Jetlag is one of the banes of a traveller’s life, disrupting nights out with stubborn insistence that it’s time for bed at a time even your five-year-old self would laugh at, offering the chance to find out what’s on TV at 4am, and generally just pummelling your body with some unknown force that makes you sure you had never experienced tiredness before this moment.
But there are ways to fight it, so to help you make the most of every single minute on your overseas adventure – as we firmly believe you should – we’ve prepared a list of tips for combatting the jetlag beast.
1.) Start adjusting your body clock before departure
We’re not entirely sure this fits with our hectic modern lifestyles which sometimes mean we are racing to the airport from a meeting to maximise holiday time, but if you can manage it, starting to adjust your body clock before you step on the plane can go a long way to helping you sleep at night and wake up at a reasonable time when you arrive at your destination. As long as your co-workers don’t find it disconcerting when you start eating soup in the morning because it’s dinner time somewhere, this is one of the best ways to start nibbling the jetlag bullet.
2.) Book afternoon or evening flights
One of the best ways to help your body adjust quickly to a time difference is by catching an afternoon or evening flight that arrives in the morning, allowing you to sleep on the plane and hopefully be fresh enough to make the most of your first day in paradise. Naturally such a consideration depends on your flight path, but most long-haul flights have some sort of afternoon/evening option.
3.) Base your in-flight activities on arrival time
This one goes hand-in-hand with the suggestion of booking afternoon or evening flights, but just in case you didn’t think of it we’re serving it to you on a silver food cart with brakes. Sleeping on the flight is naturally a great way to help your body be as prepared as possible for the jetlag-fighting hours ahead, but if you are flying through the day and arriving at night this may not be the best plan, so be sure to take into consideration what time you arrive as well as when you are leaving in order to best use your time in the air.
4.) Stay hydrated
Hydration is one of the keys to keeping your body happy and healthy throughout your flight, and helping it recover as quickly as possible so you can hit the ground running when you arrive. Not only will your body clock be struggling to adjust to a new time difference; it will also be recovering from long hours spent in cramped conditions with a lack of oxygen that means hydration levels plummet even faster.
The tiny cups of water served by flight attendant’s intermittently throughout a flight are hardly enough to compensate for the subtle distress your body endures at 40,000 feet, so we suggest either becoming your flight attendant’s best friend/worst enemy and asking for water continually throughout the flight, or taking a water bottle on with you if regulations in your departure airport allow.
5.) Steer clear of alcohol
There are pros and cons to this one. Alcohol can certainly be mildly more damaging on a flight when your body is already dehydrating faster than usual and fresh air floats just outside the tiny oval window, tauntingly out of your lungs’ reach. We could argue that this rule might make the flight a little less tolerable, but if you’re set on avoiding the jetlag curse consider swapping your red wine for a plain old tomato juice – which is non-scientifically proven by the author to taste much better on a plane than at any other time.
6.) Breathe some fresh air
After hours of taking in stale, recycled oxygen passed around a stagnant cabin, spending time outside will help you wake up and ensure faster recovery. If you are lucky enough to be blessed with good weather when you arrive at your destination, the sun will also help your body understand that it is supposed to be awake and functional, and it will quickly get the idea when darkness falls and bed time looms wonderfully nearer.
7.) Get a massage
If you feel like splurging a little, a massage is a great way to kick-start your body’s recovery and help you feel human again. Disembarking from a plane can sometimes feel like finishing a marathon – we assume – and your limbs, crooked back and unhappy neck that has just spend 10 hours at odd angles will respond to being pampered so you can be ready to grab your map and let the wanderlust grab you.
Author’s Bio: Courtney Gahan is a serial expat, traveller and freelance writer who has bartered with Moroccan marketeers, seen the sun rise at Angkor Wat and elbowed her way through crowds on NYE in NYC.
