Packing a pillow

I think it depends on the country. To me pillows in Italy are hard and flat. You were probably watching a packing video by Sarah Murdoch who is a former RS guide who, yes, indeed, packs light but packs her own pillow, lol.

IF you get to Germany and find the pillows are not to your liking, you can always buy one locally and leave it when you come home.

I've been to Germany but don't remember any issues I had with pillows there...YMMV though since pillow comfort is pretty personal.

Pillows are like mattresses, and we are all Goldilocks. I'm particular about my pillows at home, but wouldn't even think of packing one for travel. YMMV.

I hate hard pillows. I'm quite the pillow diva. I pack a small travel pillow I got at Walmart years ago. It may even have been a baby pillow. It has a removable zip cover that I can wash. I use it on the plane and when the hotel pillows are too hard..

I really don’t remember hard pillows from any of our 12 European tours, a lot of flat ones. I do remember some very hard and/or lumpy mattresses. It seems in the last few years the beds and pillows in a number of the hotels have been better on the RS tours. I do not have space to pack a pillow although there’s been a couple times lately that I have thought maybe I could find space for a lightweight throw for naps.

I spent 3 weeks in Germany a few years ago, kingclan9, and do not ever remember the pillows being hard. Believe me, I would have remembered if they were, as I'm picky about my pillows, too.

Italy is my favorite country, but the pillows are HARD. I have a Cocoon blow-up pillow. I made my own pillowcase for it. It packs into a tiny sack and weighs less than half a pound.

I do. On our last 3 week road trip, we even packed a mattress pad. Expect VERY firm mattresses. And pillows that are either very hard, or very flat, or both. And an awkward shape. That makes for very bad sleep, which makes for a very difficult day, day after day. And this isn’t just cheap hotels. I’ve stayed in all kinds of places, and definitely gravitate toward more luxe places after 25+ years of European travel. Nothing guarantees a comfy bed. My husband and I joke that we need to sleep on our hard wood floors for a couple weeks before each trip.

Last trip we had a car, and I packed a pillow in a vacuum seal bag. I also did this with a mattress pad. Much more challenging if you don’t have a car!

Amazon sells a tiny pump that is charged by usb to pack it up at the end of the trip. Bring an extra bag in case of rips.

If I’m just bringing a pillow, I’ll buy a $3 pillow at Walmart and just leave it at the last hotel. Best $3 spent on any trip.

You can always stop at an IKEA and buy a pillow there. Bring an extra pillowcase from home (not a white one so you don’t forget your pillow).

I pack a small (14 x 9.5 inches) feather pillow with case for use on the plane and in the hotel. I put it in my personal item bag. This April, I plan to put it in a small compression cube, which saves a little space. It has really made a difference when hotel pillows are too flat.

Well, I watch Captain Steeeve a lot for his videos on airplane related things and I cracked up when this popped up in my YouTube videos today!

https://youtube.com/shorts/WBKAgPT9zmQ?si=P3oIidMl5eoJ6irg

I pack a light weight down pillow. I almost lost it once because I'd used a white pillow case! (Scream emoji). So I now put it into a bright blue pillow case & squish it down into a compression cube. TOTALLY worth it to me. I bought a back up so I can pack ahead and not have to take it off the bed on the day of travel.... Coming & going on a few trips from a hard mattress in rural Guatemala one year, I packed a memory foam topper into a compression bag in a duffel bag, left it for the cleaners, in Guatemala so I didn't have to lug it back home.

While I don't bring a full sized pillow, I often pack a small travel sized pillow with me, even as a carry on packer. It can help supplement the hotel pillows, especially if I am reading in bed and need the extra neck support. Occasionally I've used it as my main pillow when the hotel pillow was uncomfortable.

Pam, I had never heard of Captain Steeeve before you mentioned him. I just subscribed as it looks like his channel is interesting and entertaining.

Pam that Captain Steeve video is very interesting. I might have to watch a few more of his.

It's so funny everyone talking here about flat and hard pillows when they travel.

I often find the pillows have too much loft and have my head at a horrible angle. Many a time I have gone into the bathroom and grabbed a towel to fold up and put under my head in place of the horrible high pillow.

