So over the last few posts I have been talking about how you can save in order to travel and then how to save whilst you are traveling.; hopefully these were helpful for your planning, decision making and your wallet.
Now it is onto one of the most important and irritating issues that occurs with traveling;
Jet Lag
What Is Jet Lag And How Do You Get It?
Jet lag is extreme tiredness and other physical effects, like memory lapses, felt by a person after a long flight across several time zones, which disrupts the bodies 24 hour rhythm. It is basically the spawn of Satan, nothing good ever comes from jet lag. It can take a few days to a few weeks for your body to adjust to a new time zone. This can make things difficult if you are bouncing from time zone to time zone in a short period of time.
You don’t even have to be flying in order to get jet lag, don’t let the name fool you 🙂
Travelling in general will have this same tiring effect, that can often have a HUGE effect on everything from your sleeping pattern to your health.
When Is Jet Lag Worst?
For me I would say that travelling backwards in time screws me up the most. Traveling East disrupts your natural body clock as your body thinks it is much later than it actually is and it is very difficult to adjust. Traveling to the West is often not as bad but jat lag effects people in different ways for different directions.
My Secret Jet Lag Cure
I was looking up how to deal with jet lag a couple of years ago and found this article on the best ways to deal with it. A lot of the advice was preparing your body before you even left your home, not sleeping on the plane unless you were in the ‘sleeping time’ of the country you were visiting and lots of other stuff, that realistically, most of us don’t do.
Most people continue to work up until the day before they travel so adjusting your body clock, even if it is a good idea, is not something most can do.
One thing I did find worked though, which I NEVER thought it would, is something very simple, and to quote my sister ‘crunchy’. ‘Crunchy’ is a term my sister uses for natural things in life, like not letting her children play with plastic and encouraging them to get down and dirty in every situation.
So are you ready?
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Get earthed
Confused?
Yeah, I was as well when I read it. ‘Earthing’ yourself is something that connects your body with the earth and its natural magnetic field after traveling above it for such a long time.
Once you land in your destination and you have gotten to your hotel and checked in, you need to find somewhere with grass, dirt or sand, then kick off your shoes and immerse your feet in it. Have a sit down or a lie down, just make sure you are connected with the earth for about 30 minutes. Once those 30 mins are up just go about your daily business.
How does earthing work?
There is something about ‘being at one’ with the Earth that resets your body clock and allows you to beat jet lag 🙂
I try earthing every day which I generally achieve my sitting at my friends house and relaxing in his garden. I have noticed how I am not as tired after travelling or a busy day once I have ‘earthed’
A very simple explanation of how it works is that the Earth holds tons of negative electrons and when we connect with our bare skin, most notably with your feet, they buzz on up inside of us and overpower all the positive electrons (the bad stuff) that is wreaking havoc on our body causing inflammation, imbalance and general all round wackiness; including jet lag.
You probably still have that specualtive look on your face right?
I figured as much haha
Just try it
You never know
What do you have to loose anyway?
If you want some less ‘crunchy’ ways to get over jet lag then maybe these tips will help you 🙂
Sleep BEFORE you leave.
Sleep deficit will make jet lag worse.
Drink Warm Water
Drinking warm water for the duration of your flight is an Ayurvedic technique. You know that ancient Indian philosophy that created meditation and yoga; it was their idea. I feel as if they know their stuff (They also did the whole bare foot ‘earthing’ thing too).
Nap During the Flight
Take short little naps on the flight when you feel sleepy. It will help build those reserves. If you can sleep for longer make it so that you sleep during the sleep time of your arrival time zone.
Obviously don’t deprive yourself of the sleep your body needs, but if you can time it to your new country, you will feel the difference I promise
As soon as you board your plane set your phone to the new time zone and play to that if you are unsure of the time difference 😀
Eat Small Meals Frequently
Make sure you are filling your body with lots of healthy food and avoid junk food as much as possible when flying or traveling. The sugar will make you crash, which is never a word that sits comfortably on a plane right? Having sugar highs and crashes will screw your body clock up, try to eat slow releasing energy foods like pasta or bananas if you can, but small plane meals are good as well.
Go For A Wander
Walking and stretching will get that blood flowing. It’s great for so many reasons, plus you might even be able to talk your way into business class!
Avoid Alcohol and Caffeine
Caffeine is the stimulant used by millions to keep them awake or to wake them up first thing in a morning. Don’t use it whilst travelling. Nothing could be worse. It is like having nothing but sugar but it ends worse than a sugar crash. Just trust me with this one.
Find The Sun
Being in the sun fills your body with lots of healthy and happy vitamins that basically cheer you up, so as soon as you get to your destination, try to find some sun. This might be hard if you fly to somewhere that isn’t sunny or it is night time. but as soon as you can, go out into the sun and soak up the goodness
These are the things that I have found most useful from my own travels, if you have any tips or insider ideas then please feel free to leave a comment below. I am always on the look out for ways to not feel crap after travelling 😀
To see what you can do when you hit your destination, take a look at the Starfish Website and the Starfish – Volunteer Thailand Facebook page for some amazing volunteering opportunities that will change your life 😀
And as always take a look at my own Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram pages, to see all the silly junk I get up to.
Build. Protect.Teach. Care. – The Starfish Motto
Life On The Back Of An Elephant 