Don't Be a Travel Zombie -- Tips for Beating Jetlag

I had to travel to Tokyo for business during the last Winter Olympics.  Tokyo is 14 hours ahead of where I live, so after a few fitful hours of sleep on the plane, I found myself in my hotel bed at 10pm on the first night.

And my brain was screaming that it was really 12 noon. 

I’d been awake for about 22 straight hours, and even with the lights out and the shades drawn, I found myself wide awake and watching the Japanese hopefuls do their best in several Olympic events on TV. Six hours later, I fell asleep. Two hours after that, my alarm went off and I had to go to work.

I was a zombie. I don’t remember eating breakfast that day, but it was on my hotel bill. I can’t believe I wasn’t hit by a train as I listlessly wandered through the streets of Tokyo, ambling toward our building.

Have you ever had a sustained three or four day headache after a trip across three or four time zones?  Have you had a hard time adjusting to a new time zone?  Increased blood pressure, difficulty sleeping, headaches, irritability, and listlessness are all symptoms of time zone adjustment (or "jetlag") problems.

There are many different home-spun remedies for jetlag.  Some say to take melatonin tablets to help regulate sleep patterns better.  Others prepare by altering their sleep habits before they leave on a trip.  Still others just wake up early or go to bed at a different time while trying to cling to their home time zone. 

All of these remedies have worked for me, to various degrees.  The most helpful remedy for me, without question, is a giant yellow pill in the sky called the sun.  I’m a firm believer in the powers and affects that the sun has on us when it comes to the regulation of biorhythmic patterns like sleeping and eating. 

Maybe it’s the vitamin D, maybe it’s just a mental thing about being outside in the sun, but there is scientific evidence that indicates that people who spend more time outside in the sun acclimate more quickly to new time zones and re-acclimate to old ones. 

Have you watched your kids adjust to a new time zone more quickly than you do?  Do they play outside?  Hmm?

Spending time in the sun is easily if you’re taking a vacation to Miami or some other sunny destination, but what do you do when you’re scheduled for indoor meetings and work all day in a new location?  Here are some suggestions:

• Take your lunch at an outdoor café, roll up your sleeves, and get a table that lets you sit in the sun.
• Take a long walk after lunch, or find a table or lounge chair outside at your hotel and read a book out there for an hour or two.
• People in cities with long winters take advantage of sun lamps or tanning booths.  Some artificial sun is better than nothing.
• On cold days you can still sit and read, or position your laptop near a window in your room and work in the sun for a while.
• When all else fails, vitamin D and D3 tablets are always available.  Perhaps these, taken in conjunction with melatonin, will do the trick.  Both are available at your local nutrition store or pharmacy, over the counter.

You want to get as much outdoor time as you can on your first day or two, so plan your arrival in the early afternoon rather than the evening.

EXTRA:  Please feel free to leave comments on this article! If you have questions for Ken regarding business travel, hotels, airplanes, etc, please send him a "Tweet" on his twitter account.  You can also follow Ken on Twitter @foodbreeze!