20:44
Jetlag, the worst part of flying. Hey there fellow travelers, Mark here with Walter's World and today we're going to talk about jetlag and how much jetlag sucks. Well, yes, we all know jetlag sucks. It's a fact of life. But what I want to do today is actually give you some advice to help you kind of beat jetlag or at least make jetlag not as impactful on your vacation because sometimes it really could impact you and make those first few days of traveling, visiting a new country, or for a work
trip really sluggish and slow and not as enjoyable as they can be. So, I want to kind of go through a few things to kind of help you out. And today is one of those days I know I'm probably going to have a little bit of jetlag tomorrow because I woke up at 3:30 in the morning Venice time to get a flight from Venice to here in Amsterdam. Now, I'm in Amsterdam for 4 hours and I fly from Amsterdam to Atlanta. And then Atlanta for a few hours, then from Atlanta I fly home. And then at home, well, I still have to drive home after that. So, you know, wake up at 3:30 morning Venice time, which is like 8:00 p.m. back home, and I'll be home midnight the next day home time.
It's a lot of things on there, but there's some things I can do. And these things that I do a lot of times to help me adjust with jetlag, I thought it'd be helpful for you. And one thing you have to realize is jetlag's going to happen, okay? Don't be like mad at yourself for having jetlag. It is a fact of life because you're changing these time zones, you're playing with the way you sleep, it will hit you and that's okay. Cuz I see some people get really upset by it. Like, "Oh, damn jetlag." And they kind of like use that as an excuse of why they're not doing anything. Don't let jetlag hold you back, okay? Be safe with it, but just know it can happen.
And I think one thing you need to realize is when you're buying your tickets, purchasing the right tickets for your flight or for your sleep habits or for what you're going to can be very helpful. So, for example, if you can get an overnight flight. Like most flights from the US to Europe are overnight, so you can do that. So, you can sleep on the plane. However, sometimes you're not that lucky. Like when you're going from Europe to the US, a lot of times it's day flights, so I woke up at a normal well, normal 3:30 in the morning time to have the whole day there. So, maybe then I can sleep when I get there cuz I get in the night time. So, that can kind of help. But, planning your flight around
kind of like your sleep schedule or the schedule the country you're going to go to can really help. Because sometimes you can plan when you're going to arrive cuz sometimes going from like the East Coast to the West Coast and vice versa in the US can give you jet lag even with just 4 hours of time change. And so, what can be good is you plan your arrival so you arrive at bedtime, okay? Or at least in the evening. So, you can stay up for a bit when you get in and then go to sleep when you get to your hotel or your verbal or your Airbnb or whatever. Just so you can start getting on that time zone. Cuz that's one of the big things with jet lag is getting on the local time zone as soon as you can.
And the thing is when you're booking your flights you're got all your stuff there's some things you can do actually on the plane to kind of help you adjust that jet lag. One thing I would say is, you know, don't forget to just try to rest. Even if you can't sleep. Like I don't sleep on the plane. Like it doesn't matter how long it's going to be I know I'm not going to sleep. I can try but I never get comfortable enough. But, I know I can do is rest, okay? And that's one of the things is if you need some kind of rest, don't just binge watch the movies the entire way through or the TV series all the way through. Because what ends up happening is you stay awake and you're fighting the sleep and you're fighting
the sleep to watch the next episode of Bobby Flay or whatever the newest movie that comes through. So, make sure you give yourself time to relax. Also, when you are on the plane to kind of help with your circulation, help with your body moves so you're not as stiff when you get there. Don't forget to get up during your flight and walk up and down the aisle, you know, go back to the toilets and maybe do some of your legs stretches or you know, I mean what I do in some of the long haul flights when they have like a little secluded part, I'll actually do deep knee bends and stuff like that to keep the blood circulating which helps me kind of stay relaxed. So, even if I'm not sleeping, I
am at least relaxing a bit. And the things you bring with you on the plane, bring things that can help you sleep. I know some people they like their neck pillows or maybe the eye mask, maybe like your noise canceling headphones so you don't hear the people talking next to you. Those these can really help, especially if you're doing one of the day flights like I am. Eye masks are going to be really important to help you sleep on that, you know, cuz most people aren't sleeping on this flight cuz it's during the day. So, therefore, you need to put yourself more in a kind of a sleep setting, so that can be helpful. I know Jocelyn actually has a blow-up pillow that goes in the like on the ground, so she can put her
