5/10/13 - Battling Jet Lag and the Tricks to Winning

I know, I know, I’m getting lazy again.  I wasn't sick this time so I don’t have that for an excuse for letting the lights go dark on the updates for a few weeks, but I did have to go back to the US for a little bit for work.  Its not a great excuse, but flying 10,000 miles seems to be the best one I currently have.  On the plus side, it did give me an idea for something to write about – how to defeat, or be defeated by jet lag.  After enough trips back and forth to Asia, I think I have it boiled down to 5 do’s/don’ts.  Some you can control, other’s, not so much.

1. This may be the most important one – if you can manage to have your flight land at your destination sometime between 6 AM and 8 AM, it will go a long way towards helping you feel normal.  On the way to the US, I got in at 1 AM.  Nothing like trying to fall back asleep when you literally woke up 7 hours ago.  The weirder part was then trying to go to bed again for the 2^nd time in 18 hours.  This one didn't go so well, after crashing hard at 11:00 PM I found myself wide awake at 1:30 AM, watching re-runs of Law and Order and Married with Children until the sun was practically coming up.  Made for an ugly Monday.  On the flip side, getting back to Singapore I strolled into our apartment at 6:30 AM and managed to stay up until about 10:30 at night with the help of some Shanghai dumplings and beer.  At this point your sleep deprived body is bobbing and weaving like Rocky after going 15 rounds with the Russian, but you sure do fall asleep quickly.  With a little luck, you may even sleep until 7 AM (I hit 9, major win).  Trust me, staying awake all day with the sun up is a much better way to reset your clock than the inverse.

2.  Point #1 is worthless if you can’t stay up for the rest of the day.  If you arrive early, but find yourself at risk of drowning because your face is in a bowl of soup at the lunch table, it will all be for naught.  The best way I have found to combat the inevitable sleepiness is to get out and do something.  Get some sunlight on your face, at least that will somewhat trick your body into thinking it really is daytime and you should be active.  So swing by your favorite coffee shop and if you are in a new city, go walking/exploring.  If you are at home, go run all those errands you've likely been putting off for the past month.  One time in Amsterdam I managed to have some ice cream, a cup of coffee and did not fall into any of the numerous canals that were land mines in plain sight, even while going on 3 hours of sleep and staring at the sites like a total tourist.  Trust me, it works.

3. If you can start flipping yourself over time wise a few days in advance, it seems to pay dividends.  On the return trip I was able to stay up until 2 or 3 in the morning for the two nights before flying back and then potentially more importantly, I was awake on the plane watching movies until the equivalent of 5 AM central time or 6 PM Singapore time.  So when I finally did go to sleep, it wasn't much earlier than I would be going to bed the following evening.  3 days after getting back, I actually felt pretty normal.

4. Look for the pharmaceutical option.  We have had some success with melatonin.  It’s of course marketed as something that is naturally recurring in your body and helps reset youe sleep cycle.  So that, plus some coffee in the morning and possibly a drink or two in the evening could be all you need to reset yourself and convince your body you really are in a foreign country.... if the food doesn't do the job first.

5. The expensive solution, if you’re lucky enough, which I usually am not, fly business class.  If nothing else, this may be the best use of all those frequent flier miles you've been accumulating over the years and all you seem to be able to get is a free flight to Toledo on President's Day.  A quasi bed and a “few” glasses of wine makes a big difference as well in terms of keeping you normal at 35,000 feet.  There is something to be said for actually getting 6-8 hours of sleep vs. getting sleep in 6-8 minute increments when you are doing the head jerking action in coach.  Kind of like that kid in your 8^th grade English class who just can’t stay awake while listening to teacher discuss MacBeth. 

If anyone is still with us – well thanks for hanging tight.  We've found an outstanding southern BBQ place that is going to get some airplay in the next few days and have an upcoming Indonesian birthday adventure as well.  Plenty of material to keep things interesting now that I’m back and healthy on the far side of the world.