Jet Lag Prevention: Our Ultimate Guide to Conquering Time Travel and Making the Most of Your Adventures

We’ve all been there –  after months of carefully crafting the perfect itinerary, securing PTO and a dogsitter, and masterfully packing your best travel fits into a slightly overstuffed carry-on, you finally land in Tokyo or Athens after a grueling overnight flight several timezones away from home.

All too often, instead of arriving refreshed and ready to hit the ground running, we arrive mid afternoon feeling sluggish, dehydrated, and slightly off in a way that will have even the stiffest hotel mattress calling your name for the infamous “quick nap before dinner.” If you have the luxury of time and no set return date, losing a day or two to jet lag isn’t a big deal, but when you’re working with one to two weeks of time away – every moment matters.

Fortunately, we’ve put all the top tips and tricks to the test, and are here to break down the best strategies for avoiding jet lag so that you can spend more time wandering, and never miss that night one dinner reservation again!

Why Jet Lag Happens (And Why It Matters)

To start, let's understand what happens inside our bodies to cause these lingering downstream effects. Jet lag happens when your internal body clock (your circadian rhythm) gets out of sync with the local time at your destination. Think of it as your body's GPS trying to recalculate after taking a wrong turn – it needs time to figure out where it is and adjust accordingly.

How Many Time Zones = How Much Jet Lag?

The severity of jet lag typically depends on how many time zones you cross and which direction you're traveling, but other factors like how well rested you are leading up to your arrival and what you eat and drink before and during your flight can compound the effects as well. Keeping this in mind, the real prep to avoid jet lag entirely begins a few days before your departure.

What to Do Before Your Flight

Adjust Your Sleep Gradually

For trips that involve crossing 6+ time zones, we recommend adding your destination to your phone’s world clock at least a week prior to your flight, and slowly making incremental shifts (even ~20-30 minutes can have a large impact!) to your sleep and wake times each day. Of course, this isn’t feasible for everyone, given work, school, and family schedules, but even shifting your bedtime by 1-2 hours over the course of the days leading up to your trip will make a difference in your adjustment time upon arrival.

Eat for Energy and Comfort

Nutrition is another large factor in setting yourself up for success – particularly when it comes to limiting greasy, heavy food for 2-3 days prior to departure. Prioritizing an adequate fiber intake and limiting things like alcohol and sodium rich foods will help minimize bloating, joint swelling, and sleep latency while you’re in flight. Often, this means planning ahead to bring your own meals and snacks for travel days. While this may seem like a lot of effort, we promise the payoff will be worth it upon arrival (or even when your seatmate looks longingly at your homemade dinner, before turning back to their airline-issued boiled chicken and rice 😉)

Plan Before Your Flight

When it comes to pre-flight planning, we always recommend aiming for a morning arrival to your final destination whenever possible. This allows you to set your watch and phone to your local time as soon as you board, and attempt to align your sleep schedule with that of your destination as quickly as possible. An important note here is that while sleep aid supplements like melatonin are popular for inducing sleep during longer flights, you want to make sure you’re allowing a minimum of 8 hours from the onset of your dose before you land – otherwise, you run the risk of having to navigate customs through the haze of a melatonin hangover. For this reason, we recommend taking the smallest dose you find effective (typically 1-3mg) an hour or two before you plan to sleep - a perfect strategy for flights closer to 10 hours. When you do wake up between bouts of slumber, make the most of it by getting up to stretch your legs by taking a lap or two around the plane to avoid stiff, swollen legs upon arrival. Your body will thank you when you’re able to make the most of your walking tour the next day! 

In-Flight Strategy: Hydrate, Don’t Hibernate

Avoid Alcohol (Yes, Even the Free Wine)

Speaking of in-flight consumption, as tempting as free wine onboard or pre-flight drinks in the lounge may be, unfortunately any benefits (even falling asleep faster) are far outweighed by the negative effects. Alcohol, in combination with altitude, shifts in cabin pressure, and less than ideal sleeping positions can exacerbate issues like dehydration, bloating, and sleep disruptions. Instead, opting for a mocktail mix of water and electrolytes with a splash of fruit juice can provide numerous benefits that help you arrive feeling your best. We’re personally big fans of LMNT electrolyte mix – they’ve become a staple in our cabin bags to manage dehydration related to lower humidity levels in flight.

Best Arrival Practices: Maximize Daylight, Minimize Downtime

Speaking of the next day…once you’ve arrived at your destination, that’s when the real work fun begins!

Embrace the Light

One of the best ways we can reset our circadian rhythm is by getting exposure to natural light as close to our desired wake time as possible. This means it’s critical to fight the urge to beg your hotel for an early check in to nap, and instead, drop your bags at the front desk and head outside! If you’re fortunate enough to arrive before noon, this is a great opportunity to check out a local cafe for a quick caffeine boost to give you enough energy to start exploring.

We absolutely love free walking tours (like Sandeman’s or Guru Walks) at the beginning of a big trip. Not only do they provide fantastic local insight into the history, culture, and must-see offerings of your host city, but they also keep you engaged both physically and mentally, which is exactly what your body needs after a long day (or more!) of travel. 

Remember that keeping busy on your arrival day is the absolute best way to maximize the benefit of all the hard work you’ve put in up to this point to set your body up for success. Since aligning our circadian rhythm with the local time zone is our top priority, evening light exposure as the sun is setting is another great hack to help your body and mind adjust (as if we needed another excuse for an alfresco sunset dinner!)

Evening Reset: Sunset Dinners and Early Bedtimes

Regardless of how well you were able to sleep on the flight, chances are you’ll still be dealing with some amount of sleep deficit, so an earlier bedtime on night one can be a great time to recapture some of that sleep debt. The first night in a new location is another great case for sleep supplements like melatonin, as your body will otherwise naturally begin to wake up around the same time your day typically begins back home.

Low doses of melatonin or magnesium can help our bodies maintain a restful state through this natural disruption – especially when coupled with the increase in daytime activity from the day prior. Aim to let your body rest until you feel fully refreshed, and then be sure to get back outside for some early morning sun exposure within the first ~30 minutes of your day, and you’ll find yourself adjusted to the local time zone in no time!

Sleep Tools That Help Anywhere

While these tactics will help most travelers bypass the worst of jet lag, prioritizing sleep hygiene overall is still of paramount importance. Just as we want to maximize morning and evening light exposure opportunities to establish a new circadian rhythm during the day, avoiding nighttime light exposure is equally important to ensure top quality sleep. Unfortunately, busy planes and hotel rooms with unpredictable light filtering curtains aren’t always the most conducive environment for total darkness. For this reason, we’re huge proponents of traveling with a well fitting, contoured sleep mask to help transform any space into a light-free sanctuary. Similarly, a simple set of earplugs can help drown out ambient sound in unfamiliar environments, making quality sleep just a bit easier and more accessible.

Conquer Jet Lag With Us

We know your vacation time is valuable, and the last thing you want is for jet lag to upend your travel plans. Next time you’re trekking across multiple timezones for an adventure (perhaps our upcoming Adult Study Abroad group 8-day trip to Italy!) – implement these strategies to take control of your travel experience and make the most of your time wandering! 

Ready to put these tips to the test? Join us for 8 days of food, wine, and art in Italy: Learn More and Register