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The Definitive Guide to Sleeping in Airports
A difficult skill to master, yet incredibly useful when traveling on a tight budget
It’s 3:27 AM, and I’m posted up on a deceivingly uncomfortable bench in Helsinki Airport, procrastinating the one thing my body truly needs: sleep. When I initially booked my ticket from Hong Kong to Prague I opted for an 18-hour layover, anticipating a desire to see the Finnish capital. A lot has changed since the day I booked the ticket, however, primarily in regard to my budget. With $430 in the bank and eight days remaining in my trip, the math was not difficult. Going into town and booking a hostel was simply an incompatible plan with my finances, so what does one do when their time in the airport is gifted such longevity? In my case, I’d probably write a Medium article called “The Definitive Guide to Sleeping in Airports.” But if you’d rather catch some shut-eye than write articles at 3 in the morning, here is some of the advice I’ve gathered from sleeping in airports across three continents.
It’s going to be cold.
Airports are heated and cooled under the assumption that most of the time, they will be filled with people. Large buildings such as airports, malls, and sporting arenas can save big on energy bills by utilizing the body heat of thousands of people. As soon as the…