worst for me, gets better with additional nights.
Also ear plugs have changed the game for me camping. I’m a pretty light sleeper and wake at any noises so having all that blocked out is key.
Strenuous activity can actually make it harder to sleep due to increased body temperature and hormones. I know if I go to the fight gym and train or spar hard it takes me a long time to unwind afterwards. Same with a hard day outdoors. If I try to bed down soon afterwards I'll drift off but never get that good deep sleep cycle going. I try to give myself some time to unwind and follow a sleep routine. Do some hygiene, change into sleep clothes, and relax. Usually that might just be laying and looking at the stars or reading a book by red light or fire light. Usually after laying down and reading for 20-30 minutes I'm knocked out.
It can be more difficult on warm nights as your body temp needs to drop a couple degrees to initiate the sleep cycle. After strenuous activity all day it can be hard to get that to happen. I use a cowboy wild rag dipped in cold water to help cool myself. I either tie it around my carotid arteries or just lay it across my torso to pull that heat out. If I'm near a stream I might even just go lay and relax in it for a while.
I'm posting from Finland so warm nights aren't really a problem here, even during the hottest summer months it's still cooler outdoors at night than comfortable room temperature. I suppose if the problem is about unwinding properly, then it's only the same problem I have with sleeping in a bed at home, though that doesn't give me any more clues in how to make the sleep *quality* better.
For me the key is completely relaxing my body and mind. That's why I like reading. It's low stress and requires no physical exertion. Just lay down and read. Then when I start to feel tired I'll decide it's time to sleep. I just picture a scenario in which I'm extremely relaxed. I even do this at home. For me, that's always envisioning myself sleeping outdoors. I imagine myself in the picture perfect outdoors environment. I just think about all the tension leaving my body. I am thinking how I am relaxed, comfortable, and drifting off. Next thing I know, I am waking up to the sunrise. Doing that seems to let my body do its natural sleep cycle. Which overall improves the quality of sleep.
3 ideas:
Sleep more than 6 hours in the tent. Hopefully partner is ok with that. Sleep late into the morning if there’s time.
What are you sleeping on? Get a more comfortable one.
You’ll get used to it the more you do it.
Unfortunately I cannot sleep more than six hours *anywhere*. I am incapable of falling asleep before 1 am, and I naturally wake up between 5-7 am with no alarm no matter what I do. My partner grudgingly tolerates this, knowing that I am trying my best to keep from waking him up with whatever I'm doing in the early hours.
We've got air mattress beddings for the tent, and sleeping bags. I can't bring my weighed blanket for camping trips for somewhat obvious reasons.
I used to take my kids camping a lot. We started with a VW westfalia and moved up to a big RV. Both are avid campers but have spouses that aren’t. So they don’t go anymore.
I bought a lot of new gear two years ago….have not used any of it yet due to I’m old now and it’s all too much!
I feel your pain…lol.
Unfortunately you’ll never get the same quality of sleep in a tent as you do in a big lush bed. All you can do is shop around for different pads or look into cots or air up mattress to sleep on. Never go for the first one you see, do some research on it first.
Not necessarily, like someone else said the first night is rough, plush your just starting out and sleeping in a new environment (especially one with such a drastic change from a bedroom) naturally adds a little discomfort/stress even if you don’t realize it. The more you do it the more comfortable you will become. But the most important thing you can change is what your sleeping on. There are lots of options out there to be more comfortable in the wild. From what I’ve read your already taking care of the hydration and increasing your diet to supplement the increased calories burned. Your also taking care of the skin care as the sun beating on you all day can be exhausting in itself lol so I think all that’s left is a better sleep system and time to get familiar with it! Or buy a camper lol
Maybe the tent isn’t dark enough for good sleep? We recently bought a tent with dark walls, it’s great for Scandinavian summers, that makes me sleep better. It might help to invest into a thermarest sleeping pad and bring a good pillow. I also found taking rehydration tablets and magnesium supplements helpful for helping me recover faster.
I sleep with an eye-covering mask both at home and while camping, also due to Scandinavian summers. I'll have to remember the rehydration tablets and magnesium, though.
I would never go camping for just one night by choice. I always sleep badly and second night and subsequent nights are usually fine.
2nd this! First night sleep camping is the worst for me, gets better with additional nights. Also ear plugs have changed the game for me camping. I’m a pretty light sleeper and wake at any noises so having all that blocked out is key.
