Preventing Jet Lag
To prevent jet lag is a problem for most people travelling
to Australia from overseas. However, it can be done...
Preventing jet lag is a problem for most people travelling to Australia from overseas. The majority of overseas travellers arrive from Europe or the US, and that means they have to cross multiple time zones.
I can tell you from experience that the jet lag after the long haul flight from Europe is a doozy. To fly from Europe to Australia you have to spend not just one but two nights on planes and in airports. Flying east equals losing time. This direction causes more problems than flying west, when you gain additional hours in your day.
Flying from Europe to Australia you have to adjust your clock forward about 8 hours.
(The number of hours varies, depending on the Australian state you fly to and daylight savings. Use the page Current Time in Australia to work out the time difference between you and us.)
That makes those two nights extremely short. Not that it matters much. Who can get a restful sleep on airplanes anyway?
Here is why you definitely want to avoid jet lag:
Imagine arriving in Australia after such a long haul flight, like I used to...
You've just been awake for day, a night, another day, and now it's about midnight in Europe. But here in Australia the second night is already over and it's a bright and early morning.
Look through any jet lag tips and they will tell you that now you ought to stay awake until late at night again. Not a chance!
Most people will sleep at some stage during the day. And then lie awake the next night, because the body thinks it's day time.
And the next morning YOU know it's time to get up and do things. However, your body insists it's midnight and now's the time to sleep...
I used to be like this for three to four days: feeling groggy, unable to sleep at night, and progressively feeling worse because of the lack of sleep, before my body clock adjusted. And then of course it took a few more days to catch up on the sleep that I had missed out on...
I don't think anybody wants to go through that on the first week of their holiday!
I don't know anybody who gets jet lag as bad as I did. And that means, if I can prevent jet lag, anybody should be able to.
As it turns out, preventing jet lag is not that hard. I wish I knew 15 years ago what I know now. On my first few flights to Australia I did EVERYTHING wrong. Absolutely everything. I didn't know any better. I thought how jetlagged you get depends on some genetic factors or luck or whatever.
I know better now and after my last flight I had no jet lag symptoms whatsoever. I've never felt that good after a flight.
On the next page I'll share with you my totally natural remedy for jet lag.
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