Hello Tuesday!
Friends, today’s post has been a popular request around here, so I thought it was high time I write it up…
I’m not sure Andrew and I love anything more than showing up to the airport for a fun flight to a far off destination.
We are G-I-D-D-Y when we get to travel!
We go, I share and inevitably, every time I get questions about one black cloud that often hangs over a good trip…WHAT ABOUT THE JET LAG?
I’m not an expert and by no means can I alleviate your jet lag altogether, but I do think I have some great tips and tricks honed over decades of my own international travel along with thousands of clients giving me feedback. Hopefully, these tips will help you on your next trip where a significant time zone difference is involved.
Ready, set, here are my 13 KEYS TO MANAGING JET LAG:
1: GET ON THE CURRENT TIME AS SOON AS YOU LAND
I hate to play favorites, but if I were numbering the order of importance of my “keys”, I would say that this one here is without a doubt, my most important tip. I don’t care what time it is when you arrive (whether back home or at your destination), you get on that time immediately and act accordingly. If you’ve been on a 10 hour flight and it’s midnight at home but 7:00 AM when you land, hello, welcome to your morning. Eat breakfast and start doing your “morning” things. If you read the paper, go for a walk, read your Bible, whatever your body knows as a “morning” task, do it because it’s morning where your body currently is at that very moment.
2: SLEEP WHEN YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO SLEEP
If you land, and it’s bedtime, go to sleep. If you land and it’s morning, don’t go to sleep. I have tried every variation and in my opinion, even if you just slept on the plane and now, you’re in Hawaii and it’s 9:00 PM and you’re not tired, go to bed. If you stay up until 3:00 AM and then go to bed, you’ve just extended your jet lag. (See other keys below to help offset this.) If the time on the clock at the current destination is a time when you are normally in bed asleep, take a warm bath or shower, put on comfy pjs, read a minute and go to bed. That being said…
3: BE AWAKE WHEN YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE AWAKE
If you land and you would love nothing more than to crawl into bed and sleep even though the clock says 10:00 AM, I strongly encourage you to push through and stay awake. If you crawl into bed and sleep until 7:00 PM, you have now pushed your jet lag even further out. I would stay the course with the time of day, stay busy and stay awake. What about naps though? Well…
4: DON’T NAP AT THE DESTINATION/BACK AT HOME…BUT IF YOU DO, TAKE A SHORT ONE
It really depends on the length of the flight and the time of day when we land, but we normally DO NOT nap as it seems to only make things worse (our mood, our eating schedule, our sleep later that night…it just prolongs jet lag). That being said, occasionally, we arrive, and it’s early in the morning, and we simply are too tired to persevere. If that’s the case (as it was when we landed in Barcelona), we set our alarms (that is the key!!!!) and sleep only a short amount of time (1 to 2 hours) and then immediately (don’t hit snooze!) get up, shower, change into fresh clothes and get going. I personally think anything longer than one to two hours will just make the jet lag harder.
5: DO “SLEEP” ON THE PLANE…OR DO STAY AWAKE…IT DEPENDS
Hi, my name is Shay, and I am very rigid about napping/sleeping on airplanes. Everyone is different, so please take this as “my way” and not necessarily “your way” (as it’s certainly not Andrew’s way), but I do not nap on airplanes. Period. I will S-L-E-E-P on an airplane when a long flight is involved, and I need to wake up energized for my day, but I do not nap. Let me explain further:
a) If I am let’s say flying from Dallas to Hawaii, that “typically” means I will land late afternoon/early evening, so even though the flight is 8-ish hours, I will not sleep. I will work, read, watch a movie, get up and stretch my legs…but I won’t sleep because when I land, I will want to eat dinner and be tired for bed that night.
b) On the flipside, when I fly home from Hawaii, I “typically” leave Hawaii at night and then land the following morning in Dallas around 7:00 AM which means…I have a very full day ahead of me, so I will sleep as much as I can that entire flight so that when I land in Dallas, I’m rested enough to go about my day until it’s my bedtime that night.
c) The reverse is true when I fly east from Dallas to let’s say London: I left at night and landed in the morning, so I slept as much as I could on the flight. On the return, we left London at 8:45 in the morning and landed in Dallas at noon, so I tried to stay awake so that I could go to bed at my normal time that night.
