Anyone else feel icky away from home?

[lolaVie]

Currently away from home for the week and experiencing a life long problem…genuine ickiness about hotel showers, beds, carpets, cups, kettles…you name it, it makes my toes curl. To the point that it makes me desperate for my own shower and bed! It’s not homesickness in the sense that I’m sad or missing home. It’s like a disgust response but there’s nothing disgusting!

But I never hear anyone else ever describe this feeling! Place we are staying seems clean enough and it’s not specific to this place anyway. It is anywhere! Not just hotels. Any kind of holiday accommodation.

I don’t feel this way staying with family (as in at the home of either of my parents) and maybe one or two close friends although it’s been a long time since I slept at a friend’s house.

Is this just me?!

I've been on several tours this year, & think I've slept in 17 beds/hotels.
Still as fit & healthy as if I'd stayed at home in a cocoon.
All of them seemed cleaner than my own home.
Does anyone vacuum the bedroom, & scrub the bathroom every day when there are just 2 house-trained adults in residence ?

This is exactly why I scrub everything with neat zoflora before we do anything

What exactly is the problem with walking on a hotel carpet in bare feet? Even if it is dirty, they're your feet. You're not eating with them. They're far away from your face and hands, mostly encased in socks and shoes, and will get washed next time you shower.

I try very hard to not think about the people who,were in this exact room before me. And I usually take my own pillow 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

Some of you sound absolutely tonto. Or like you're determined to live as small and limited as possible life as possible.

This is a really interesting thread @lolaVie . I’m exactly the same and like you say, not exactly Mrs Clean at home. I agree with the posters who say it’s crackers but there are an awful lot of people just on here who feel the same, so it’s obviously a common thing. I’ve always wished I could afford a caravan or campervan for this very reason.
Thank you for making me feel better that it’s not just me!

I do remember lying in hospital wondering how many people had died on the trolley bed, how they died and counting bodily fluids. But I was stuck with those thoughts for a week and couldn't do anything about it!

Perhaps that's why I'm happy with hotels.

An anusy shower head isn't too bad really 😂 I'll probably just shower and think "life is hard but at least I don't have stretchy anus problems"

YABVVVVVVVVVVVVVU to use the ‘word’ ikky. What are you, 6?
You (and everyone else) getting themselves in a state about hotel rooms and cleanliness need to get a grip, unless you have a diagnosed mental health condition (or think you need to get a diagnosis). It’s nonsense. Stop limiting your life for ridiculous reasons.

I’m just catching up on some of these responses! 😂 I’m so glad it’s not just me!

To be clear for the benefit of some posters - I don’t think I suggested that I thought it was a “normal” way to think or feel which is why I was interested in if anyone else felt a similar way and it seems plenty actually do. That being said - quite surprised by the outrage of some people at it! Can’t imagine myself getting wound up by the anxieties of strangers tbh.

And again for clarity - at the time of writing I was away from home. And so not sure in what sense I can be accused of limiting myself. Or why anyone would want to be accusatory in response to a post just asking if anyone was like minded.

It’s a funny one because I wouldn’t say germs are the problem. It is more about dirt I guess. And yes - if relevant - I do have anxiety that manifests in other ways as well.

Mostly just glad to hear it isn’t just me!

Mooncup in the kettle?? Oh my!

Every hotel I’ve ever stayed in, with the exception of a Hungarian youth hostel which turned out to be a brothel, is cleaner than my house. I love the ‘hotel sheets’ feeling - the best thing about going away.

I have diagnosed OCD but am generally fine in hotels. We do tend to choose ones with higher ratings but I will also happily camp.

My biggest issue is the feeling of being unclean on my feet. No idea why as I don’t lick them. For some reason I can tolerate it when camping but not at any other time. I can’t relax when my feet don’t feel ‘right’. I can go barefoot on my own carpet but nowhere else. For that reason I prefer hotels abroad as the flooring tends to be tiles.

@voxnihili its so strange but a few people have said this about feet and I agree too! Can’t explain it! I wonder if anyone can?!

I love going away. I only really truly relax away from home as my job is just so stressful and at home I have my laptop and work is just there, I struggle to switch off. It never used to be this way but my work life balance is off right now.

Hotels of all standards, holiday lets, caravans, cruise ships….love it all. Mostly our hotels are Premier inn type but I still love it. And like someone else said, it’s likely they are cleaner than my home🤣

I feel the same! I love my holidays but I never feel properly clean until I have had my bath at home. I start thinking about who else has slept in the bed etc. nothing like your own space!

@lolaVie - I used to work in a shoe shop and saw some horrors which I always assumed made me funny about foot cleanliness but maybe it runs deeper than that 😆. I also get the feeling in my feet if I go swimming somewhere that’s less than spotless.

@voxnihili i know the exact feeling! Like tense feet 😂

@cardibach this isn’t AIBU.

I don't like using things that so many people have used, but that doesn't make any sense at all, because I go to pubs/restaurants and don't have a problem with them at all. Although maybe I will now I've thought about it!

I dont feel icky but I get easily homesick.

We've just got a fab Airbnb due to freeholders doing some works on our home. They booked us into a hotel that was just horrible...everything about it made my skin crawl so took matters into own hands and am currently sleeping in a fabulous bed in a beautiful apartment for the first time in 6 days.
Slightly different to you OP but I get you, cannot stand the slightest grottiness, ewww!

Does that mean nobody on here is ever unreasonable?

Can’t imagine myself getting wound up by the anxieties of strangers tbh.

I suspect it is because they can't imagine why you get so wound up by staying in a hotel. It isn't a normal reaction.

I take cleaning wipes to hotels and wear slippers so I don't walk on the carpets, even at 5 star hotels. I also take my own pillowcase, my family think I'm mad but I can't relax otherwise. I know it's not normal!

There is something particularly nasty about hotel carpets. I suppose I don’t have carpets at home because I think they are generally nasty. And people in hotels are not going to be respectful and keep shoes off etc. Carpets in hotels are often stained badly which makes me assume some sort of worst case scenario. Much prefer airbnb or similar place with laminate flooring!