Try this - Leave home with nothing and go take a walk around. No bags, no phone, no keys, nothing. Just clothes and maybe $20 in your pocket for emergencies. Leave early and with no commitments later in the day. Eat on the road. Return when you feel like it. Walk at whatever pace you like. Go wherever your legs take you.
It's an awesome feeling like nothing else. Helps if you live with someone so they can let you in when you return.
I'd add to that; try a day/weekend/week without any kind of watch or clock. If I plan on waking at a time, and I KNOW there is no clock to wake me, I nearly always wake on time.
Holidays feel awesome when you just do what your body tells you - eat when you are hungry, go places when you feel like it, sleep when you are ready.
I spent a few weeks in Thailand like this and I felt amazing - I'd wake naturally (feeling great) around dawn, and the days felt huge with plans not tied to times.
Similarly I would have nothing in my pocket except a little paper money. My shack had a combination lock on the door. I'd buy some water when I wanted it, and eat anywhere, leaving the change as a tip. Going down the beach and knowing I had nothing to be stolen, to forget or to go back for (was so hot that I swan in a t-shirt to avoid sunburn) you could just swim off and come to land much further down the beach. Man those were good times!
"If I plan on waking at a time, and I KNOW there is no clock to wake me, I nearly always wake on time."
This makes no sense.
Yes, around the holidays if you don't have to go to work, it's fine to just wake up whenever your body decides to wake up in the morning. But if I consciously think "ok, body, you need to wake up at 7:30 am tomorrow" it's probably not going to happen without an alarm clock.
> it's probably not going to happen without an alarm clock.
Not true. I've always been able to wake up pretty accurately without an alarm clock (not to the minute, but within 30min or so). It's just one of those things some people seem to be able to do, and others can't.
As a result, I've never been particularly dependent on alarm clocks, and use them more as a backup for important events than as my primary method of waking up...
I was first told about this as a kid - the 'trick' was to bang your head (gently) on the pillow for the hour you wanted to wake - so 7 times to wake at 7am.
I tried it all the way through the summer and was amazed - then forgot about it.
When I went travelling I didn't take a watch and remembered the trick (though didn't bother with the head banging) and found I could wake when I wanted pretty accurately.
When I started university I used this method for nearly the whole first term - and never missed a lecture.
If you have been heavily drinking, or have been really run down then yes this won't work, but in normal life it works fine. It helps if the time is part of your routine (waking each day at 7.30 for example) but I've easily got myself to wake at 6 or earlier if I need to.
I find though that if I know i have an alarm then I just fall into a DEEP sleep, and find it much harder to wake. I do find that I feel far less sleepy when I just tell myself to wake.
Anyway, your mileage may vary, but try it - it really does work - remember that farmers etc have been waking before dawn to start work for thousands of years before the advent of clocks.
Or you could, you know, take keys... I fail to understand the distraction of having keys. It's not like I walk past every door I see and think 'man, must try and unlock that with my handy keys'. I suppose they do jangle. Bloody jangling keys.
What I do is keep my keys on ~3 different keyrings based on what they're for, and a snap hook to keep them all together. Makes it easy to mix-and-match, and you don't have to fumble with a wire.
I used to do that with a TravelCard in London in the late 90s. £4 used to get you round the entire city and you can eat well for £4 on top of that. It's probably doubled now.
Some out of date Kodak 35mm film (free) and an old Praktica camera (free) and the city was mine. That, clothes and a rain coat and I was happy :)
I don't advocate it, but trespassing has certain interesting side as well and is free (if you don't get caught).
This sounds like most of the time I've spent in London when on holiday/vacation recently. Just go there, wander, eat when hungry, wander more... Go back to the hotel after dark and wake up whenever. There are lots of neat things to be seen.
I'll give you that. I've actually been to Rome btw. Apart from the train journey there and back and the psychotic drivers, it was an awesome weekend :)
If the idea of walking around aimlessly appeals to you but you'd rather keep your phone with you, I would highly recommend a pair of bluetooth headphones. During the summer I'll usually walk around Boston for ten or so miles just listening to music. It's very relaxing, and lunch tastes a lot better when you're exhausted.
If you like the idea but lack the self control, the new iPod Touches have bluetooth, or you can always turn off certain wireless services on your iPhone/Android/etc.
Someone has a Kerouac fetish... Romanticizing this way of life is fine, but it's just that. Real life creeps back in and you remember why you needed those keys, and that you left your sunglasses in your bag, and wandering aimlessly makes you look a little strange!
It's an awesome feeling like nothing else. Helps if you live with someone so they can let you in when you return.