Do you see all of this craziness above? My very Type-A personality has figured this out and that if I do these things, my jet lag will be greatly reduced. I know, I know, I know…you can’t always count on being able to stay awake or go to sleep, but this is MY GOAL, and I find that when I’m able to do this, my jet lag is much easier to deal with when I land. If I am on a short flight (for me, that’s less than 6 hours), I do not “nap” as I’m a terrible napper. I get cranky, a little nauseous…naps aren’t great. If I’m “sleeping” on a flight, I have a whole routine (you can see it HERE) to help me get quality rest on board the plane.
6: EXERCISE
Andrew and I are both BIG BELIEVERS in exercising helps eliminate jet lag. I know it’s sometimes hard to exercise while you’re on vacation, but if you can, try to do some jumping jacks, pushups, a light jog…just get that blood moving. When you’re back home, go to that yoga class, get up and cycle, lift weights…do your normal exercise routine. It’s always so helpful to both of us when we’re trying to “kick” jet lag.
7: DRINK PLENTY OF WATER
Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! I drink a lot of water the morning of my flight, once on board my flight and after I land. I mean let’s be real, hydrating is probably the “answer” to many woes, but I find it particularly helpful when I’m trying to minimize jet lag.
8: WALK, WALK, WALK OUTSIDE
We say this all the time when we’re traveling. Land, check-in, freshen up and then get outside and WALK! My kids love to tease me because I’m often saying “I’m getting my steps in”. If we park in a parking lot, I’ll park a little bit away because “let’s get our steps in”, after dinner, I’ll ask a kiddo if they want to “get their steps in” with me and the dogs…I clearly say this a lot because all four of them tease me. In London last week? We were getting our steps in. Getting outside in the fresh air and walking instantly boosts my mood and energizes me. Jet lag be gone!
9: EAT REGULAR MEALS
I find that staying on my normal eating routine helps with jet lag so much too. Sometimes, it’s tempting to skip meals (didn’t I just eat on the plane?) or eat as soon as I’m off (when maybe it’s only 3:00 PM and yet, if I were to wait until 6:00PM, my body will feel closer to dinnertime). I just think the faster my body thinks things are “normal”, the faster my jet lag goes away…and my body is very in tune to when I eat throughout the day, so I try to get on the correct time zone’s meal schedule as quickly as I can.
10: TRY CREATINE CONSISTENTLY BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER YOU TRAVEL
Now, this one is new for me, and I was hesitant to throw it out there, but you guys…I think it’s working, so I’m just going to say it. Earlier this year, I said that I was taking creatine every day as part of my supplement/vitamin routine. So, no big deal…creatine is a super old supplement that’s really good for you and many, many people take it. Buuuuut I was listening to Cynthia Thurlow’s Everyday Wellness podcast a few weeks ago (episode 301) literally right before we left, and the expert on that day said that consistently taking creatine helps alleviate jet lag…and so I started thinking…hmmmm…have I noticed a difference this year, and honestly, maybe I have? I typically do not travel with my supplements, but this time, I added my creatine to my carry on bag and took it every day while I was gone, and I’m not saying it was a magic cure, but I am saying, if you’re already on it, maybe continue taking it while you’re away just in case it’s affective for you (and totally listen to that podcast episode!).
11: DON’T SLEEP IN
In my “keys” here, this one right here is the one hardest for me to maintain…do not sleep in. Agh! I’m not a “sleep in” kind of person, but if I have jet lag and my alarm goes off, the thought ALWAYS crosses my mind to “hit snooze and keep sleeping”, buuuuut it’s my experience that doing that will only keep the jet lag around longer. I would maintain your normal schedule as best as you can and not sleep in if you think that’s going to cause pesky old jet lag to hang around longer.
12: SHOWER
Really? What does a shower not fix? When I land (whether at home or on my travels), a nice brisk shower instantly gives me pep to go about my day and stay up…or a nice warm shower instantly makes me sleepy and relaxed to go to bed (should the time of day warrant that). Either way, shower.
