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How to Pass Time Alone in a Hotel Room
It isn't uncommon for me to be asked, "Don't you get bored spending so much time in hotels? How do you pass the time? Isn't it lonely?"
I don't often have time to answer those questions thoroughly, which is why this small document exists.
To address the first question: No, I never get bored. Well, maybe I have, once or twice in my life. It helps to have a demanding profession, to have many external interests, and to be in unexpected situations every day. But even if I'm at home, seeing and doing the same things over and over again (that happens on very rare occasions), I somehow always find something to keep me occupied.
My reply to the next question would be: For the most part, my goal on the road is to be as domestic as possible. It might seem strange that a touring musician aspires to domesticity, but if I didn't do that, I'd feel detached from my surroundings. This way, my life continues on a relatively normal track, with a measure of regularity, even though no two days are alike. In the list below, I've illustrated the 20 ways I most frequently pass the time in a hotel room, in no particular order. Anyone can do any of these!
And finally, I rarely get lonely. My alone time is my quiet time, my thinking time. I like that.
- Read
- Jump on and off the bed
- Cook (if one has a stove)
- Hand-wash laundry
- Iron
- Work (for a traveling violinist, this means everything from phone calls to string-changing, including website business, album-editing, season planning, and so much more)
- Write (anything)
- Watch TV (films; foreign broadcasts; animal rescue shows; sports such as gymnastics, ice skating and dancing, ballet, rowing, Aussie Rules football, and circus acts; music programs; or wacky American productions if one is American and homesick)
- Draw
- Do hand stands
- Dance
- Sleep
- Memorize anatomy charts (yes, I've done this recently!)
- Eat
- Take pictures out the window
- Exercise with rubber Therabands
- Recharge electronic devices
- Think up pranks
- Rearrange all the furniture (one of my favorites)
- Stare in the mirror
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