How to Beat Jet Lag

What do gorilla trekking in Rwanda, standing in the shadows of Egypt’s ancient temples, and stalking tigers in the jungles of India all have in common?

They are all bucket-list adventures, and they all require hopping multiple time zones, meaning the potential for some serious jet lag. Having recently returned from India with very minor jet lag both ways (a serious accomplishment, given the 12.5-hour time zone change!), it seems I have finally mastered the art of defeating jet lag.

Here are some tried and true tricks that work for me, with an emphasis on behavioral adaptations that avoid pills and supplements. I hope you find these tips helpful on your next big adventure!

If you are crossing oceans, getting some sleep on your flights is essential, so choose wisely when booking flights. You will want to book seats that are comfortable for sleeping and be sure to have an eye mask, noise-canceling headphones, neck support, and wubbie (or whatever you need to help you sleep!).

Time your naps on the plane to align with the new time zone of wherever you are headed. If you arrive at your final destination at night, stay awake during the final flight to arrive exhausted, and if it’s a morning or midday arrival, try to get as much sleep as possible on that last flight so that you can hit the ground running. Even if you can’t sleep, closing your eyes and just relaxing or meditating is still restful.

Stay hydrated during your flights and avoid drinking alcohol – there are a lot of reasons NOT to drink on a plane, including sleep disruption and increased cardiovascular stress. My go-to drinks are water, decaf tea, apple juice (something I never drink at home, but it’s excellent for avoiding constipation, a common symptom of jet lag), and one strategically-timed cup of regular coffee when I need the caffeine boost to stay awake.

Congratulations, you’ve survived crying babies, armrest wars, and airplane food, and you’ve made it to your final destination! Arrival day is the most difficult battle in the war against jetlag, but you’ve got this.

The key to kicking jet lag is to force yourself to stay awake within “normal” hours, and the best way to do this is to use light exposure to reset your circadian rhythm. For an evening or night arrival, you will want to keep yourself in dimly lit environments and then get to your hotel and go directly to bed. For a morning or afternoon arrival, the most important thing you can do is get outside and get active by walking, jogging, doing yoga, or embarking on a city tour. Allow your body to get direct sun exposure, even if it’s just finding a sunny spot and basking in the sun for 20 minutes here or there.

What if you feel tired on that first day? That’s perfectly normal, and the best thing you can do is fight to stay awake, with the goal of making it to a bedtime of at least 7:00 p.m. or later. In addition to using physical activity and sunlight to stay awake, I will also use a mild caffeine boost up until about 3:00 p.m. I try to avoid napping unless I’m so tired that I’m delirious. If you must nap, it is essential to keep it to 20 to 30 minutes maximum – set an alarm and stick to it! A certain someone I’m married to had a terrible time re-adjusting when we came back from India, and that’s because that certain someone kept taking two-to-three-hour afternoon naps that raged out of control.

You’ve made it all the way to a respectable 8:00 bedtime on that first day, and now your next challenge is how to get a good night’s sleep and not be bouncing off the walls at 3:00 a.m. Time your hydration to stop several hours before bed so you don’t have to pee in the middle of the night, and practice fundamental good sleep hygiene techniques by making sure your room is dark, cool, and quiet. Avoid caffeine and alcohol close to bedtime, and very importantly, limit screen time and bright lights for an hour before bed.

It’s pretty much guaranteed that you will wake up in the middle of the night that first night, and that’s okay, don’t stress about it. If you went to bed super early, like 7:00 or 8:00 p.m., you might not even try to go back to sleep right away, recognizing that you don’t need 11 hours of sleep. Consider spending an hour or two in the middle of the night journaling, reading a paperback book by dim light, listening to relaxing music, or meditating. No matter what you do, DO NOT USE YOUR PHONE, as the blue light emitted by your screen mimics daylight, plus scrolling through all those music and crazy cat videos will over-stimulate your brain and keep you awake.

When adjusting to a new time zone, I often find that my mind is racing when I try to fall back asleep in the middle of the night, so I have learned some relaxation techniques that help. First, you need to mentally chill out. Don’t repeatedly check the time, and don’t allow yourself to feel stressed about being awake. Get up and go to the bathroom, even if you feel like you don’t really need to, and then get back into bed and relax by using one of the following techniques:

Detailed Visualization: My go-to, most effective way to fall back asleep is to think of something from my past and try to remember all of the details in a sequential order. For example, I might think of my last international adventure and try to methodically go through every day and remember as much as possible (where we went, what we did). Another favorite is to think of a very familiar place from my childhood (grandma’s house, my own childhood home) and either do a detailed visual walk-through of each room, or visualize the drive to get there. For some reason, I never get very far, and this puts me to sleep within minutes!

Cognitive Shuffling: Chris really likes this technique, where you think of random, non-associated, non-emotionally charged things and visualize them in your mind. A rooster. The Empire State Building. A pink glazed donut. Abraham Lincoln. A stop sign. Focus on the image of each item for three to five seconds and then switch to the next completely random thing.

Slow breathing: inhale through your nose for a count of four; hold your breath for a count of seven; and exhale through your mouth for a count of eight. Repeat.

Body scan meditation: starting at your feet and working methodically all the way up to your head, slowly focus on the sensations that you feel in each part of your body. Notice any pressure, aches, pains, or tension, and try to relax that part of the body if possible. Go nice and slow, and if you get all the way through this exercise (I never do!), switch to the slow breathing technique above.

Once you have gotten through the first 24 hours in your new time zone, you have done the heavy lifting, and it only gets easier from here. I find that establishing the following rituals and healthy habits helps my body continue to rapidly adjust to the new time zone:

Maintain a regular sleep schedule. Use an alarm to wake up at a consistent time, and aim for a progressively later bedtime each night until you get back to normal (example: it might be 7:30 p.m. on arrival day, 8:00 the next night, 9:00, and then my usual 10:00 bedtime).

Morning movement: Even while traveling, I try to maintain a regular morning movement routine before starting the day’s activity. That could be an early morning run or walk, swim, yoga session, gym session, or body-weight-resistance training session in my room. Even if all you can do is 15 minutes, that’s better than nothing.

Active days: I try to build an itinerary that keeps me active for the first few days. The more time outside in natural light, the better. If I’m going on safari, scheduling a day or two in a city like Cape Town or Nairobi before heading out to the bush can help you adjust and then better resist the temptation to sleep for three hours during the typical mid-day break.

Hydration: Continue to deliberately stay hydrated and eat nutritious food that contains fiber. Moderate alcohol consumption, avoid it before bed, and keep your caffeine intake limited to the morning hours.

Napping: Avoid as much as possible, and keep it to under 30 minutes and before 3:00 p.m. if you absolutely must.

While adjusting to new time zones may be the least fun part of adventure travel, I have seen firsthand that it can be done, and it’s really not that hard if you have a strategy. The joys of discovery far outweigh the minor inconvenience of dealing with jet lag, and despite the 13-hour time difference, I’m excited about our upcoming trip to Laos and Vietnam!

Your adventure aficionado,

Alexis