Around the world in 80 hotel toiletry bottles!

Like many, I have been doing my best not to spend money during the pandemic.

This has led to some very interesting behaviour that is reminiscent of being raised by parents who grew up in the great depression.

I never realized how much their behaviour had an impact on me, until we faced our own version of the depression … COVID-19.

I know I’m not the only one who has a collection of toiletries from various hotels. I’ll even get excited to stay at a specific hotel if I really like the brand of toiletries they use. 

From my travels over the years, I’ve amassed many freezer size Ziploc? bags full of stolen hotel toiletries.

Personal and full disclosure … when travelling with colleagues, we loved to play a game we called ‘Raid the Maid’.

The goal was to hit the housekeeping cart parked outside the room while the staff was inside the room working.

Points would be awarded based on the size of the haul you brought back!!

And, if it was a hotel that had those tiny little rubber ducks for the bath … well it was totally game on! Rubber ducks were worth a sh*t ton of points!

So when the pandemic hit and we all went into lockdown, I decided it was the perfect time to save money by working my way through the prized collection. On the first day of saving money in the shower, I sorted them like a kid returning from Trick or Treating!

When I pull out a new bottle, I try and remember what hotel I got it from. Let me tell you, it’s like travelling around the world every time you inhale the scent!

https://barefootbrainstorming.com/blog/tapping-into-the-olfactory-thought-centre-in-brainstorming

And to my surprise and delight, there are some well-known brands in that bag of raided treasures … like Fresh, L'Occitane, Bliss, Aveda, and C.O. Bigelow. I rationed those because they are just so delicious!!

I understand that for environmental reasons, most hotels have stopped supplying the tiny toiletries, and have moved to large dispensers.

Please don’t get me wrong, I am a huge environmentalist … but I am now increasingly saddened as I place another empty little hotel-sized bottle in my blue recycling bin! It feels like I might never travel ‘there’ again … particularly now!

Of course, Disney being Disney, has solved the problem of people being disappointed about not being able to bring home the toiletries. You can get your Disney fix at home because they now sell them at the hotel gift shops, and from the shopDisney website. The same goes for the Bliss products used at W Hotels.

Really, what’s the fun in that?

There is no skill or points awarded when you buy the stuff!!