Don’t ever waste precious vacation time sleeping or feeling groggy. Instead, take a look at the following tips from travel bloggers on how to avoid jet lag, and get right to the fun parts of your trip.
Matilda from The Travel Sisters & Kellyn from K.J. Around the World – Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate.
Matilda tells us: “I find that the best way to prevent jet lag is to stay well hydrated. I always make sure to drink plenty of water before, during and after a long flight. To make sure I drink enough water on flights, I order two cups of water during drink service. I also grab a cup of water every time I get up for a bathroom break. I also carry a bottle of water with me as a backup for when the flight attendants are seated, such as takeoff and landing or when the airplane is just sitting on the runway.”
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Kellyn agrees with her saying: “The best way to deal with jet lag is to drink water and lots of it. Avoid carbonated drinks up to 24 hours before your flight. I find when I drink soda or even sparkling water before or during a flight, my whole body feels bloated and uncomfortable. This stops me from being able to rest and enjoy the flight, contributing to jet lag once I get to my destination.”
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Katherine from Kat’s Gone Global – Spend some time planning your flights.
Being a travel blogger, I am always travelling. Having way too much fun to stop! The big downside to this… jet lag. Travelling long distances and time zone differences can leave me feeling quite exhausted. Don’t underestimate how debilitating jet lag can be. It really can rob you of precious adventure time as you recover, particularly when you first start travelling.
My number one way to minimize jet lag is as simple as planning your flights to arrive a little later in the day at your destination. That’s it, just arrive in the afternoon or early evening! Just taking that one deliberate action will allow you to start adjusting to the new time zone while you are still in the air. Then, when the night time falls this will naturally encourage you to sleep (it may just be enough to help you nod off with the fairies naturally). With this one trick I have been up and ready to go the very next day after travelling halfway around the world many times.
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Ha from Expatolife – Change your schedule in advance.
Picture by Thomas Wang
I think one of the best ways to deal with jet lag is to prevent it from happening. I always try to simulate my new schedule before I leave the country. For example, when I moved from Denmark to Vietnam, the time difference was 5 hours, so I tried to sleep according to Vietnamese time in the final week before flying. It helps me a lot to arrange my sleep and avoid tiredness.
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Cate from International Desserts Blog – Drink some tea!
My #1 tip to beat jet lag is to drink a cup of strong tea at the airport and then spend the rest of the day walking around outside. I do this no matter at what time of the day I land or what the weather is like. Doing so helps me fall asleep at my regular bedtime and wake up refreshed the next morning.
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Steph from The Mediterranean Traveler – Take advantage of modern tools, such as a jet lag calculator.
Photo by Chinh Le Duc from Unsplah
My top tip for jet lag (tested on trans-Atlantic flights) is to use Dr. Sleep – the British Airways’ jet lag calculator. Just plug the relevant times into the tool, and it tells you when to seek and avoid light. This helps your body to adjust to the time zone of your destination before you’ve even left the house. You’ll feel like a rockstar wearing your sunglasses en route to the airport at 6 am!
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Melanie from Passport Amigo – Careful with the coffee!
I’ve tried so many different ways to treat jet lag. Some with more success than others. But there’s one thing above all else that makes a difference to me. In addition to setting my watch to the timezone of the country I’m traveling, I am super-strict about when I drink coffee. It takes most people around six to eight hours to metabolize coffee. So if you’re like me and you can’t normally drink coffee less than 8 hours before you’re due to sleep then make sure you stick to this during a flight too. I’ve been badly caught out a number of times by not realizing I’m effectively drinking coffee way out of my time tolerance for it. Plus, most coffee on a plane is dreadful, so you’ve got an excuse to skip it!
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Dorota from Born Globals – Do not sleep!
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Eloise from My Favourite Escapes – Force yourself early into jet lag.
I start the jet lag when I start my trip: at the airport – or even a few days before if I can! I change the time on my phone to the local time of the destination I’m travelling to before even boarding the plane. If it’s the night over there, I won’t start watching a movie and try to sleep instead.
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My personal favorites
I try as hard as I can to book overnight flights (red-eye flights as they are known in North America). I leave between 16:00 and 20:00 from the United States, and arrive at my destination between 6:00 to 8:00. During the flight, I can try to sleep and depending on the airline have breakfast in-flight. This is not a good option if you can’t sleep on planes, but if that’s the case then do not go to sleep when you arrive. Plan some activities for as soon as you arrive, and your biological clock will be like new on the next day.
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