An adventure in sleep
We have slept in all sorts of “interesting” places and beds. As we do not have a home of our own, and frequently travel and experience some wonderful and some wonderfully odd and unusual lodging, we thought it might be an interesting ‘journal’ of our journeys to include some photos from some of those experiences.
The bed we left when we left our Waringstown home on 30th April 2019.
A second one with focus on the lovely heart pillow we received from a dear and close friend as a wedding present. The two soft toys travel with us!
Not quite our “bed” but a place of rest we knew on a Caribbean island
Our youngest sits atop a caravan loaned to us for a family holiday by some dear friends in Lisburn - beds for all the family!
Where we had a single bed each for a storytelling (STS) conference in India
![Prague sofa, Czech Republic](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1555449506819-C4USPY39SUBQ73L8C0RM/This+morning%E2%80%99s+view+%23thompsonsontour.jpg)
Again, not quite a bed, but where we had a lovely view of the Czech Republic capital one hot summer a few years ago!
Where we spent Christmas holidays as a family in 2018 and 2019
![Ballinderry Welcome, N. Ireland](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1558802503926-JJQ6MFMJJBZ1H7FNAWYK/fullsizeoutput_b289.jpeg)
Our first bed and the sight we saw when we had just closed the door on our home of 11 years in Co. Armagh and were beginning our (not quite) “homeless” journey. This bed and its owners ministered deeply to our hearts!
![Ballycastle, Co. Mayo, Ireland](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1558802248889-B4YXK62CYWHTMYTIA7N9/fullsizeoutput_b341.jpeg)
The second bed we had after leaving our U.K. home, and where we were received royally by friends in Co. Mayo
A lovely bed (provided for a discounted price by Thomas Cook) in a lovely resort in Turkey, where we had a lovely break after leaving the U.K. in May 2019
Definitely a step up from what we were used to at our home! Dear friends prepared us this bed in the United Arab Emirates, and left their home in our charge in June 2019
A deal we got in a Sheraton Hotel landed us up in this amazing bed(room)
![Hawassa, Ethiopia](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1689850559768-QAL3XTAXKAX67X92HLG0/IMG_4942.jpeg)
A comfortable wee bed in a cheap hotel in town with towel, loo roll and even flip flops provided!
![Hemet, California, USA](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1562720183162-DANQW3D087PWUSJH79FO/fullsizeoutput_b577.jpeg)
Welcomed by our organisation’s executive director and given a lovely basement room, where we left a box of storage items.
On mission with STS in Ecuador running workshops in the Andes and we shared a bottom bunk in the house of a dear Finnish friend
Visiting relatives we stayed in a lovely guest house one night.
A bed we had for a couple of nights at the beginning and end of our trip to Ecuador in August 2019
![Los Angeles, CA, USA](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1583295393805-J0BV0DXS0UJ5323P9Z1W/la+mirada+floor+space.jpeg)
Visiting friends church planting in southern Los Angeles, we stayed overnight on a comfy mattress
![Monterrey, Mexico](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1583295422907-H1SARAWY4JFQGYMHPDSW/monterrey+king.jpeg)
Our lovely bed, complete with travel “buddies”, in our quarters in Monterrey
![Cancun Hotel, Mexico](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1586212538339-L12QTRN4WCEY8XTZ36PK/love%2Bamidst%2Bvirus.jpg)
While attending the Hope4Cancer Treatment Centre in Cancun during the Coronavirus pandemic we were lovingly cared for as patients by hotel staff, diminishing each day as lockdown slowly set in!
![Hemet, CA, USA](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1611258079685-OPQCOCIYX63SWQJ96I6E/IMG_2124.jpeg)
Our Californian desert home with dear STS friends and colleagues
![Hemet, CA, USA](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1611258080071-K27XLHMA62L45Y8MBQDA/IMG_2739.jpeg)
The two guys who are usually on all our beds
![Mesa, Arizona](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1611258303440-QSJNP9ENH0TP4UL1ILDG/IMG_3267.jpeg)
The hotel bed we had for a week while we were having oral surgery in Arizona in late 2020
![Istanbul, Turkey for December 2020](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1611258397219-KEWU3ANUS2M0CLJM45PB/IMG_0097.jpeg)
The “welcome” bed we had for our stay in Istanbul for our 30th wedding anniversary and Christmas
![Hemet, California in January 2021](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1611258497835-STHJW8PYPONKISN5408I/IMG_0976.jpeg)
Our “wobbly”, short bed that we had during a brief stopover at STS HQ before heading back into town for a longer stay of 2 months
![Hemet, California (Jan to March 2021)](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1611258629449-Q84P90PUF4AI5EMVD8EP/IMG_1035.jpeg)
Arriving back in our “Hemet home”, staying in the back of a house owned by our dear STS friends and colleagues
![Donegal bed](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1630739282428-YBQKKVAM9WHH7ROHYHVA/IMG_2898.jpeg)
Enjoying the lap of luxury in our friends home in Donegal Town in Ireland
![In My Home County](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1630868170956-SRKSE46WJBYO7S8JECTI/IMG_2946.jpeg)
A bed where we have slept before this year, owned by some dear friends just outside Kesh in Co. Fermanagh!
