Hotel room indulgences

You probably already know I travel quite often. I do love to, which I've written about before. It's a good thing  I enjoy it because I think I average 6-8 trips per year. I've written a lot about the places I've been, my favorites being Rome and Hawaii (no coincidence that these were both vacations, not work-related). But something I've never let you in on are the little pleasures I enjoy while staying in a hotel. So I thought it was high time I gave you my top seven:

1. Hotel room towels. They're always cushy, super-absorbent and freakishly white. I use one towel at home, yet somehow find the need for several when I'm in a hotel. One for my wet hair, one to dry off after showering, one next to the sink which has all my travel-size cosmetics organized neatly on top (rather than my at-home method of having them all mixed up in a drawer - what's up with that?), another on the other side of the sink used to dry my hands after washing them... the list goes on and on.
2. Illegal snacking. Don't you just love it when housekeeping does turn-down service and leaves you not one, but two chocolates on your pillow? But it's not just that. Working through an attendee dinner means I don't usually get one myself 'til much later. By then I'm starving enough to eat a whole cow. But that's fine with me because I'm ordering room service. And since it's someone else's dime, I often get filet mignon, a glass of cabernet souvignon and if I'm feeling naughty, creme brulee or bananas foster. And do I eat it at the tiny little desk that is littered with laptop, papers, hotel keys and lipstick tubes? No! I must eat it in bed, in my snuggly hotel robe and cushy socks, while watching...
3. Out of town TV. Yes, it can be annoying when you don't know what channel is what, but think of it as a way for you to view new programs that you might not have watched otherwise. This is exactly how I discovered great shows like Scrubs and Big Love. And there's something about the local news in other cities that's so intriguing. Their morning show people interact with each other in a different way than your own hometown's hosts, they dress differently and the way they report the news has its own nuances as well. Honestly, the things they consider to be newsworthy - case in point: Haboobs.
4. Watching what you want on TV, guilt-free. Yep, now is the perfect time to indulge in trashy television with nobody around to judge you. Got some Kardashians to keep up with? Go ahead! Want to see what Kendra and Hank are up to? Feel free! And best of all, you can make sure that baseball, basketball, in fact any sport of any kind never appears on your screen (unless you're fumbling through the channels of course, not much you can do about that).
5. A plethora of puffy pillows and a comfy cloud-like comforter. All to yourself. Do I really need to elaborate?
6. Total temperature control. No husband to complain about how hot it is. No wife to nag you about blasting the A/C. Bonus: Since you're not paying the electric bill, there's no pressure to conserve! (Ahem, unless you start feeling guilty about your carbon footprint, of course).
7. Generally acting like a slob. You can leave your clothes on the floor, walk around in your undies (might want to check that the curtains are closed first, though), scratch your butt, fart, burp, pick your nose - whatever floats your boat, all without witnesses. And the housekeeping staff makes your bed for you too - no matter how much you've messed it up!

So you might ask why this list only has seven things, instead of the more traditional ten. The truth is, I couldn't think of ten. Yep, even with all the fun stuff listed above, traveling really sucks. You're away from the ones you love and quite possibly in a time zone when it's not convenient to call. Sure, hotel beds can be great, but they're still not your bed. You're tired, you're sore and tomorrow you have to do it all over again. Until you're lucky enough to get to go back home.