feet up, so she kind of is like almost like laying down in her seat. And then the thing is you also want to think about is the clothing you wear. Cuz sleeping on the plane and I have a video on long haul flight tips that'll help you out, but for the jet lag to get rested, you know, wear clothes that are going to be a little bit looser. Don't have tight restricting clothes because then you're going to be more tight, more stressed out, then less likely to relax while you're flying, and that's going to tense you up and make you more uh like stressed out, therefore, the jet lag's going to hit you even harder because you didn't get a chance to relax on the plane. Also, when you see people
walking by on the plane when the flight attendants have that water, every time they bring it by, drink it. Drink the whole thing. Drink as much water as you can because staying hydrated helps your body kind of maintain its balance, but also helps you with the jet lag. Staying hydrated just makes things worse. And when you are coming, you know, think about the snacks you want to bring. Think about what you're going to have on the food or at the airport. One thing I would say is, you know, be smart with what you're eating, you know, if you need something to help you sleep, you know, like walnuts, tart cherries, you know, they can kind of help you be a little bit more relaxed, help you sleep a little bit better. Or maybe to keep you
fighting through the jet lag, have some high protein snacks like protein bars or complex carbohydrates, so you don't have like that energy crash cuz sometimes you're feeling great cuz I'm in Amsterdam now. Yes, I'm going to see the sights, and then all of a sudden your energy just crashes. So, have those complex carbs, having some protein bars or some high protein stuff that can help you out. But also, try to avoid like greasy food and really heavy food because then you're going to feel really sluggish and gross, and that's just going to kind of snowball into things that are going to give you a worse when the jet lag does hit you. That's why it's really important to try to eat a light meal when you are flying
to kind of help with the jet lag because that heavy meal again, it's just going to put you a kind of a gross feeling kind of thing that's not going to let you relax, not going to let you sleep when you get into your new destination. So, something to kind of think about. And something you can do actually before you get on your plane is before you go and start adjusting your timing. Like start going to bed a little bit earlier or a little bit later, whichever is closer to the times that you're going to. So, therefore it's not a 7-hour time distance of going to bed, it's only like a 4-hour time distance going to bed, which is a little more manageable. And this is actually really helpful if you got little kids. This is
what we do with our boys a lot when they were little. That really did help getting them on their time change kind of thing. Also, you might want to think about it in terms of your food schedule as well. Maybe for the few days before you adjust your lunch and dinner time. Because I'll tell you, you get to Japan and it's a 12-hour time difference, all of a sudden your noonday munchies hit at midnight and you're like, "Uh-oh, I need to be sleeping but now I'm super hungry." So, that's another thing you can do to kind of help fight the jet lag. Now, another thing with your jelly you can do is when you do have layovers, you can use it to rest. You know, maybe have a little nap or two, but make sure
you do set an alarm cuz you'll be surprised tourists actually oversleep. Even if they're at the gate and the people are calling your name, it might not wake you up. So, feel free to take a rest, but make sure put that alarm so you don't miss your flight, okay? Also, if you are wanting to kind of help with the jet lag, help to sleep better on the plane, if you have those miles or you have the money, that's one of those times you might want to pay up to get a nicer seat. Like I will use my miles so when I fly to Europe, I can rest better on the plane. Even if I don't sleep, maybe I get a little more legroom so I can at least like relax a bit when I come over because I'm more worried about
the jet lag when I get here cuz I get here in the morning and I'll be like all tired when I'm here. I'm like, "No, I got to enjoy the rest of the day when I'm here." Whereas when I go home, I'm not as worried cuz I get back I'll be back at midnight tonight. So, it's probably not going to be as hard for me to go to bed. So, you want to kind of think about these things when you're adjusting like when you're going to fly or if you're going to upgrade for things cuz it can make a difference with the jet lag. So, now we're here in Atlanta and I'm after a 10-hour flight and a few hours of going through security checks and baggage claim, uh I can already feel that the jet lag's probably going to hit me pretty bad. And
one of the things you have to realize is after you arrive, there's some things you can do to help avoid jet lag or at least make it not as bad. And I think one of the big things is don't go to sleep. Look, a lot of people they'll get into town like they'll get into Europe at you know 10:00 in the morning like, "Oh, I'll just take a nap now." Then they have to sleep like 3 or 4 hours and they just get themselves all out of whack. And I want to tell you, don't take a nap when you get in there. Stay up until at least like 7:00 at night, 6:00 at night, 8:00 at night. So you can get to bed then and then you can like sleep a normal night. Even if it's going to bed early, it's going to help.
