2005 Year in Review

Jet lag

It was my experience when flying long distances that you should sleep as much as possible. Being the frugal type I had to eat all the meals and snacks provided and see the newest release movie that I might be interested in, but at all other times sleep or the semblance of sleep was sought. To do this on a crowded plane is difficult. The best way in this case would be a window seat where people don’t have to cross over you to get out to walk-it-off or use the facilities. But the ultimate best way is to get a row of your own (on un-crowded flights) and lay out across the seats. Be sure to wear a seatbelt and to have it visible over your blanket so the flight attendant won’t wake you every time there is turbulence. If you fly business or first class, which I seldom did, the airlines often have seats that fully recline. This is very nice.

I always found traveling from west to east – from home and over the pond – to be the easiest to adapt to. I’m not sure if this is the same for everyone. Traveling to Europe you generally arrive in the morning and force yourself to keep going all day so you sleep extra good your first night away from home. If your journey continues you follow rule one and continue to sleep and this generally doesn’t interfere with another good nights rest at your destination. I usually had trouble sleeping my second night. Also I was going to work and had to be alert during work hours – this sort of forces you to adjust to the new time zone as quickly as possible.

Traveling east to west – my most common route for the return journey home meant a lot of daytime hours in flight (the sun is following you) and seemed to slow recovery time. I suppose the joy of return and the reduction of work related stress also played a factor. If you are at home and sleepy all the time you can always take a nap. The “rule of thumb” was 1 day of recovery for every time zone crossed, so it would take me about 9 days at home before I was feeling “acclimatized” coming from the Middle East. In other words, if you’re traveling a long distance, for fun or profit, it is better to spend a longer time at your destination to truly appreciate your surroundings and reset your biological clock.

As in most of life the best thing is to do everything in moderation. When you fly you should drink plenty of water, but limit food, caffeine and alcohol intake. Relax, the pilot is well trained and knows what he is doing and where he is going. There is not much you can do about your fellow passengers, but for the most part folks are polite and just as lethargic as you are. If they are sleeping you know they are “seasoned” travelers. If the flight was a little rough it only provided better reason to sleep, in my opinion. What can you do about it?

In the end you are going to either have some exciting new experiences or at home everyone understands why you are sleeping with your face in the plate at dinner.

by Marc Adami, Guest Columnist
November 2, 2005