Jet Lag: the Curse of Expat Life — Too Foreign For Home
There are many parts of expat life that get easier with every move. Things like adapting to different cultures and bureaucracy becomes second nature after enough time and experience. Before long, there won’t be many things that create seemingly insurmountable roadblocks. Like the old saying goes, “Practice makes perfect”. There is no way to practice, though, for the worst thing about moving overseas: jet lag.
For those of you who have never had the “joy” of experiencing jet lag, I’ll try to describe it as best as I can. Nearly all of us have made the mistake of closing our eyes for a quick afternoon nap, only to wake up four hours later instead. We wake up to darkness, groggy and unsure of the time. It takes a while to gain our bearings and clear our heads. Eventually, we get ourselves sorted out and go about our routine, with one big exception. We have wrecked our internal clock and sleep doesn’t come until the wee hours of the morning.
Repeat this for the better part of a week and you’ll understand how debilitating jet lag is. Luckily for us frequent travelers, it does eventually go away. And there are some things that you can do to help mitigate the effects of jet lag if you’re a world traveler like me.
Drink Lots of Water
This really could be categorized as a tip for life in general. According to a study, only one in five Americans drinks the eight to ten glasses a day the USDA recommends. So, right off the bat, most of us are already dehydrated just in our everyday lives. Add a 7+ hour transoceanic flight to the equation and things get worse really quickly.
Thanks to the air filtration systems on commercial jets, dry air is constantly being pumped into the cabin. The precious moisture in your skin, eyes, mouth, and other various exposed body parts is wicked away during the entirety of your trip. The longer the flight, the more dehydrated you get. Many dehydration symptoms are the same as those of jet lag, including feeling tired, dizzy, and lightheaded.
Embrace the Sun
When feeling the effects of jet lag, the desire to simply close up the curtains and sleep the day away is enticing. The prospect of a few extra hours of sleep can ensnare even the most experienced travelers. It makes sense; I’m sleepy, so I’ll get more sleep. As glorious as it would seem to be, though, it would also increase recovery time.
Simply put, your body’s circadian rhythm is regulated largely by light. It’s why they tell you to put away devices and limit your screen time before going to sleep. Getting out in the sunlight will let your body know it’s day time and help keep you awake when you need to be. As the sun sets and sunlight fades, your body will start the nighttime wind down process and get you on track timewise.
Hit the Gym
While light is the main influence on our circadian rhythms, there are more tools in our repertoire to combat jet lag. A study found that exercise can also influence our internal clock and help regulate our sleep cycle after traveling over many time zones. According to lead researcher, Dr. Shawn Youngstedt, “Exercise has been known to cause changes to our body clock. We were able to clearly show in this study when exercise delays the body clock and when it advances it.”
By pushing past the tiredness and getting in some time on the treadmill and weight machines, you could help speed up the jet lag recovery process. There’s just that tricky bit of having enough energy to do so.
Originally published at https://tooforeignforhome.com on August 6, 2021.
