One of the secret weapons of large family travel is the sofa bed.
Sure, a sofa bed can make a room feel cramped.
Granted, there's the daily debate about whether to fold up the bed to create floor space, or whether to leave it standing for the whole trip (with our preference almost always being the latter).
Of course, we prefer a 'real' bed for every member of the family - even better when the children get their own singles instead of having to share.
Yet, when it comes down to it, we do appreciate the presence of two extra sleeping berths made possible when a sofa is unfolded.
Those two extra sleeping spaces have made it possible for us to stay in many hotels which are not geared for 'family' travel: Convenient airport hotels, hotels situated in prime positions in big cities, chain hotels suited to the business traveller with free breakfasts thrown in. We'll almost always take a little inconvenience in setting up a sofa bed and dealing with its imposing presence over driving further or paying more.
I've been feeling a little stir-crazy in our current times. Travel restrictions have me dreaming of future travel and reminiscing about past travel in equal measure. I saw a photo of our family from our time in Carlsbad, California (see said photo - rather unflattering - above) and thought it might be funny to write a tongue-in-cheek ode to that unsung hero of large family travel: The sofa bed.
Ode to the Sofa Bed
Sofa bed, you hybrid space thief,
Overlooked, yet praiseworthy.
Helping large-group travellers see
New realms of possibility.
When we seek accommodation,
Two- or four-bed choices show.
Yet, just by your humble presence,
You allow that list to grow.
Suddenly a ‘four guest’ suite becomes
A ‘family room’ for six.
Two of us on every mattress,
Parents, children in the mix.
While we do appreciate
The extra berths for tired heads,
Still, we must lament the limits
Placed by filling suites with beds.
First, we find our leg span challenged.
Who can leap a whole bed wide?
Who will take the tight position
On the furthest, blocked-in side?
Are you set up in the lounge room
While two queen beds are next door?
If so, then the parents claim you
So the children can sleep more.
If the space is one large suite,
Then you are likely in a line,
Right beside the other beds,
In space assigned to lounge and dine.
Yes, we understand your gift
And yet, we do feel justified
In our small but real frustration
When it comes to dinner times.
Larger families need more food,
And so, require more dining space.
When you take up real estate
You leave us in an awkward place.
Do we picnic on just one bed?
Or spread out? Eat on the floors?
You define our dinner choices.
No crumbs, no soups and NO SAUCE!
Getting to the midnight bathroom
Through the maze-like rows of beds
Is a test of navigation
Often failed by sleepyheads.
Stubbed big toes and injured hamstrings
Soon become the wounds of war
Gained as our intrepid travellers
Make their way to the suite door.
Cricked necks and spring-marked backs
And missing pillows all aside,
we are truly, greatly thankful
For your presence in our lives.
Sofa bed, you clever fusion:
Partial bed yet partial chair,
Larger families’ great enabler,
Letting us stay everywhere.
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