![Beechmount Cottage No. 2, Dungannon, N. Ireland](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1656049550337-9RA9KNWBRME1RUWY0KFQ/EF4E4EF5-C607-443E-8485-39F2E4200AF3.jpeg)
Our beautiful home in a “cottage” near the town of Dungannon, surrounded by hills, and fields filled with cows, the sound of birds singing and a place of much rest for us over a period of three months.
![Kampala bed in Bukoto Heights, Uganda](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1656049771394-6TI024AI6AOH6FSNEODT/2BF720AC-6118-4FC1-821B-34067FF54D00.jpeg)
Our lovely bed in Uganda when we visited the capital city as guests of Phaneroo Ministries International who oversee the church we first met in late 2021 in Fintona, Northern Ireland.
![Donegore, Antrim, N. Ireland](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1707991625590-VPATYZMYVVVL9UAJ59KZ/Donegore+Garage.jpeg)
Whenever we’re home in Northern Ireland (since 2024) we have a royal welcome in our son-in-law and daughter’s garage, while they wait for their home to be finished
![Coach Class on Amtrak](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1717364915494-EB5IMDDEI5MU25IXFDL9/IMG_2495.jpeg)
This couple of seats on Amtrak’s Coach class were our seating and sleep area on ten train trips in USA in June 2024
![Prague sofa, Czech Republic](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1555449506819-C4USPY39SUBQ73L8C0RM/This+morning%E2%80%99s+view+%23thompsonsontour.jpg)
![Ballinderry Welcome, N. Ireland](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1558802503926-JJQ6MFMJJBZ1H7FNAWYK/fullsizeoutput_b289.jpeg)
![Ballycastle, Co. Mayo, Ireland](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1558802248889-B4YXK62CYWHTMYTIA7N9/fullsizeoutput_b341.jpeg)
![Hawassa, Ethiopia](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1689850559768-QAL3XTAXKAX67X92HLG0/IMG_4942.jpeg)
![Hemet, California, USA](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1562720183162-DANQW3D087PWUSJH79FO/fullsizeoutput_b577.jpeg)
![Los Angeles, CA, USA](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1583295393805-J0BV0DXS0UJ5323P9Z1W/la+mirada+floor+space.jpeg)
![Monterrey, Mexico](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1583295422907-H1SARAWY4JFQGYMHPDSW/monterrey+king.jpeg)
![Cancun Hotel, Mexico](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1586212538339-L12QTRN4WCEY8XTZ36PK/love%2Bamidst%2Bvirus.jpg)
![Hemet, CA, USA](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1611258079685-OPQCOCIYX63SWQJ96I6E/IMG_2124.jpeg)
![Hemet, CA, USA](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1611258080071-K27XLHMA62L45Y8MBQDA/IMG_2739.jpeg)
![Mesa, Arizona](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1611258303440-QSJNP9ENH0TP4UL1ILDG/IMG_3267.jpeg)
![Istanbul, Turkey for December 2020](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1611258397219-KEWU3ANUS2M0CLJM45PB/IMG_0097.jpeg)
![Hemet, California in January 2021](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1611258497835-STHJW8PYPONKISN5408I/IMG_0976.jpeg)
![Hemet, California (Jan to March 2021)](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1611258629449-Q84P90PUF4AI5EMVD8EP/IMG_1035.jpeg)
![Donegal bed](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1630739282428-YBQKKVAM9WHH7ROHYHVA/IMG_2898.jpeg)
![In My Home County](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1630868170956-SRKSE46WJBYO7S8JECTI/IMG_2946.jpeg)
![Beechmount Cottage No. 2, Dungannon, N. Ireland](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1656049550337-9RA9KNWBRME1RUWY0KFQ/EF4E4EF5-C607-443E-8485-39F2E4200AF3.jpeg)
![Kampala bed in Bukoto Heights, Uganda](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1656049771394-6TI024AI6AOH6FSNEODT/2BF720AC-6118-4FC1-821B-34067FF54D00.jpeg)
![Donegore, Antrim, N. Ireland](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1707991625590-VPATYZMYVVVL9UAJ59KZ/Donegore+Garage.jpeg)
![Coach Class on Amtrak](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7af9c6523958a9b59c2a69/1717364915494-EB5IMDDEI5MU25IXFDL9/IMG_2495.jpeg)