How To Avoid Jet Lag

Jet lag is the worst part of any travel experience. It occurs when you change time zones but your body hasn’t adjusted to the country’s new time zone. Your body wants to sleep at the wrong times which can cause huge disruptions to this exciting trip you’ve planned and dreamed of! Jet lag symptoms can manifest in many ways. Anything from waking up at 2am and not being able to fall back asleep, not being able to stay awake in the middle of the day, or being so tired you can’t enjoy the trip all together. But how can you avoid jet lag on your next trip?

Fortunately for you, we’ve had many years of dealing with jet lag. We frequently make 8-12 hour time zone shifts while traveling due to the fact that we live abroad. With so many big time change trips, I think we have tried every trick there is out there to beat the dreaded jet lag. So here are some of our tips we’ve compiled and answers to common questions that will help make your next trip enjoyable from day one. We’ll even include some things we tried to help us avoid jet lag symptoms but we don’t use anymore. 

Best Tips to Avoid Jet Lag

The first thing we do is try to get on the destination’s time zone as fast as possible. Sometimes this means staying up all night. Yes, all night. The night before our trip to New Zealand, a 17 hour time difference, we pulled an all-nighter as adults. It was so hard but we scheduled fun things to do throughout the night like taking a night walk through our neighborhood, we toasted with a Red Bull at midnight, and we even had a friend who worked odd hours come over and play games with us at 3am. We had so much to look forward to which made staying up easier. One hard night helped us fall asleep on the plane and when we landed in New Zealand, we were closer to the right time zone so we were able to avoid jet lag and its major impacts.  

Technology is making it easier to figure out how to switch your schedule. On our last trip, we used ChatGPT to tell us how to start shifting our schedule at home a few days before we left. Be careful because we had to give ChatGPT our limitations like we still had to go to work leading up to the trip so we weren’t able to change our schedule completely for this one trip! There are many apps as well that focus on helping you avoid jet lag. 

When you leave for the airport, set your watch to the destination’s time zone. That way you can look down at your watch and basically pretend you are on the destination’s time zone. It sounds silly but we’ll say things like “oh wow looks it’s 10pm in Rome, we should be tired now” even though it’s only 2pm in the airport. We’ll yawn and stretch like we’re tired. Setting your watch to the destination’s time zone helps you know when you should be tired and when you should be awake. Use your watch as a guide to get on the destination’s time zone on the airplane. This can mean sleeping on the plane if it’s night at the destination or forcing yourself to stay awake by watching movies on the plane if it’s daytime at the destination. Then when you land, you don’t have to worry about setting your watch. You land and you’re good to go! 

The first day at the destination, do everything possible to stay awake the whole day. For us this means having things planned to do right away and hitting the ground running. We always have an itinerary of pre-planned places to visit, directions on how to get there, and everything mapped out. We’ve even planned restaurants we want to eat at on the first day to take out the thinking work! It takes no thought to follow the plan so it’s easier to do it. The first day we also always try to go for outdoor walks. This helps us get some natural sunlight and fresh air. The light in your eyes helps you adjust and helps your body regulate to the destination’s time zone. Pro tip: we don’t let ourselves lay down, ever. That quick ten minute nap will turn into an accidental 4 hour nap before you know it. 

Finally, when it’s the right time to go to bed on the first night, do everything you can to help you sleep. For us that means pull the shades down, an eye mask to keep it dark, ear plugs to block out noise, and my biggest tip, keep the room cold. Any trick you use at home to help you sleep through the night will be helpful when you travel. 

Do These Tips Always Work To Avoid Jet Lag?

Now these tips and tricks don’t always work. Once when we were traveling to Bangkok, only a 4 hour time difference for us, the jet lag hit harder than I expected. I kept waking up at midnight and would be up for 2-3 hours before falling back asleep. In these cases, be prepared with something that makes you sleepy. For me, I always travel with my Kindle that has at least one boring book so I have something to read that I can fall asleep to. My friend recommends choosing a famous quote, repeating in your mind, and then counting each of the letters in the quote starting with A. Be prepared with a strategy that works for you. I try to avoid scrolling on my phone because the bright light of the phone can actually keep me more alert which doesn’t help me fall asleep. 

How Does Hydration Help You Avoid Jet Lag?

Hydration is my number one advice for life but also travel. Drink more water than you think. Why? Airports and airplanes that circulate dry air, high sodium plane food, and bad diets can all dehydrate you. In my normal life, I don’t feel good when dehydrated, and I think it’s worse when traveling. I prioritize water over almost everything when traveling. You don’t need fancy electrolyte powders or expensive additives, just make sure you have clean drinking water with you always. This will help you feel better quicker! 

Do Medicines Help You Avoid Jet Lag?

While many people advocate for melatonin, melatonin pills don’t work very well for us. Melatonin is a natural hormone in your body that plays a role in managing your sleep-wake cycle and circadian rhythm. Melatonin can be sold as pills or gummies. There is nothing wrong with it and many people we know use it regularly. But for us, we felt sort of groggy after taking it so the next day wasn’t as pleasant. 

Speaking of sleep medication, we also try not to use other sleep medications as we try to get our bodies to naturally regulate when traveling. I know many people who use over the counter medications that induce sleep like Nyquil PM or Benadryl (sedating antihistamine) when traveling. To each their own on this topic. If it makes you feel better to have some with you in case you need, then bring it. 

Even though you may think alcohol will help you sleep, it can actually cause sleep disruption so avoid it in the plane or at first while trying to adjust to a new schedule. Also we try to avoid drinking caffeine after 2pm in the new location so our bodies can sleep at night. Although some of this can sound restrictive, you know your body best. Whatever has worked for you at home, generally will work for you while traveling. 

Final Thoughts on How to Avoid Jet Lag

Be prepared and have a plan. If possible, start adjusting your schedule before you leave or on the plane. Make sure you have enough to do to keep you going those first few days so your body is forced to adjust quickly. And when the jet lag hits, just know it’s only temporary. You got this! Let us know if any of these tips helped you. Can’t wait to hear about your trip!