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What I Wish Someone Had Told Me About Jet Lag
5 tips for 5+ hour time changes
It was not my first long-haul, over-the-ocean flight, and it certainly won’t be my last. I can’t even count how many long flights I’ve been on in my lifetime, but I’ve battled everything from time differences of 1–16 hours, and trips from 1–30+ hours.
My longest one to date, from Kentucky to Auckland, New Zealand lives in infamy in my mind even still: I slept. The whole time. I remember getting up once to go to the bathroom and get ice cream, but I promptly fell asleep again. I woke up in Auckland a little stiff, but well-rested and excited to be there.
That has never happened again.
Since then, my flights have been full of panic-inducing turbulence, terrible food, endless boredom, and the distinct lack of sleep that has left me walking off the plane feeling like I was dragging a 200-pound anvil behind me. Now, I have the joy of making such trips with a toddler, which adds another fun new dimension.
Just like anyone else, I have to psyche myself up for the long haul. But I’ve also learned a few things that can help make the adjustment to a new time zone more comfortable.
Here are five:
