After decades of travel, jet lag has become part of my regular life.  When I was younger, I would land off a long red-eye and jump right into exploring the new place I was in, grabbing a coffee, and calling it good without hardly a few hours of sleep in a crooked position in a coach airplane seat.  Now that I’m older, I prioritize the sleep before and after a trip more because my life is less flexible.  Often times, I’m coming straight from work and going back straight to work after a trip, so the sleep I get going and coming back, and during a trip, is far more important to my function these days.  After enough long-haul flights and very questionable sleep schedules, I’ve realized jet lag, and sleep during a trip, is less about “fixing” it and more about helping your body adjust a little more kindly.

I recently read The Sleep You’re Longing For* by Ken Wytsma, written by the husband of a friend of mine, and one line especially stayed with me: “Sleep sits at the intersection of our emotional lives, our sense of purpose, and our relationships. Happiness, justice, creativity, even love, are not detached from how we sleep.” And honestly, travel has made me realize how true that is. I enjoy cities more, notice more, and connect with people better when I’m rested and feel like myself.

  My sleep patterns in general have gotten worse as I’ve gotten older and I am known to be up a lot in the middle of the night and then go back to bed, so adding that in with jet lag is often hard as we get older. These are the things I always try to do now when traveling, especially internationally, and especially now as I inch closer to 40 this year.

Before the Flight

• Try to use the flight to get on the time zone you’re headed to
• If you can, book a hotel room for the night before you arrive, if you arrive early in the morning, so you can check in immediately
• I know this might not help everyone, but if I land in the morning, I get a coffee like I normally would and it helps my body get on schedule

On Long Flights

• Bring what you need to sleep – for me that’s a big scarf I can use as a blanket and headphones since I need noise to put me to sleep
• Use melatonin strategically depending on timing and destination if it works for you
• Change your phone/watch immediately to the destination time zone so you know when you’ll be landing
• Open your window to get associated with the time zone you’re flying through – if it’s pitch black this doesn’t matter as much but if you’re a couple hours from landing and the sun is rising, it’s nice to see it and feel it through the airplane window to get your body on that timing

One thing I appreciated from the Ken Wytsma’s book was the reminder that “what we think of as ‘normal’ sleep today is really just a snapshot, a cultural moment and not a biological mandate.” I actually wake up for long stretches of time during the night and while that’s not normal for everyone, it is for me.  I’ve stopped assuming that means something is wrong. Everyone’s sleep patterns are different, so know what’s normal for you.

When You Get to Your Destination

• Get sunlight as soon as possible
• Walk outside, even if you’re tired
• If you are going to nap or sleep a little, set an alarm so you get up at a semi-normal time for the destination
• Eat meals at local meal times
• Don’t book a ton of things that you have to be on schedule for the first couple of days of your trip and give yourself a little bit of time to adjust

As I’ve gotten older, I think the biggest thing for me in my sleep is just knowing my body.  Do I need to sleep in a little longer or plan less because I’m tired?  One of the most comforting lines in the book for me was this: “Sleeplessness is part of the human condition. It visits each of us differently, but it visits us all.” If you travel enough, eventually you’ll find yourself awake at 3am somewhere unfamiliar, hearing a quiet city outside your hotel window while your body tries to figure out where in the world it is.   But knowing your patterns and what helps you adjust slowly and holistically, will help you have such a better trip and less adjustment on your way home too hopefully!

*If you’re interested in the book I mentioned, you can buy it here!