I'm going to be lying on hot concrete for a week. Need ideas.

July 1, 2019 7:02 PM

I'm traveling to Europe this summer for a holiday with friends. The beach we frequented there last year was very rocky so we ended up lying out on a flat concrete area by the water. After a few hours of lying on just a towel though, it got quite uncomfortable so I'm looking for something better.

Ideally, I'm looking for something inexpensive (under $25) and extremely compact (as I'm traveling with family and will need to bring 4 in my luggage) that provides a bit more comfort than just a towel. I'd buy something locally if I could but it's a pretty small town in Croatia and I didn't see anywhere last year to purchase a cheap chair or air mattress. I thought maybe a yoga mat but I'm thinking four would be too hard to pack. I considered cheap air mattresses but thought they might puncture or melt on the hot concrete. A friend brought one of those air bed things last year that you spin around a few time to fill it with air but we could never get the darn thing inflated. I'm looking at sleeping pads on Amazon right now but again, they seem quite bulky. Any other ideas? Would ideally love to find something cheap I could bring and then just throw away at the end of the week rather than schlep it home. Thanks!

posted by gfrobe to Travel & Transportation (7 answers total)

Under $25 might be a little difficult, but I would recommend a self-inflating sleeping pad, normally used for camping. They are made of a compressible foam inside a sleeve. When you open it up, the foam decompresses, essentially inflating. To prevent the foam from compressing under your weight, the sleeve has a seal that you close.

Amazon has one on sale for about $25, though I'm not familiar with the brand. That particular one weighs 3.3lbs and is about 15"x7"x7" when compressed.
posted by jedicus at 7:17 PM on July 1, 2019 [3 favorites]

Air Loungers work reasonably well on a windy day, not so great if it is flat calm. They are like a large nylon tube folded back on itself . You scoop the air, then quickly close the ends, roll up the slack fabric and clasp. Great for the beach or pool. Again, very hard to inflate with no wind. At home we usually use a shop vacuum to inflate. They can be expensive, but there are some for $20-25 on Walmart and Amazon sites.
posted by Short End Of A Wishbone at 7:19 PM on July 1, 2019 [2 favorites]

Get a heavy piece of tarp the size of the mattress to lay on the concrete, a cheap thin pool air mattress, a nice towel to actually lay on. You'll be the envy of the slab.
posted by sammyo at 7:32 PM on July 1, 2019 [3 favorites]

Here is an inflatable camping mattress. Perhaps the flocked side would be more resistant to punctures and melting on the concrete.
posted by defreckled at 7:59 AM on July 2, 2019

In my experience the Ozark Trail brand from Wal-Mart is by far the best low-price gear. I bet you can get a couple of double-sized air mattresses and lightweight tarps that would fit in a small backpack for well under $100. The suggestion of a pool float is also a good one, Wal-Mart is going to have that for cheap, too. Probably would be smaller than a camping air mattress.
posted by wnissen at 9:40 AM on July 2, 2019

If you're flying into a city where there is an Ikea (Zagreb) or an Ikea delivery centre, you can get a beach chair for $15 or a deck chair for $40. Of course this would depend on whether you are in fact flying into a city with an Ikea, have access to a car and can order online however many days in advance.
posted by tavegyl at 3:48 PM on July 2, 2019

Have you looked at places you could buy things on the *way* there, so it's not subject to airline baggage restrictions? If it's a small town, I imagine you're going to be flying in to a larger one.

A yoga mat also seems like a good idea to me, and I'd think you could fit several in a suitcase - one in each person's suitcase, or two tied to a backpack, or even just dedicate a tote bag to them plus towels.
posted by Lady Li at 10:06 AM on July 3, 2019