Jet Lag Survival
You know how you always see those little graphic tip sheets that tell you how to wake up at your overseas destination with your body in the right time zone? Well I think they’re bullshit. Who has time to do these long checklists of gradually adjusting bedtimes and appropriate vitamin supplementation regimens and blah blah blah while you’re stuck working late and running all the pre vacation errands?! NOBODY! I’m just trying to survive my shifts and somehow find time to pack while shamefully eating pre-made meals for a couple days…
But there are some things that even you, the overworked and stressed pre-vacationer, can do to help yourself adjust prior to departure. And then you can do the rest of the work once you’re at the airport, on the plane, and at your destination.
Fun facts:
Water is the essence of life and health.
More sleep is always better than less sleep.
Crappy food makes you feel crappy.
Approachable Time Zone Adjustment Tip #1: Hydration
There’s a reason you always see hydration as a point on those time zone adjusting tip sheets. It’s because water is life. Also, the inside of the airplane is a horrible desert of dehydrating air. The longer you’re in the desert, the dryer and consequentially more awful you’ll feel. But hydration is a long game, not a short one. You can’t expect to just chug a bottle of water at the end of your flight and call it good. No, my friends, this is one thing you need to be aggressive about before departure. The day before and day of your flight, drink at least 2 liters of water throughout the day. That’s water, by the way—not “hydrating” purchased beverages. On your flight, drink a bare minimum of another liter, preferably two if you’re on a long flight.
Now here’s the part nobody likes, but we have to talk about. Alcohol = dehydration = undoing all your hard water-drinking work. In all honesty, I’m 50/50 on passing up that free drink onboard… But, hey, nobody’s perfect. I’d tell you not to have other dehydrating beverages like caffeine, but nobody wants to see you deal with airport stress without a cup of coffee, so we’ll cut our losses there. In short, more water is better. End of story.
Approachable Time Zone Adjustment Tip #2: Sleep Lots
Everyone tries to tell you to adjust your body to the time zone you’ll be entering. They want you to change your clocks, go to bed early/late, try and fall asleep on the airplane at the time you should be falling asleep at your destination, etc. I’m sorry, I am not a robot. The days before I leave for a trip, I’m way too busy to be dicking around with my sleep schedule that much.
When it comes down to it, jet lag is just a bad combo of being dehydrated and sleep deprived. Nobody really gets a good night’s rest siting bolt upright in a freezing tube packed with 175 of their new best friends. Even if you sleep, it’s not like you’re gonna be in REM for a solid 6 hours, dreaming of swimming with whales and all your teeth falling out… just me? Oh… sorry. The point is, sleep deprivation is brutal. So do yourself a favor- just sleep whenever you can. Because science has shown us that more sleep is better, even if it’s not all at once. Sleep is cumulative!
Got to the terminal two hours early because you sped through security? Take an hour nap at the gate while you’re waiting to board (just set an alarm so you don’t miss boarding!). Or eat in the airport before you take off— then you can just get on the plane and PTFO (pass the f out) without worrying about waiting up for dinner service. Fall asleep for the 30 minutes between breakfast and landing, then keep sleeping all the way to the gate! Be a sleep ninja- sneak it in in small increments whenever possible.
Once you’re at your destination, I hereby grant you permission to take naps. Get outside, get fresh air, walk around. And then take a nap if you want. Just don’t take 5 hour nap, because that’ll probably screw you up. But if you want to sleep for a couple hours, just do it. And then go to bed at a reasonable hour on your first night and sleep as long as you want. If you sleep for 10 hours, who cares?! You probably needed it. Everyone is always trying to book a tour for 7am the morning after they arrive, pretending it will make them feel productive and help them adjust. Hell. No. You just missed an entire night of sleep because you were tossing and turning in a flying frozen desert. Let your body rest, OK? This is vacation after all. Do you really have to do anything? Helping your body catch up on sleep in your first 24 hours at your destination will set you up for success the rest of your vacation.
Approachable Time Zone Adjustment Tip #3: Crap in = Crap out
You already know this- eating crappy food makes you feel crappy. When was the last time that you finished an entire basket of french fries and exclaimed “I feel like I could win a marathon!” Sadly, airplane food (known for it’s high quality and vibrant tastes…) is not great for you. Shocking. They put a lot of salt in there so you can taste anything, because your taste buds are all out of whack at 35,000ft. If you can get your pre-flight self together, bring your own healthy food, or eat at the airport before you take off. Then bring healthy, simple snacks on board with you- fresh fruit, nuts, jerky, hummus and carrots. You get the idea. The healthier the food choices, the better you’ll feel when you land! And the less you eat in flight, while your metabolism is basically at zero, the less sluggish and disgusting you’ll feel when you land. Think about it: do you usually eat dinner in bed, then just roll over and go to sleep? No. Same rules apply on the airplane!
So there you have it. Three approachable ways to help alleviate some of the symptoms of jet lag. There’s no magic bullet to totally avoid jet lag. But there are ways to make it less painful. They’re nothing fancy, but in my experience, the fancy tricks don’t seem to make any difference to how I feel. Just simply sleep, hydrate, and eat like a responsible adult. That’s about the best you can do! Bon Voyage!