Long-haul travel – don’t you love it! Sitting for hours on a plane, trying to get sleep or wasting time until your feet are on stable ground again. We’ve all done it. And if you are about to do it, I’m giving you my best tips to beat jet lag like a pro from my years of plane travel. So buckle your seat belt and get ready for take off!
Jet lag unfortunately is part and parcel of long-haul plane trips. And there is genuine science behind why jet lag can be tough on our bodies, and even tougher the older we get. But there are ways you can fight back to reduce jet lag. And when you understand what jet lag is, you can begin with some scientific ways to beat jet like a pro.
What is Jet Lag?
Jet lag happens when your body’s internal 24-hour clock, which governs when you feel sleepy and alert, falls out of sync with the day-night cycle of wherever you’ve landed.
How does Jet Lag affect You?
So how does jet lag affect you? Well, your sleep pattern is the most affected thing with jet lag thanks to time differences. Thus causing you to feel sluggish and tired.
That 24 hour flight from Sydney to London now sees your body clock 10 hours behind what it usually is. So when you are usually waking up for breakfast, you now find yourself getting ready for bed!
Science says for younger travellers, your internal clock can reset itself relatively quickly. For those older, particularly people over 60, it can take a bit longer. This can be due to the amount of Melatonin you have in your body as it can reduce with age.
8 Ways to beat Jet Lag like a Pro
To help you avoid miserable first few days of your trip here’s my best tips to help you beat jet lag like a pro.
1. Start adjusting before you fly.
Adjusting to the time of the place you will be flying to can help reduce jet lag. Rather than waiting until you land, a few days before, or even a week before you fly, begin shifting your sleep and meal times by 30-60 minutes a day in the direction of your destination’s time zone. This gives your body a head start rather than asking it to make the entire adjustment in one go.
Whether go on a holiday to a specific destination, a working holiday abroad or moving to live and work abroad on a digital nomad visa, start adjusting to your new time, before you fly.
2. Direction Matters
Direction of travel matters, and matters more as we age. Scientific research shows because the average human circadian rhythm actually runs slightly longer than 24 hours, it’s generally easier to adjust when travelling west (which extends your day) than east (which compresses it).
Some research suggests recovery can be 30 to 50 per cent faster after westward travel compared to eastward.
We can’t always change the direction of our chosen route, but it is worth thinking about!
3. Consider your arrival time.
As well as direction, consider your arrival time.
Where possible, choose flights that land in the afternoon rather than early morning, particularly on eastbound trips. Arriving to morning light when your body still thinks it’s the middle of the night can actually shift your rhythm in the wrong direction.
If your flight arrives in the morning, try to keep yourself awake as long as possible. You’ve got a whole day to get through before you can go to sleep. Otherwise, you will be sleeping through the day and your body will take longer to adjust to the new time.
Science shows light is the single strongest cue for resetting your body clock, use it strategically. If you’re travelling east, seek out morning light at your destination and avoid bright evening light. If travelling west, do the reverse. It takes a little research before you go, but it’s one of the most effective tools available to helping you overcome jet lag.
4. Talk to your doctor about melatonin.
The most significant factor causing jet lag is melatonin. Melatonin is a natural hormone made by your brain’s pineal gland that controls your sleep-wake cycle. It rises in the dark to signal that it is time for rest and drops in the light to help you wake up. When you travel to another country that is in a different time zone to your usual one, then it can be harder to fall asleep and stay asleep because your body is out of whack.
It may be worth speaking to your doctor about a low-dose melatonin supplement genuinely helpful for resetting the body clock, particularly on eastbound trips. And particularly if you are older, as the older we become, melatonin production reduces. So if you are going on holidays or moving to live and work abroad in your 50s+ then this may be something to seriously consider.
5. Do everything you can to sleep on the flight over.
Getting sleep on a long-haul plane flight is one of the hardest things, particularly if you are in economy. Read my article 17 tips for getting sleep on a plane’ for inspiration.
TIP: I’m not a doctor, so take this as a tip from a friend, but I often take something to help me sleep on my long haul flights. Melatonin is great, but it’s designed to help you to fall asleep, not to stay asleep. So I often take a sleeping tablet to help keep me asleep for 6-8 hours.
And I ensure what I wear on the plane is comfortable, yet stylish. Comfortable attire helps you sleep on a plane.
6. Go easy on alcohol and caffeine in transit.
Alcohol and caffeine in transit both can worsen dehydration and disrupt the sleep you do manage to get on board, compounding jet lag rather than helping you push through it.
Water, and plenty of it, remains the simplest and most effective thing you can drink on a long flight. So if you are killing time in the airport before your flight, stick to water!
Maybe keep your caffeine hit for your arrival, when you might need some help to get through your first day in a different time-zone.
7. Build recovery time into your itinerary.
Perhaps the most important tip of all: don’t schedule anything demanding for your first day or two at your destination if you can help it. Try to stay up until 8 or 9pm the first night (or later) to try to get into the new time zone.
Don’t take a nap on the first day because it will be the most difficult nap you will ever have to wake up from. I know, I’ve done this. Bad move. You can wake (if you do) groggy and dysfunctional.
I know how hard this can be, particularly when you have limited time for your holiday. I mean, if you have one month holiday, you want to see and do as much as you can within that time. And preferably, not spending it in bed from jet lag. If you can, build recovery time into your itinerary so you don’t get disappointed from having jet lag you weren’t planning on.
8. Caffein, Sunshine, Fresh Air and Movement are Your Best Friends
Caffeine, so is sunshine, fresh air, and lots of movement (walking is my favourite) when I get off a plane on the other side of world.
Do things to keep yourself awake and active – this could be sightseeing on your first day.
Are You Ready to Beat Jet Lag?
Unfortunately, jet lag is one of those things that comes hand-in-hand with long-haul flying. But there are ways to beat it with a little preparation before your fly and some patience with your body clock once you land. Do you have ways you use to beat jet lag that I can add to my list? I’d love to hear.
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