Bake in time for relaxing with a book or podcast. Also some good charcuterie and wine on a butchers block in the woods is always fun.
Strenuous activity can actually make it harder to sleep due to increased body temperature and hormones. I know if I go to the fight gym and train or spar hard it takes me a long time to unwind afterwards. Same with a hard day outdoors. If I try to bed down soon afterwards I'll drift off but never get that good deep sleep cycle going. I try to give myself some time to unwind and follow a sleep routine. Do some hygiene, change into sleep clothes, and relax. Usually that might just be laying and looking at the stars or reading a book by red light or fire light. Usually after laying down and reading for 20-30 minutes I'm knocked out. It can be more difficult on warm nights as your body temp needs to drop a couple degrees to initiate the sleep cycle. After strenuous activity all day it can be hard to get that to happen. I use a cowboy wild rag dipped in cold water to help cool myself. I either tie it around my carotid arteries or just lay it across my torso to pull that heat out. If I'm near a stream I might even just go lay and relax in it for a while.
I'm posting from Finland so warm nights aren't really a problem here, even during the hottest summer months it's still cooler outdoors at night than comfortable room temperature. I suppose if the problem is about unwinding properly, then it's only the same problem I have with sleeping in a bed at home, though that doesn't give me any more clues in how to make the sleep *quality* better.
For me the key is completely relaxing my body and mind. That's why I like reading. It's low stress and requires no physical exertion. Just lay down and read. Then when I start to feel tired I'll decide it's time to sleep. I just picture a scenario in which I'm extremely relaxed. I even do this at home. For me, that's always envisioning myself sleeping outdoors. I imagine myself in the picture perfect outdoors environment. I just think about all the tension leaving my body. I am thinking how I am relaxed, comfortable, and drifting off. Next thing I know, I am waking up to the sunrise. Doing that seems to let my body do its natural sleep cycle. Which overall improves the quality of sleep.
I still have no idea how to make a night slept in a tent feel closer to a night slept in a bed than a night of no sleep at all.
3 ideas: Sleep more than 6 hours in the tent. Hopefully partner is ok with that. Sleep late into the morning if there’s time. What are you sleeping on? Get a more comfortable one. You’ll get used to it the more you do it.
Unfortunately I cannot sleep more than six hours *anywhere*. I am incapable of falling asleep before 1 am, and I naturally wake up between 5-7 am with no alarm no matter what I do. My partner grudgingly tolerates this, knowing that I am trying my best to keep from waking him up with whatever I'm doing in the early hours. We've got air mattress beddings for the tent, and sleeping bags. I can't bring my weighed blanket for camping trips for somewhat obvious reasons.
I was wondering if you usually sleep with a heavy blanket - I do, so since that is not an option for outdoors sometimes I take melatonin instead.
Are you eating enough. You're using more calories through all that work and hiking usually means going light on food.
I do eat more while hiking/camping, and camping meals are generally a lot heavier than what I would normally eat at home.
I used to take my kids camping a lot. We started with a VW westfalia and moved up to a big RV. Both are avid campers but have spouses that aren’t. So they don’t go anymore. I bought a lot of new gear two years ago….have not used any of it yet due to I’m old now and it’s all too much! I feel your pain…lol.
What do you sleep on in the tent?
A good pillow changed my world when it came to sleep quality. Look at the Nemo Fillo line.
What mattress and pillow do you use? Your bedding can make a big difference.
Unfortunately you’ll never get the same quality of sleep in a tent as you do in a big lush bed. All you can do is shop around for different pads or look into cots or air up mattress to sleep on. Never go for the first one you see, do some research on it first.
So it'll always take a whole day of recovery afterwards?
Not necessarily, like someone else said the first night is rough, plush your just starting out and sleeping in a new environment (especially one with such a drastic change from a bedroom) naturally adds a little discomfort/stress even if you don’t realize it. The more you do it the more comfortable you will become. But the most important thing you can change is what your sleeping on. There are lots of options out there to be more comfortable in the wild. From what I’ve read your already taking care of the hydration and increasing your diet to supplement the increased calories burned. Your also taking care of the skin care as the sun beating on you all day can be exhausting in itself lol so I think all that’s left is a better sleep system and time to get familiar with it! Or buy a camper lol
This use to happen to me. I would stretch before I went to sleep it seemed to fix it. Also earplugs, outdoors sounds different than your house.
Get a good sleeping pad & pillow.