13: GIVE YOURSELF GRACE
And finally, take all of my keys and ignore them if you need to do so. You guys, traveling is an amazing experience! Don’t be too hard on yourself, give yourself grace and just do THE BEST YOU CAN. Eventually your body will figure it out, so don’t stress. Just be in the moment and give yourself grace to do the best you can on that day. It will all work itself out. It always does.
Those are my keys!
I would LOVE TO HEAR YOUR KEYS TOO!!!!! Please comment and share below if you have keys for managing jet lag!
Okay, don’t forget, you can also catch my…
25 Keys to a Peaceful Morning
22 Keys to making Fall Cozy
19 Key Fall Kitchen Essentials
18 Keys to Prepping for a Trip
14 Keys to simplify BACK TO SCHOOL
21 Keys to Savoring Summer
21 Keys for Working at Home {Summer Edition}
25 Keys to Outdoor Summer Entertaining
25 Keys to Maintaining our Yard
17 Keys to my Holiday Prep
11 Keys to a Cozy Winter
9 Keys to Returning from a Trip
12 Keys to Leaving Your Kiddos When You Travel
13 Keys to Meal Planning
8 Keys to Creating Daily Routines You Love
21 Keys to Elevating the Everyday
Also, don’t forget…
…last year, when we went to London, I shared all of my IN FLIGHT ESSENTIALS to make those long flights easier. You can see that post HERE.
That’s it for today! I hope you all have THE BEST Tuesday! xx
Becky Smith says
This came at the perfect time!! I’m flying to Italy next month and this was my one concern. I will definitely be trying these!!! We have a full day in Rome planned to keep us moving!
Mix and Match Mama says
Have SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!
Elspeth says
So many great and practical tips!
Thanks so much for sharing! I love getting my steps in too as a way to keep my energy up!
http://www.elspethsdaybyday.com
Julie says
These are all great tips! When you fly internationally, do you usually try to fly at night so you can sleep during your normal sleep time?
Mix and Match Mama says
It depends on the destination from DFW. I try to fly direct as often as possible, and we use the same airline almost all the time too to simplify things. When we go east from DFW, it’s almost always over night but when we go west, it’s almost always during the day.
Kait says
Thank you! Saving these tips now!! Heading to Hawaii from Ontario, Canada next month (thanks to Mix and Match Travel Agency😉)!
Mix and Match Mama says
We are SO EXCITED FOR YOU!! Thank you so much for letting us be a part of this special vacation!!!
Sheaffer says
I’m going to guess these are all great tips. Not that I would know.
Mix and Match Mama says
I just lol! One of these days, friend. One of these days. xx
Ani Martinez says
Completely agree on “getting on local time” as quickly as possible! The only thing we’ve done different is that, when we land very early after an overnight flight (ie, we arrived in Dublin at 5:30am on a Sunday morning) we reserved a room for the day before and let them know we were arriving very early in the am. This allowed us to check in, take a quick shower to wash the grime off and take a nap until 9am. There was nothing to do and the brief nap really made a huge difference in our moods.
kimberlee nelson says
What brand of creatine do you use? Sounds like something I need to take! Thank you.
Mix and Match Mama says
https://cynthiathurlow.com/new-shop/creatine-order/ This is the one I use!
Tasha says
Hi Shay! I have a personal caveat to rule #1. I live on the east coast and when I travel to the west coast I actually continue to adhere to east coast time. This allows me to go to bed “earlier” and wake up “earlier” where at home I tend to sleep in. This lets me experience sunrises and more daylight and I also avoid any jet lag!
Elizabet says
Hi! Yesterday I fell down the rabbit hole of all your old travel posts 🙂 On one of the posts you said you used a face mask (by Clinique) on long flights. I was wondering – do you still use a face mask? And if so, do you still like this one by Clinique or do you have a new favorite?
Mix and Match Mama says
It varies the brand, but I always apply a some sort of thick, hydrating lotion to my face and hands when I go to sleep.
Amye says
Shay, can you share what brand of creatine you use, please?
