My dirty little secret.

I have had this sobakawa pillow for around 10 years now.  My sister bought this for me after I moved and lost my last one.  The reason this is my dirty little secret is that since I have been using this pillow I have probably slept less than five nights without it in the past ten years.  The pillow goes everywhere with me even traveling, camping, or backpacking I always bring this guy along with me.  It is torn, ugly, and dirty but I love having it with me.

The reason I love this pillow so much is because of the materials.  The pillow has this buckwheat husks inside that are kind of light and they form to your head.  I have a set of huge satellite ears and this pillow keeps them from being crushed and that helps keep my head cool at night.  Then the blue crushed velvet outer case feels nice on my skin.  The bad side to these pillows are that you have to first get used to the noise the buckwheat husks make.  Think of that old bean bag toss game your mother made for you out of an old pillow case and some dried pinto beans.  That is the noise these make times ten.  Once you get over the noice it becomes a nice quiet white background noise that you don't even realize over time.

The hole you see in my hand above is because one night my wife let one of our dachshunds sleep with us and I woke up at three in the morning and the dog was chewing the pillow.

In the photo above you can see a safety pin where the zipper is.  I use the safety pin because the zipper broke about five years ago.  I can still take the cover off and wash it every now and then. 

There are all sorts of sobakawa pillows on the markets these days but this one is perfect for me.  I have tried the ones with the weird plastic space beads in them and the stretchy ones.  None of them come close to my pillow.  If I ever see these on sale anywhere I am going to buy five more so that I will be stocked for life.

In the end as long as I have my pillow with me I know there is a good nights sleep awaiting me.  When camping or traveling you need to make sure to be as comfortable as possible and for me that is bringing my pillow with me.  You might have a special pair of underwear or towel you love to use and having that with you can bring that same comfort level I get.  These little things bring us comfort and that helps with easing our blood sugar levels and stress.  So the next time you are gearing up to go camping or taking a trip, think about the items you love using while at home and see if you can bring them with you.  Your home is whereever you make it.