Whether you are travelling for business or pleasure, the further your destination is, the more chance you stand of being caught out by jet lag.
Some people are somehow lucky and never seem to be affected, however for others jet lag can be quite severe and something that can make you feeling really bad.
What is Jetlag
Jet lag When we travel across distances that are separated by multiple time zones, there is always one thing that we can expect to experience when we get to our destination, and that is jet lag. Jet lag, simply speaking, is a disturbance in our circadian rhythm, something more commonly known to us as our body clock. Because our body is programmed to sleep during nighttime and to be awake during the day, speeding across time zones as we do whenever we travel by plane whacks up our body clock.
When our body clock is disrupted, our body shows signs of adjusting to the time. These signs of adjustment can take the form of vomiting, lack of appetite, dehydration, headaches and sinus irritation, but more commonly as manifest as drowsiness and sluggishness. But once the body has adjusted and our circadian rhythm has got its groove back, the symptoms of jet lag disappear.
Sometimes, jet lag grips people so much that it hampers their trip for a couple of days or so. As a general guide, it can take the body one day per time zone that we cross to fully recover. Not good if you are travelling half way around the world for a short duration trip!
This is why it is so important to actually minimise the affects jet lag has, after all if you are travelling you need to arrive fresh and ready for the big sightseeing schedule.
With increased air traffic a lot of airlines especially on their long haul services have actually introduced more daily flights, some usually normally depart in the evening and another the daytime. The airlines will sell you the advantages of both and it is true that they both do have very strong support. However, it very much depends which direction you are travelling in, and whether you are an active flyer or a ‘wake me up when we land’ sort. Let’s use the Hong Kong to London route as an example, which a lot of airlines offer multiple flights a day. If you leave in the evening you will arrive in London in the early morning however if you take the daytime service you will arrive late evening in London.
This means with the daytime service you have 13 hours or so to fill, sleeping is not really advisable as you will need to do that when you arrive in London in the evening. As we all know airline movies can be good but the chances are if you travel frequently, or watch movies a lot then you may have already seen most of them. You can work of course but does the airline you are flying with have laptop electric supplies, otherwise you may be restricted to a couple of hours or so ? This is where the initial problem lies, because if you do fall asleep then chances are you will find it difficult to get to sleep that evening in London, this would then worsen the jet lag effect and possibly ruin the next day for you, due to fatigue.
The opposite is of course true for the evening service, you can sleep as you are aided by the fact that your body clock is saying that you should. Then when you awake you will hopefully be refreshed and ready to work after a nice hot shower.
Thankfully, there are ways of dealing with jet lag so that it does not have to bother us so much whenever we have to travel across time zones.
Things to Do to Avoid Jetlag
Check out my simple and useful steps should help to ease the strain and impact of jetlag.
1. Prepare In-advance
Make the necessary adjustments before your trip. Make adjusting your body to the time difference in your destination a part of your preparation for your trip. You can do this by gradually changing your sleeping patterns a few days before your flight. Go to bed an hour earlier each day before your flight.
2. Watch What You Drink
Be careful what you consume on board the plane. What you eat or drink can help your body deal with jet lag, or worsen it. Therefore, avoid consuming alcohol and caffeinated drinks like coffee and soda during your flight. Alcohol and caffeine make the body feel more dehydrated.
Firstly avoid alcohol in flight, with the pressurized air in the cabin your body dehydrates substantially, and alcohol affects the body clock by not giving you a full and refreshing sleep.
Try to drink as much water as possible. Just ask the steward (ess) for a large bottle and keep it by your seat so you can take sips whenever you want.
3. Food
Eat light meals on board. Eating heavy meals and meals rich in fat, carbohydrates or even protein tend to aggravate jet lag conditions rather than lessen it.
4. Exercise
It is highly recommended to move around when in-flight, walk up and down the plane, do dome stretching exercises, to keep the blood circulating, and stop the joints from stiffening. While seated, swirl your ankles around from time to time.
5. Get Sleep and Rest
Again, depending on which direction you are travelling whether east or west, and how much sleep you require, you should set your watch to the local time of your destination as you board, and sleep according to that. This helps your body to start the change in its body clock, which is so important when combating jet lag. Let’s say for example that you are flying from Bangkok to Paris, then when you board the plane you should set your clock to Paris time and try not to sleep until it is close to sleeping time in Paris.
6. Medication
Take pills if you have to. There are research showing that taking melatonin supplements help adjust the body’s circadian rhythm. Melatonin is a hormone that is naturally secreted by our body, and melatonin supplements are to be taken at least three days before the actual flight. Sleeping pills are also said to help the body deal with jet lag, but sleeping pills should be taken only after the flight.
7. Upgrade
If you have the money, upgrade you to first or business class. Today, airlines are going out of their way to ensure that you have a comfortable flight, and that you arrive as fresh as possible, at the other end.
If you have the money, leading airlines now offer a total bed experience, which is where the seat will go all the way back flat, duvets, and pillows are offered, plus pyjamas etc. This is now par for the course in First Class with various airlines now. You’ll get a much more comfier experience and probably be able to get more sleep.
Some companies also offer arrival lounges compared to the standard departure lounge, which are for first and business class passengers. These arrival lounges have full shower facilities, so that you can arrive and freshen up without even having left the airport ! All these services are a great help but what can do to help yourself if you don’t have a huge budget?
8. Arrive Early
Arrive a day or two earlier. If your schedule and your budget allows it, you can opt to fly to your target destination a day or two earlier than scheduled so your body can adjust to the jet lag on its own.
9. Adapt to the New Time Zone
When you do arrive at your destination, and if its day time, try not to go to sleep, no matter how tired you are. Instead try to go outdoors and into the day light/sunshine if possible, this helps to alter your body clock, and will mean you will be back to normal a lot quicker.
One of the first hotels to offer a jet lag service was the Okura Hotel in Tokyo. They would offer the guests, a special bright light in their rooms, special food designed to help the body clock, massages and a whole load of other things, all so that you could be refreshed and ready to go as soon as possible.
If you can’t resist and your eyelids are drooping and you feel more and more tired, then set you alarm for four hours time, have a very hot bath, and then jump into bed.
Jet lag does not have to be a huge bother during a trip. A few adjustments to our habits before, during, and after the flight does the trick.
Take the necessary measures before, during and after your flight. Before you board the plane, setting your watch to the time at your destination helps your mind deal with jet lag. To fight against dehydration, which is seen to be a huge factor in causing jet lag, you should also drink a lot of water before, during, and after your flight. Try to walk around and stretch when you are awake to keep your circulation going. Also, get some sleep if it is night at where you are going, and stay awake when it is daytime at your destination.
Hopefully my recommendations have been helpful and if you any tips let me know below.
