Planning a long holiday? Four tips to avoid jet lag

When planning that long business trip or taking that long-awaited family holiday, getting used to the different time zones and wasting hours on getting over jet lag becomes inevitable. However, the next time you take a long flight, consider these tips and tricks to avoid the unwanted side-effects.

Drink water
As simple and obvious it might sound, drinking water does come to your aid during flying since air journeys can leave you dehydrated. Keep hydrated throughout the flight and you’ll hopefully lessen the effects of jet lag. You might however run into the problem of annoying anyone sitting in-between you and the plane washrooms.

Take naps
Keep the drinks caffeine-free because the next top tip to ensure you can hit the ground running when you get off the plane is sleep. However, do ensure that you don’t oversleep and keep the nap three to four hours long since it is important to keep your sleeping cycle in sync with the new time zone.

Exercise
One way to keep the nap at bay until night time is to exercise. Walk around in the plane, explorea new airport during the long-halt, or just step out during the halt to soak into the sunlight. This will keep you awake, alert, and will help you get used to the new time zone. You could also leave the TV on or curtains slightly open so that waking up becomes comparatively easier.

Go to bed earlier
Another way to begin your holiday feeling refreshed is to get a good first night’s sleep. If you want to be really organised, you can start preparing for this before your holiday by adjusting your sleep pattern closer to your new time zone.

Also read: Do you travel often? This new method can help you deal with jet lag

Also read: 10 tips to help you beat jet lag