Sleep by Number

320 individuals – This is the total number of people that I slept under the same roof as in the last year. This could be family members, roommates, friends, or a big sleepover of close to 20 after an amazing turtleneck and sweater party. This comes to an average of 2.83 people/household. Also, 294 of these people I stayed with I had never met before in my life.

130 beds – Between September 8th, 2006 and September 17th, 2007 I slept on 130 different beds! That’s a different sleeping arrangement every 2.88 days for an entire year! I guess for me it’s old news, but I know a lot of people who might not be able to handle that. This includes beds, sleeper sofas, couches, blow up mattresses, campers, hotels, camping, etc.

113 households – You may be asking why are there 130 beds for 113 hosts. Well, the 113 official hosts does not include when I went camping, the number of times I stayed in a hotel for various reasons, and there were also a few hosts where I slept in different locations different nights due to them having other company and such.

104 towns – I stayed in 104 different towns and cities across the United States during the Hometown Invasion Tour, it was as many as five in some states and only one in others. But there was a lot of variety, a lot of environments. It’s incredible to spend a night in a new town every 3.61 days.

The Households – 61 houses, 32 apartments, 4 townhouses, 4 campers, 3 dorms, 3 trailers, 2 condos, 2 B&Bs, 1 pool house, 1 record store (yes, I stayed in a record store in Stillwater, OK for one night).

21 couches – This is way fewer couches than I expected. To my surprise many people had guest bedrooms for me to sleep in. Most of the couches were with younger people, which makes sense. The families were more likely to have a guest bedroom. Early in the trip I used my sleeping bag on the couch. But later on I started to just use blankets, it was easier and cooler during the summer.

11 air mattresses – I brought my own small air mattress just incase and only used it a handful of times. The nicest air mattresses were in AZ and KS.

9 sleeper sofas – There is no doubt that these were always the most uncomfortable sleeping arrangements. Often if people had a sleeper sofa I would prefer to just sleep on the couch, plus it’s less work to do.

2 backward faucets – There were two shower faucets of the entire trip where the hot and cold water were reversed, once in Oklahoma City, OK and once in Columbus, OH.

1 water bed – Yup! Just one at the end of my trip when I was back in Lake Villa, IL.

1 kitchen floor – This is when I used my air mattress once, it was also after the great turtleneck and sweater party in La Jolla and the apartment was filled with people who had flown and drove many miles and all needed a place to crash. I got the kitchen floor!

1 fridge with cereal – Only once household of the many kept their cereal in the refrigerator. I shouldn’t say ‘only’ one seems like a lot in this instance, that’s the one time in my entire life I’ve seen someone keep cereal in the fridge. It was in NV, and I guess it had to do something with the climate.

The moral of the story is, you won’t have a sore back when you sleep on 130 different beds. It’s great for the back! You sleep in a different position every few nights rather than sleeping in the same exact position every night. Who needs a Sleep Number Bed, just go on a road trip.