Last Updated on March 17, 2023 by PowersToTravel
The problem with sleeping in Iceland or Norway
The days are very long during the summer. The Arctic Circle crosses just above Iceland, and it chops Norway into two. In the summer. the twenty-four hour a day sunlight can be very disturbing to your sleep cycles.
Many people are able to sleep using sleep masks but I am not one of them.
Here’s a real-life hack
My parents and I first encountered this issue in Norway; we stayed in hytter – camping cabins. There were few if any curtains in the windows. Mom had planned ahead and brought a Hefty bag each for herself and Dad, and insisted I pack one for myself.
She packed very heavy-weight “Lawn”-style Hefties. I, not knowing any better, grabbed one from under the sink, what I’ll call “Garbage”-style Hefties. Upon later comparison with my mother’s I found it to be much thinner.
“Hang it in the window,” she said. “It may look funny, but I think it will work.” They had previously been on a Hurtigruten cruise in the summertime and knew how disturbing the sun could be.
Hers worked perfectly, mine I had to double-up.
I then found that first-aid adhesive tape ideally attached the bags to any kind of wall surface without damaging the walls.
The bags were a life-saver. We generally slept and were able to enjoy the vacation, and the high level of activity that one experiences in the Scandinavian countries.
On all of our many trips to Norway we packed our Lawn Heftys!
When we traveled to Iceland in 2004 we packed them as well, as we planned on staying in camping cabins. They served equally well in Iceland:
Fast forward to 2012 when I took my newly-wed husband to Iceland. We planned to stay in a couple of cabins but mostly small hotels or guesthouses. I thought to myself, “We’ll be staying in hotels and won’t need this silly “camping-style” equipment – I don’t want to embarrass myself in front of my new husband by taping up the windows!”
Nevertheless I surreptitiously stole my mother’s old Lawn bag, and also grabbed a bag at the last minute from under our sink.
Greg certainly realized the value of Mom’s Lawn Hefty, and was disappointed in my Garbage Hefty in Seydisfjordur.
Here is the lovely room in the afternoon.
Then I started to put up the garbage bags, to Greg’s dismay.
Here’s the Garbage bag which looked fine in the daylight, but failed when you turned out the lights in the room:
Lesson Learned – Bring your Hefty Bags – Sleep in the summer midnight sun!
Be smart – they don’t weigh much and will give you hours of comfort! Just don’t forget the adhesive tape as well.
Update from 2023
Can you believe it? I still pack my mother’s Lawn Hefty on every trip, not just on Arctic trips! The edges are covered in bits of white adhesive tape. But it still functions.
