How to Pick the Perfect Hammock Spot

Rest and relaxation come at a premium these days. It can seem as though you’re working more hours and finding more and more reasons to stress out every day, which makes your “me time” all the more important. Without a good stretch of rest, relaxation, meditation, and personal enrichment, well… it makes Jack a dull boy, to say the least. It’s important to create a space for yourself where you can experience that rest and relaxation, and that is why so many turn to hammocks – you can do little but relax in them!

Well, you can also read, browse the web, listen to music, and enjoy a cool drink in a hammock, but your hammock is first and foremost all about chilling out, lying back, and relaxing. Yet choosing the perfect hammock for you (no small task in itself!) is only the start of your quest for relaxation supremacy. Deciding where to hang your hammock can be just as chock full of decision-making as deciding where to plant your garden, where to build your home, or whom to marry! (That escalated quickly…)

  
Keeping Cool 

There are many things you’re going to want to look for when finding a good spot to hang your hammock. The first is natural shade. This is a traditional feature of the hammock, as you often see them hung between two trees, with the branches and leaves providing shade. The shade does a lot for you; it keeps you cool, allowing you to rest in your hammock for extended periods of time, and it keeps the sun off your skin so as to prevent sunburn.

The shade should be natural, however, to ensure that some light filters through the leaves and branches so that you have clear vision; otherwise, you can do naught but nap in your hammock. The shadow of your home, for example, will just serve to keep you in deep shade all the time.

Creature Comforts 

Next, you need the comforts of a good hammock. A portable stand is key; something that is designed and balanced to accommodate the location of your hammock. With a portable stand, you can place your drink there, your book, your computer, or whatever you like. It’s hard to imagine that you’re going to need a table until you do – which is going to be often! Even if you just want to take your phone out and set an alarm, the stand is a great place to set it.

If you can swing it, you should try to make certain your hammock is hung poolside. A pool cools the air around it and provides a restful and relaxing view from your hammock. You just have to be certain that your hammock is made out of a material that can handle the humidity that the pool will kick up into the air.

Averting Disaster 

Finally, you will need sturdy anchors for your hammock. While you can hypothetically hang your hammock just about anywhere, if it is not sufficiently supported and held up, it could fall while you lie in it, potentially doing serious physical harm to you. At the very least, the hammock could be damaged!

Trees are the traditional answer to this problem, but may hammock owners use fence posts, sheds, or even the side of their house as an anchor. None of these are usable without high quality hooks and other hardware, though; modern hammocks require a few extra bits and pieces to ensure that they are completely safe and comfortable.

Making Space For Yourself 

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If you hang your hammock in the incorrect spot or in an incorrect way, you may find yourself wondering what all the fuss over hammocks is about. Lying there in an unstable hammock, the sun in your eyes, always getting a sunburn, feeling hot and sweaty, with nowhere to set your book and drink except to balance them carefully on your stomach… yeah, it’s no wonder you aren’t enjoying your hammock!

Take the right steps to set your hammock up for comfort and relaxation and you will be rewarded with a space of your own, a place you can get away from it all without having to fly to Boca Raton. You deserve it, and thankfully, it isn’t hard to get what you deserve with a hammock!