What kind of sleeping accommodations am I packing for?
Whether you are on a motorcycle, backpacking, car camping or the like... the questions remains as part of your gear list... Where am I sleeping?
That can be answered a number of different ways and could potentially change each trip. I know in my travels I have camped, hotel, stayed with friends, stayed with family, or more often than not done all of the above. Obviously knowing how you plan on sleeping helps you pack appropriately.
If you know you wont be camping, you would be able to leave a lot of extra gear at home. A lot of times on our adventures we didn't know exactly what our plan was so we always packed for all of the above.
When my wife and I would travel before kids, we could easily sleep in the bed of my truck. Packing was minimal as we were the most flexible in this set up. We could easily cook some mac and cheese, go out or have beers for dinner.
When the kids were little (and there was only 2 of them) we had this VW van. It was awesome because we could travel on the fly pretty easily. We had beds in the van if needed but could also easily park it in sleep inside a hotel or friends house. The versatility was great!
Our gear lists look different as the years have gone by. When it was just Megan and I, our lists were minimal. In fact I don't think we even had lists. Now being 3 kids deep and with a dog I have lots of lists. One thing remains though, we have to know where we plan on sleeping to pack accordingly.
If we are camping our lists suddenly add some sort of tent(s), 5 pads and 5 sleeping bags at a minimum. If we know we will be provided beds it drops a ton of luggage. This is why it is important to have an idea of where you'll be sleeping on your next trip.