How to Avoid Jet Lag (Tips for Long Flights!)

Jet lag can ruin the start of a trip or the end of one, but with the right preparation, you can actually beat it. In today's video, I'm sharing real actionable tips to avoid jet lag, especially if you're taking a long flight. Meg and I have experienced our fair share of jet lag over the years with a handful of 15 hour plus flights. And even one of the longest flight, if not the longest commercial flight in the world, from Singapore to New York, JFK, coming in at almost 19 hours on a plane. These are all jet lag tips that we have learned from those experiences. I'm gonna break this video up into three different sections, pre-flight preparation, in-flight tips, and post-flight recovery, with what I believe to be the most important thing you can do to avoid jet lag, which happens to be something that you need to do right when you land in your destination. What is jet lag? Simply put, jet lag is what happens when your body's internal clock is out of sync with the local time at your destination. You may have also heard your body's internal clock called your circadian rhythm. This internal clock or circadian rhythm helps regulate various bodily functions and processes over a 24 hour cycle. This is why when it gets dark out, you will get tired. Jet lag can make you fatigued, sleep poorly, cause digestive issues, and the worst and probably most destructive symptom of jet lag is the crankiness. If you've had bad jet lag, you know the feeling. But when jet lag hits hard, it can be really easy to let it affect your trip, and you might end up wasting the first couple of days trying to recover. So let's not let that happen and talk about what you need to do to avoid the lag. And it all starts before you even leave with your pre-flight preparation. Preparation for jet lag can start days before you leave. And a good rule of thumb to really best your chances to avoid the symptoms of jet lag is to start thinking about your preparation three days before you leave. One of the best and first things that you can do for your preparation is to start adjusting that internal clock before you fly. Some experts will say that you can successfully shift your internal clock anywhere from 60 to 90 minutes each day. So the more time zones you are traveling through, the earlier you are going to wanna start shifting your clock. For example, if you fly from Chicago to Hawaii, you fly through five time zones. Whereas if you fly from Chicago to Peru, you are in the same time zone. Both are long flights, but you would want to start preparing earlier for the Chicago to Hawaii flight due to that time difference. If you're flying eastbound, you will want to start shifting your bedtime to be earlier by 60 to 90 minutes and waking up that much earlier. If you're flying westbound, you will do the opposite. You will start by staying up later and sleeping in a bit more. Generally, people find flying eastbound a little more difficult to adjust to being that you are losing time. There are some great tools out there that will help you lay out a plan for you to start adjusting that internal clock. First is the jet leg calculator from Sleepopolis. This is a completely free tool that is easy to use. You will start by plugging in your departure and arrival destination. Then you will plug in your travel dates with your flight times. Next, you will plug in your normal sleep habits with the last step plugging in when you would like to start preparing. Then it will give you a plan to follow for when you should be getting light exposure and when you should be sleeping leading up to your trip. British Airways has also created a very similar tool to use for free. But probably the best service I've used is an app called TimeShifter. It gives you a very easy to follow plan, not only leading into your trip, but during your flights and after you get to your destination. I really like the user interface for this app, as well as I have access to everything right on my phone, which is nice. Unfortunately though, this one does come with a price, but I would highly recommend taking advantage of their free trial. Using one of these tools can be really helpful. I'll make sure to link all of them down below in the description. Another thing I really like to prioritize even a couple of weeks before my trip is my health. Eat well, stay hydrated and try to keep my stress levels low. A strong immune system and calm mind go a long way when handling time changes. The last thing regarding preparation prior to your flight is being conscious of the flight times you book. For long distance flights, Meg and I prefer a red eye flight or overnight flights. So that way when we get to our destination, it is daytime and we can start moving right away. Now, say you did your preparation or you didn't do your preparation. What are some things that you could do in flight? Once you're in the air, stick to your new schedule. The cool thing is most airlines often will serve meals based on your arrival destination's local time, which helps. So eat when you're supposed to eat and when they dim the lights in the cabin, that is a good signal to try and get some rest. When the lights come on, use that as your signal to wake up. Don't just sit the entire time. Get up, stretch, walk around a bit. Obviously you want to be conscious of when you get up and down out of your seat, but moving is really helpful, whether that is in the plane or on a layover. Don't forget to move your body. Amazing. I can't believe that no one else stretches before an 11-hour flight, but I'll be the weird person in the airport, I don't mind. Pro tip, compression socks are a game changer on those long flights. Let's talk hydration. Water is your best friend on long flights. Drink tons of water, maybe even a bit more than you are comfortable drinking. Skip the alcohol. It disrupts your sleep and dehydrates you. And I get a lot of questions, what about coffee? Is coffee okay? It's okay, but only at the right times. Be very, very conscious of what time you have your coffee. And don't forget about herbal tea. That is a great way to relax without messing up your body's internal clock. One thing I've done in the past, if I really need to sleep and have trouble with sleeping, which fortunately most of the time I don't, is take melatonin. If you're somebody that knows you struggle with sleep on planes, I would try supplementing with some melatonin. I remember the first time I took melatonin, I was on a flight from Los Angeles to Singapore, and it hit me so hard. I feel like, I think I ate my meals with my eyes closed. I was shocked with how hard I slept. Follow the schedule, move your body, and drink tons of water. And all of these things are things that you can do in flight that will help with the jet lag. Hey, let me know down in the comments if you have any special tips or tricks to help you avoid jet lag. Also, if you're enjoying this video and getting value in it, if you could please do me a favor and give it a thumbs up, as well as subscribe to our channel so you get more content like this. It is much appreciated. Now we have gotten to, in my experience, the most important thing to avoid jet lag. And that is what you do when you arrive in your destination. Once you land, here's the golden rule. Don't lie down. Get outside, move around. A light workout or even a walk can reset your internal clock. Meg and I like to work out or go for a hike. This is also why we like night flights, because when we land, we can get outside and move right away. Again, I can't stress this enough. Do not lay down no matter how tired you are. Seriously, you will not get up. And you will be messed up for the rest of your trip. In our experience, if we can stay tough that first day, we can basically shake jet lag in one day. Light exposure when you land can really help as well. If you flew eastbound, get light early in the day. If you flew west, try to catch some sunlight later in the afternoon. And finally, don't obsess over what time it is back home. Your body will adjust faster if your mind lets go of the old time zone. So go with the flow and do what feels right. What do they say? Be where your feet are? I think that's good advice for a lot of aspects of life, but definitely for jet lag as well. Jet lag doesn't have to ruin your trip. With a little prep, the right habits during your flight, and smart recovery after you land, you can actually enjoy your first day on your trip. If you have a long flight coming up, I would suggest watching this video as well. It will really help you get prepared for that next long one. If you enjoyed this one and found value in it, please, please, please give it a thumbs up, as well as subscribe to our channel for more content like this. We will see you in the next video.