Most people find that the first night they sleep somewhere other than their bedroom, they don’t sleep very well. This phenomenon has been given the name “the first night effect,” and it’s believed to stem from half our brain remaining alert even while we’re sleeping because we’re in a new place. Essentially, your mind stands watch all night because it doesn’t fully trust the environment.
However, some people experience the opposite. Instead of struggling to fall asleep in an unfamiliar place, they instead drift off easier than they would in their bedroom.
Why You May Sleep Better in an Unfamiliar Place
If you’ve ever gone on vacation or even decided to camp out on the couch rather than in your own bed, you may find that you have an easier time falling asleep than you would in your own bed, and there are a few possibilities behind why this occurs.
You’re More Active
One of the number one reasons why you’re sleeping in an unfamiliar place is because you’re on vacation, and we also tend to be more active while on vacation. Whether you spend the day playing in the ocean waves or walking through a new city, exploring all it has to offer, we tend to fill our vacations with activities that then tire us out.
When at home, we may find ourselves being sedentary most of the day, whether because we’re working a desk job or lounging on the couch in our free time. This is much different than how active we usually are on vacation, which is why you may have no problem going to bed when you’re away from home—you’ve properly moved your body and reached your exercise needs, even if your activities didn’t feel like exercising.
Research has shown that physical activity can improve your sleep quality and reduce your sleep latency, or how long it takes you to fall asleep. As a result, even walking around while on vacation, which is a great low-impact form of exercise, can help you sleep better that night.
Conditioned Arousal
For some people, sleeping better in an unusual place may have less to do with the place itself than with the fact that it’s not their bed.
Those with insomnia often experience something called conditioned arousal, which is a type of hyperarousal that is learned over time. Essentially, the more time you spend awake at night and unable to sleep, the more alert you become and the more your body associates this state of being with your bed. This all boils down to more trouble with falling asleep the next day, which perpetuates the cycle.
A clear sign that you may have conditioned arousal is if you feel tired all day, but then the second you try to go to sleep, you feel wide awake.
When you change your sleep environment, you take away one of the triggers for arousal: your bed. Instead, you can fully give in to the sleepiness, allowing you to fall asleep.
You’re Away from Distractions
Some strange places may bring you away from the comforts of modern living, like artificial lighting and electronic devices. For instance, those who are camping live based on the rise and fall of the sun and may be surprised to find that, even despite sleeping on the ground, they sleep better than they do at home.
In this scenario, you may have an easier time falling asleep because you have fewer melatonin disruptors, allowing your body to produce all the sleepiness hormone it needs without any production being suppressed.
This suppression can happen when at home. Bright indoor lights can trick your mind into thinking it’s still daytime even when the sun has long set. As a result, it may suspend its production of melatonin, and by the time you try to sleep, you haven’t built up enough melatonin to feel sleepy.
Similarly, electronics give off blue light, which has been shown to suppress melatonin production. When you use these devices within an hour or two of going to bed, they can keep your body from producing enough melatonin.
Conversely, when you sleep outdoors, you take a break from artificial lighting and electronic devices, allowing your circadian rhythm to reconnect with the sun’s cycle, improving your sleep.
You Had a Stressful Day
Sometimes, a stressful day may cause us to sleep somewhere unfamiliar, such as sleeping at a friend’s house because of a power outage. In this case, the stress of the day can be a significant mental weight that tires you out just like exercise does, making you fall asleep more easily. However, this stress can also have the opposite effect, keeping you away as the stressful thoughts bounce around—there’s no saying which way it may go.
No Early-Morning Wake Ups
Many times, when you’re sleeping somewhere strange, you don’t have obligations the following day, such as work. As a result, you may have some freedom regarding when you can wake up, a fact that can ease your worries the night before. If you’ve ever spent the night counting how much sleep you would get if you fell asleep right now (only to keep doing the math every 20 minutes), you understand just how stressful time limits on your sleep can be.
When you don’t have to worry about going to bed by a certain point and can also sleep in, you are able to get more sleep, which leaves you better rested.
Switching Up Sleeping Places to Sleep Better
If you’ve ever wondered why you sleep better when in an unfamiliar or strange place, it likely has less to do with the place itself and more to do with the circumstances that brought you there. Whether you had a more active day while camping or vacationing, got away from artificial lighting and electronics, or broke the cycle of conditioned arousal, it can all factor into a better night of sleep.
Keeping this in mind can help you combat any sleep problems so that you can sleep better no matter where you are, strange or familiar.