Cuz you take a nap when you first get there, that can throw you off. Now, if you do have to take a nap cuz sometimes you do, just for like safety kind of stuff, I will say this, don't take more than a half hour an hour-long nap. Like set the alarm. Don't think you're just going to wake up cuz you won't because you will zonk out. Set that alarm for an hour, half hour, hour and a half, something like that, but nothing more than that. Because then you can get a little bit of your energy and then you can go for the day. And that's if you're getting in the morning. If you're getting in any time after like 2 or 3:00 in the afternoon, do not take a nap.
Make sure you stay up at least to like 7:00 at night and then go sleep. And then if you wake up at 5:00 in the morning, great. You're ready for the next day, but you're getting on that time kind of the right time for you got to be. And if you're having a hard time kind of moving and getting going, one of the best things you can do to help with jet lag is get out in the sun. Look, if you're like, "Oh, I'm so tired. I need to sleep more." No, get up go out. When you get that sun on you, it really kind of wakes you up. Your body wakes up as well to help you adjust that new time zone. Now, another tip is if you do get that good night's rest that first night or even if it's not a good night's rest,
some kind of rest that night, one thing I want to tell you though is don't sleep in on that first like morning that you're abroad because you want to get up 7, 8, 9:00 and then go start having a normal day so you're kind of in the cycle for that time zone you're in. Because you sleep until noon or 1:00 or 2:00, you're actually not in that time zone and then that's going to mess up your whole plan because you can really get off the cycle. Like for example, if you're going from the US to Japan, it's like a 12-hour time difference. And again, like you're getting up at the wrong time, it's really hard to get your body readjusted. And instead of having one bad day, you end up having three bad
days with jet lag. Okay, that's why it's really important those first day first day or so you really want to focus on getting your sleep, getting your rest, not letting yourself oversleep, so you're better on the time zone. And if you need help staying up, you know, have a coffee, have a Coke, you know, have some dark chocolate. These kind of things kind of give you a little bit of a caffeine boost to keep you going till you get to at least at 7:00, 8:00 at night, and then go to bed. Or you might need it in the morning or the midday to keep you going, cuz sometimes you do hit that wall. That's why it was important for the complex carbohydrates and the protein kind of food to help you keep
going. Sometimes you do need that caffeine in the afternoon to give that little boost to keep you going. So, something to kind of think about. Then of course, to help you adjust with jet lag, you can talk to your doctor about other things like Jet Zone and melatonin or other things. Like I'm not a I'm not a medical doctor, but you want to talk to your doctor about things that they can give you or they can recommend over the counter that can help you kind of adjust to the time zones that might be helpful. I know Jocelyn loves her Jet Zone, that's what she's been using. Um but it's something you want to think about and I would definitely talk to your doctor about it. Don't just like go
buy random stuff. Talk to your doctor, see if they recommend, because they might have something that's best for you. I think an important safety thing to mention that comes with jet lag is not realizing how your kind of reaction time diminishes, your attention diminishes, and it's really important. If you're flying back home and you're going to be driving home after a long flight back from Japan or Europe or whatever, realize that you know what? May- maybe I shouldn't be driving home. Maybe I should get a ride. Maybe I should get that taxi or that Uber home. Maybe we stay in a hotel and then drive the next day, because there's been times we've actually done that. We've flown
into St. Louis, which is like a 2 and 1/2 hour drive from the airport to our house. We're like, "No, we're too tired." We end up staying at one of the hotels at the airport, because we knew it's not really safe. And the thing is, jet lag doesn't have to ruin your vacation, doesn't have to ruin your time back. It's just something you do have to deal with and so I want to give you some of these tips, some of these things that you could do to make the jet lag impact less on your next trip. So, what are your tips on getting rid of jet lag? Let us know in the comments below to help out other travelers and I've got one more flight to get me home and then I got to drive. But, I'm actually feeling
okay so I should be all right to drive. So, have a good one. I'll talk to you later. Bye from here to Atlanta. Ah, finishing off our story. I have made it home. It's like 27 hours since I started. I did sleep on my last flight so I feel ready to drive home. So, uh made it. It's uh 4° outside. It's cold. Cuz I want to be safe when you're when I don't want jet lag to you know, ruin your trip. Sorry. Cuz it's important to be safe when you're coming home on trips. Because it is safe to Because it is important to be safe when you're coming back because you don't have the tension, you can't have so
