How to avoid/take care of a Jet lag ?

If you are looking for some jet lag tips, and information on how to avoid a jet lag, you came to the right place.

Let’s face it, jet lag is probably one of the most annoying things that happen to you when you travel internationally.

But there is no reason to accept it when you can prevent it from happening in the first place.

How? Well, keep reading to find out!

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What’s a Jet Lag?

A jet lag is a physical condition that is caused by crossing different time zones.

For example, if someone is flying from New York to Tel Aviv (Israel), once he lands, the time in Israel will be 7 hours later than in New York.

This means, that in the first few days of his trip when he’ll want to go to sleep at 11 pm in Israel, his body won’t be tired because in New York the time will be 4 pm.

I hope this was a good explanation of what is a jet lag!

Jet Lag Symptoms:

A jet lag is considered a sleep disorder. The main symptom of a jet lag is an unusual tiredness that is hard to get over.

If you are deeply tired during the day of the first few days/week of your trip, and can’t sleep a full night, and if you find it hard to concentrate during the day, well – you are definitely jet-lagged.

Jet Lag Avoidance Tips

After we have a general idea of what is a jet lag, and what are his symptoms, let’s learn exactly how to avoid a jet lag in the first place!

Before The Flight:

Just being honest here, we all know how hectic the day before the flight is.

Adjust yourself to the new destination’s time – I recommend to start adjusting yourself to the new destination’s time the day before the flight.

This means, resting, eating your meals at the same time in the destination you are traveling to.

Also, try to wake up as close as possible to the destination’s time. You can do this by changing your phone’s clock to the time of the destination.

During The Flight:

Make sure your phone’s clock is the time in the destination – when I travel too far destinations, I like to change the time on my phone to the destination’s time. This way I know exactly what time it is and I can accomplish the next tip easily.

Sleep during the flight when it’s night time at the destination – What you need to do is to make sure you are sleeping during the flight according to the time of the new destination.

Decide when is the ideal time you want to “wake up” (for example, 9 am), and make sure that you are sleeping until 9 am in the new destination.

But I must mention that this isn’t as easy as it seems. It is hard waking up at 9 am for example when your body is used to your home time which is 2 am for example.

It is definitely possible though!

Drink a lot of water – keep yourself hydrated by drinking a lot of water, keep yourself fresh during the flight!

Avoid coffee and alcohol during the flight – this tip is very important. You don’t want to mess with your biological clock and you sure do want to adjust yourself to the new destination’s time.

Also, alcohol can make you too tired, which can sound nice but it will mess with the new sleeping schedule that you want to work on during the flight.

After The Flight:

Get into the destination’s routine immediately – this means that if you arrive at noon, eat lunch, walk around, start your day, and explore the place.

If you are feeling heavy and tired, you can rest a little bit but don’t take a nap! That nap will become a full 5+ hours sleep and that’s not what we’re going for.

Instead, you can rest on your bed, or even take a relaxing bath.

If you arrive at night, eat dinner, take a hot shower, do some stretches, switch into your pajamas, turn the lights off and get into bed with no electronics/distractions, just try to fall asleep.

What If I Still Have a Jet Lag?

Worst case scenario, you couldn’t hold yourself, you slept through 70% of the flight, you arrived at your accommodation, took a nap, and woke up after five hours. What do you do???

How to Take Care of a Jet Lag:

Try to stay awake during the day – during the first day of your trip, you can drink coffee/tea to make sure you stay awake through the whole day. If you can hold yourself like this until 9:00/9:30 pm minimum, it’ll be great.

Plan your arrival flight to arrive in the evening – if possible, try to find a plane ticket that has a flight that arrives around 8 pm at the new destination. This is the perfect time to arrive because you can be very tired after the flight, and until you’ll arrive at your accommodation it can be around 9:30/10 pm and just go to sleep.

Make sure to be a lot outside during the first few days – sunlight is always good for your skin, for your physical health, and also for your soul. Make sure to walk around in the sun in the first few days of your trip.

Eat your meals at specific hours – eating your meals at specific hours can help you adjust yourself to the new destination’s time and routine. Also, it can help you go through your jet lag faster since you are “building” an everyday routine with the new destination’s time.

And that’s it for today! These were my best jet lag tips on how to avoid jet lag and how to take care of it easily!

If you have any more tips or secrets, make sure to share them with us in the comments below!