Mix and Match Mama says
Yes! I use Cynthia Thurlow’s that she’s cobranded through MD Logic. https://cynthiathurlow.com/new-shop/creatine-order/
SS says
Yes! I always tell people all of these things too for jet lag and it’s never been much of an issue for me b/c of it (I think!). Don’t sleep on the plane unless you are flying when you are supposed to be sleeping. Just stay up until it’s the time to sleep wherever you are going. Etc… I only disagree with the not sleeping in part. I find that one great sleeping in night and I’m all reset – not until noon or anything, but mid morning – sure!. I also will take a NyQuil one night to get me to sleep if I can’t fall asleep at the right time to get me reset. And I never take medicine normally.
I hope this continues to work as I get older :-).
Andrea says
I struggle with insomnia that is exacerbated by jet lag and major time zone changes so now before any major vacations, I ask my doctor to call in a prescription for a sleep aid. Knowing I have it really takes the pressure off of worrying if I’ll be able to sleep. I do the same thing anytime we go south of the border, but with nausea/vomiting meds.
Christy says
What creatine do you take? How much? I’ve been thinking about adding it to my supplements.
Mix and Match Mama says
I use one scoop of this brand here: https://cynthiathurlow.com/new-shop/creatine-order/
Tracy says
What do you add your creatine too? I.e. Do you add to your coffee or water?
I don’t travel as much as I like, but I was on the East Coast this summer and I brought my creatine with me and I didn’t feel as jet lagged as usual when I travel. I never would have thought that the creatine helped with that. I will make sure to continue bringing it with me.
Mix and Match Mama says
Sometimes coffee, but typically, I just stir it into a bit of water.
Mary C says
I agree with #4 and #12. When I travel to Europe I always take a quick nap when I arrive in the morning and make sure to set an alarm. When I wake up, I take a shower and go about my day. Then go to bed at the regular local time. And it works every time. Never have any issues the rest of the trip 🙂
Amber Morris says
Perfect timing on this post! Just returned home (TN) from Maui! This 6hr time difference is kicking my booty!
PS thanks to Clare for planning the perfect trip for us!
Mix and Match Mama says
Thank YOU so very much!!!
Monica says
First time momma here wanting to travel with baby! How did you deal with jet lag/sleep schedules when you traveled with babies? We have a 6.5 month old and just got her passport.
Mix and Match Mama says
Good for you!!!! I am such a believer that your kids learn how to travel by traveling, so the earlier you start, the faster/easier it will be. Go back and read this blog post (that’s 10.5 years old!) because I wrote it as a mama with a four year old and three year old…so I was in the trenches. My #1 key though is “throw all of your ‘ways’ out the window”. If baby only sleeps this way or that way or at this time or that time or eats this or only that…who cares! You’re on vacation. Toss your “ways” out the window (they’ll still be there when you get home and trust me…baby will go easily back to them), but for travels, be flexible. https://mixandmatchmama.com/2013/04/fifty-two-shades-of-shay-traveling-with/
Meg says
I’ve got one caveat to your #1 that I’ve found really helps me – I actually start adjusting to the time zone the moment the plane takes off. I immediately manually change the time on my phone and watch to my destination, so I then spend the entire flight getting used to the time zone. I’ve found it makes it feel like less of a jolt when I get there!
S says
Shay, do you do anything different when flying from Asia back to the US? I’ve traveled twice to/from China from NY via LAX (both for adoption). Going was easy, no jet lag at all. Returning was awful. Took almost 2 full weeks to recover. We’re planning a third trip and don’t want a repeat!
Mix and Match Mama says
I ALWAYS find that traveling home west to east is so much harder (and when we travel from Asia back to Dallas, we go east). The three times we did it, it was way more brutal. In my opinion, you try all of the things I mentioned but really give yourself as much grace as possible. That is a huge adjustment to your body especially if you were there for any length of time.
Kacy M says
Like I understand how people get jet lag, but I really don’t. I’ve never had jet lag and I’ve been to Asia, Europe etc. I always fly and land so my day begins (literally) or it’s night and I’m going straight to bed. I’ve come home after overseas trips and gone straight to work right after. Your jet lag tips are great, I feel like people just have to fly “smarter” and they’ll settle in/get acclimated better.