Free download

Travel-night sleep kit checklist

Want the other 11 too? Email yourself the full bundle — we'll send updates when any sheet gets revised.

Travel-night sleep kit.

The night-before-travel checklist. Tick boxes with a pen. Three columns: what to pack, what to recreate at the destination, what almost everyone forgets.

Pack

Eye mask
Hotel curtains are never as dark as home
Foam earplugs
Two pairs — one always falls out
Travel pillow
Memory foam, not inflatable
Melatonin 0.3-1mg
Sublingual; under 2mg for jet lag
Magnesium glycinate 200mg
Optional, helps if you're stressed
White-noise app downloaded offline
myNoise or Noisli
USB-C / Lightning cable
Hotel sockets often only one type
Travel adapter
If crossing borders
Reusable water bottle
Dehydration fragments sleep

Recreate at destination

Bedroom temperature 18-19°C / 64-66°F
Crank the AC; many hotels run warm
Total darkness
Eye mask + cover the LED on smoke alarm / clock
Same wind-down routine as home
Same playlist, same tea, same book
Phone face-down or in another room
Hotel notifications wake you
Bed orientation matters less than you think
Don't waste energy on this
Hotel coffee = 8h before bed cutoff
Many hotel coffees are 200mg+
Avoid alcohol within 3h of bed
Disrupts deep sleep regardless of timezone

Commonly forgotten

Toothbrush / toothpaste
Hotel toothpaste is foul; brush quality matters
Phone charger
Buy at airport for $30 or pack the $4 cable
Prescription meds (in carry-on)
Never in checked luggage
Reusable water bottle
TSA-empty before security; refill after
Snack for the room
Hotel mini-bar is $14 for nuts
Backup melatonin
If you forgot at home, find a pharmacy on landing
Comfortable layers for the plane
Cold + cramped = no sleep on flight

One-line travel-sleep playbook: recreate your home bedroom temperature, darkness, and wind-down routine wherever you are. Everything else (melatonin, eye mask, white noise) is supporting cast for those three.

Crossing time zones? Pair this card with the jet-lag pre-flight plan (Card 03) — together they cover the full week before/during/after travel.