The majority of hotel or rental apartment pillows make me feel like my head is on a different plane than my body! With my poor neck doing the bridging.

Maybe I’ll take a little pillow with me when I travel next week . . . .

@Sherry and Kim - I'm glad you enjoyed Captain Steeeve. He does good explanations without sounding like he's "mansplaining". His breakdown of the crash in Toronto was really good as he slo-mo'd thru the footage.

Apparently he does the YouTube videos as his public service...part of his payback to the universe because he was scheduled to fly on the AA flight that went into the WTC on 9/11 and was bumped by someone with a bit more seniority.

Oh my goodness

My best friend of 60+years would sooner pack his pillow than clothes if it came down to a choice. I don’t care what pillow I use. If it makes you happy or comfortable take it for sure…nothing ruins a day like a poor night’s sleep.

I have a down boudoir size pillow that I take on every trip. I don't usually like down, but the one I have from Bloomingdales is an allergy free down pillow. I found pillow protectors for it online and have a few colorful (so I don't leave them) pillow cases that I got on clearance. I can roll the pillow into the bottom of a gallon zipper bag or flatten it in a 2 gallon zipper bag in my carryon or spinner. I believe it's the Bloomingdales MyFlair boudoir pillow - they go on sale but it is somewhat of an investment - I think mine were $40-$50. We have a few of them and use them at home too but have been traveling with this pillow for almost 20 years after trying every other version of a travel pillow.

I need a good pillow for my bad neck, and I travel carryon only. Have to take my own pillow solution, if I don’t want to be in pain on the trip. It’s a challenge to pack this! Sarah Murdoch’s flat down pillow solution would never work for me.

Sometimes I use a compression bag with a travel-sized (or child-sized) cervical neck pillow—works ok, not great. Takes a lot of space. A few years ago I got this inflatable pillow. For US trips, I put this inside the pillowcase of a hotel pillow. For Europe, I pack a small hypoallergenic down pillow with a pillow case (in a space bag) and slip it inside. Has worked pretty well as a substitute for a cervical pillow, and I can adjust the air fill. Not sure it’s available now, but it’s a compact solution. I can even use it as a plane travel pillow for long-haul trips if I use a washable cover on it (like the sleeve of an old tshirt). The bulbous air pump is a bit weird, but it works.

I am going to try something a bit unconventional for my upcoming trip to Italy. I have a small boudoir size pillowcase that I filled with pieces of polyfill. I will use it to insert into apartment pillowcases if the pillows are too flat. On the way home I plan to use the polyfill to cushion the mosaics I will be making in Ravenna. Worse comes to worse, I will dispose of it on my way home and have extra room in my suitcase.

I pack a pillow. Both while traveling for pleasure and for work, I've run into pillows that give me a neck ache or set off my allergies (down pillow). A black pillowcase is useful so the pillow doesn't get left behind or 'cleaned' by the staff. The pillow packs nicely in a Patagonia Black Hole Bag and when traveling by air, goes in the overhead compartment.

My husband is fussy about his pillow. He likes a firm, memory foam model. A reasonable solution for him was to buy a travel size allergy pillow protector. Then we took extra memory foam from an adjustable pillow to fill the cover to the desired firmness. I use a medium size compression packing cube to compress the pillow which combined with internal compression straps in his trusty vintage Eagle Creek backpack makes the space consumed somewhat reasonable. My mom made him a custom pillowcase that is very loudly printed and he has yet to leave it behind.

Yes, it is a lot of faff, but he thinks it helps his sleep quit a bit.

I am like Kim. If a pillow is bothering me it’s because it has too much loft.

When I traveled for a week a month for work, I would pack a flattish down pillow that was half the size of the dimensions of a regular pillow. I used a plaid flannel pillowcase folded in half, so the hotel workers wouldn’t take it, and I wouldn’t leave it behind.

I stay in small hotels in Europe, and it seems like they have either some variety in their pillows, or they’re fine for me. I’ve rarely had to resort to the bath towel folded up for a substitute pillow….and I like a hard bed.