Ask any traveler what they hate most about long flights and one of the most common answers isn’t the cramped seats or the crying baby two rows back, but jet lag. If you’re flying from North to South or just crossing one time zone or two, jet lag’s no big deal. But for long hauls, a bad case of jet lag can ruin the first few days of your trip. Some people can fly from Los Angeles to Spain without a hiccup in their sleep patterns, but most of us have to suffer with jet lag for at least a few days. In some cases, you’re just barely getting over jet lag when it’s time to return home! But here are a bunch of ideas, tips, and tricks that can help you avoid jet lag in the first place or recover from it faster.
Set your watch to local time as soon as possible. As I mentioned in a previous post, as soon as I get on a flight, I set my watch to the time at my destination. The main reason is that the arrival time on your itinerary is in local time, so you can quickly see how much longer you’re stuck on that flight. But seeing the local time when you check your watch also helps you get your brain in sync with “it’s late in the evening, maybe I should stop watching this movie I’ve seen 3 times already and try to get a little sleep.”
If you can sleep on planes, do it. It passes the time and will help your jet lag. I can sleep a little on planes, but it’s never restful, so I wake up cranky. Doubly cranky if I missed the in-flight meal. I’m like a toddler that way…
Sleeping on flights is also why I generally try to choose a window seat for long flights. It lets me lean against the cabin wall, and I’m less likely to be disturbed by someone climbing over me to use the bathroom or the drink cart running into my elbow.
Speaking of the drink cart, make sure you stay hydrated. The recycled air on planes is very dry, which will dry you out. Drink lots of water during your flight. If a cocktail or two will help you sleep, go for it. Otherwise, booze tends to decrease the quality of most peoples’ sleep, so it might be a good idea to avoid it, depending on your situation. A collapsible water bottle takes up little space, can be easily filled at the water fountain at the airport, and doesn’t leave you at the mercy of the flight attendance when you need a drink.
If you land in the morning or early afternoon and you need to stay up for a while before local nighttime, most people will choose a cup of coffee (or two or three). I prefer a light workout. I generally don’t pack workout clothes when I travel, but a brisk walk in the sunlight or even a bodyweight workout in the hotel room (squats, pushups, etc) will do wonders. First, it helps to get the blood flowing, which is great after a long flight. But it also releases all kinds of chemicals and hormones in your blood to help you feel awake. And, since you just “worked out,” you can eat anything you want, guilt-free. Bonus!
When it’s finally time to sleep, I always get the room as dark as possible and as cold as resonably possible. Some people swear by melatonin supplements. If they’re not part of your usual routine, they may help. It’s not a sleeping pill, like a Tylenol PM. Melatonin will help your body think that it’s time to sleep. The key here is that, if you take it while you’re out and about, you probably won’t feel tired or fall asleep like you would with Tylenol PM. But if you take it as you’re getting ready for bed, even if you’re not super-tired, it may help you go to sleep earlier than you otherwise would, which can help you get on the local schedule.
As long as we’re discussing pills, I know some people who have prescriptions for Ambien just for flights. I think it’s overkill, but if that’s what works for you, who am I to judge?
There are a lot of ways that you can potentially avoid and minimize the hassle of jet lag. Some tricks work better for some people than others, so try them all and see what works for you. And, if you’re going someplace for just a weekend getaway, you may choose to stay on your home timezone the whole time, and not have to deal with jet lag at all!
