Three trips now and the first night is always awful. I lie there hearing everything, doze off around 2am, and feel wrecked on day two. Second and third nights I sleep fine. Pad is comfortable, quilt is warm enough, I'm tired from the walk. Is this something that goes away or do experienced people just accept it?
Practical things that made the biggest difference for me, in order:
The third one is underrated. Rushing to pitch in the dark leaves you buzzing for hours.
Earplugs made me nervous at first about not hearing anything, which lasted exactly one night. Now I don't sleep out without them.
Plan for it rather than fight it. I assume night one is a write-off, keep day two moderate, and I'm fine by day three. Twelve years of this and it still happens on maybe a third of trips.
Check whether it's the pad. Side sleepers on a 2.5cm pad often have a shoulder or hip pressure point that only becomes conscious after an hour of lying still. If you shift positions constantly on night one, that's the tell, not the noises.
One thing worth ruling out: caffeine. If you're drinking coffee at 3pm on the trail because it's cold and it's nice, that's still in you at midnight. I cut mine off at lunch and night one improved noticeably.
@root_rot_rhea · 12mo ago · 3 replies
Completely normal and it has a name — sleep researchers call it the first night effect. Half your brain stays partly alert in an unfamiliar place. It happens in hotels too, you just don't notice because a hotel bed is comfortable enough to hide it.
It does fade with experience, mostly because the environment stops being unfamiliar. After a few dozen nights out my tent feels like my tent regardless of where it's pitched. Give it a season.
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@tiny_steps_tam · 12mo ago
Pitching in the garden a couple of times before a trip helps more than it sounds like it should. Same tent smell, same pad noise, minus the novelty.
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@flashcard_fen · 12mo ago
Weirdly reassuring that it's a known thing and not just me being bad at camping.
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