Best suggestions for beating jet lag

Certainly flying BC helps me with jet lag. Getting @ 5 hours of sleep is all it takes for me to power through the next day. I've found that late night flights @10:30 are also very helpful since that's about the time I go to bed anyway. I refuse all food and drink service and settle in to sleep as soon as it's wheels up. I have been able to sleep the last 4-5 European trips in regular Economy, too. A good neck pillow that truly supports my head is a godsend.

I make sure that I've done my regular exercise workout for at least 7 days before and the day of travel so that my body has some exercise fatigue.
When we land and check in, I don't sit or lie down--it's get those clothes unpacked and get out the door for a nice stroll, lunch, and more strolling. I don't have any alcohol or caffeine. Finally, I'm in bed around my usual time [except in Europe]. For me, it really is mainly about the sleep on the plane.

Things I do to avoid jet lag:

--take daytime flghts

--get out in the sun

--stay active

--eat and drink lightly on the flight

https://www.sleepfoundation.org/travel-and-sleep/jet-lag

I've read others post on this forum about an app they use which has really helped them. Perhaps they will chime in.

I have not always had the best success in beating jetlag, but I find that being well-rested before starting on the trip, getting some sleep on the plane, and staying outdoors at my destination during the first day helps immensely.

Here's my story! I had horrible jet lag last spring. Landed in Amsterdam, stayed outside, and somehow got my circadian rhythm messed up so that it took me a week to right myself and not crump in the afternoon and need a nap.

In July we had a thread here on Jet lag and I decided to try the Timeshifter app for my short 2+ week trip to Orkney and Shetland in August. I downloaded the app, and the first round trip is free. I did as well as I could with getting light when I was supposed to and not getting it when they said not to. I was so shocked, I had NO jet lag going or coming back home!! Wow!

I will pay for this next time as well! I flew Delta One on both trips. On the August trip I did wear a sleep mask and took sunglasses and a ball cap (I am not a ball cap wearer) to shade my eyes when I was supposed to.

I am not associated with this company. They set up protocol for NASA and have used NASA research on daylight's influence on circadian rhythms to formulate their algorithms.

My experience:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/jet-lag-i-tried-the-timeshifter-app

The original thread that got me to really look in to Timeshifter:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/books-movies/looking-for-an-up-to-date-scientific-book-about-jet-lag

What works for me is a 30-40 minute nap ( but not longer) and then get outside

I was really concerned about jet lag when we traveled last year (with a 9 hour time difference) and it ended up not being much of an issue. I was most concerned about waking up at 2am and just laying there unable to sleep, but this did not happen. For me the key was to NOT "sleep-in" but instead get up and have breakfast and interact with folks. We also were very active every day, so were just plain fatigued by the evening, which enabled us to go to sleep even though it was way earlier than 'normal' for our bodies.

On arrival day (after being in transit for 15+ hours) we arrived at about 2pm, dropped our bags at our hotel and did a quick change of clothes, and then went out and walked. Walked through parks and walked through churches. We were outside mostly until about 9pm at which point we were ready for some good sleep. I did take some melatonin both on the airplane and the first night. Day 2 we both hit a wall in the afternoon so we took a short nap and that helped.

I think also just be kind to yourself! If you need a short nap, take one. If you need to linger over breakfast because while you got up you're still groggy, then do so. Eat all the delicious food, but also eat an apple :).

Most of our arrivals in Europe are mid morning to noonish. After getting to the hotel, we try to grab a quick lunch and stay outside in the sunshine and fresh air. An early dinner (6-7 p.m.) and then to bed. By the next morning we are good to go. That's been our experience in the past. With a bit of luck those methods will continue to work.

Have to add to what @Pam said about the Timeshifter app. I fly BC RT 3x a year to Europe & as I've grown older (ahem) jet lag has gone from none or a few days to the usual WEEK now that I'm in my late 60's. My last 2 trips using TimeShifter pretty dilligently flying TO Europe, reduced it by about 50% in both duration (3 days) and just made those days more bearable. I find flying back more difficult because I'm a morning person so setting my alarm EARLIER works, staying up later does not. Good luck!! (PS, One thing I learned with TimeShifter is getting outside into sunshine only helps you reset your body clock in the right direction if you do it at specific times. So for example, flying back from Europe, only get sunshine later in the day, seem to recall it was 4-5PM for travel to the West Coast, which was frankly difficult!)

There is almost no way of all ideas to beat jet lag that you can count on. Travel to Europe or Asia involves long plane rides, and the both ends of to and from the airport. It is breaking routine for your biorhythms and a long time in and of itself. Best suggestions are personal and may not work for you.
But give them a try. No harm done. May work one trip and not another. May work for you, but not for your S.O.
I don’t worry about it. I just get on with whatever I would do. There is some suffering. But you get over it. Oh, then you have to go home.

After many years of powering through the 9 hr time difference jet lag in Europe, and having jet lag for the first 3 or 4 days in Europe, I joined Team Nap a few years ago.
I cannot sleep on the plane and usually have overnight flights that arrive around 11am. I clear passport control, taxi into town, check into my rental apartment, and then, having hit what I call the zombie zone, I take a 45=50 minute nap after setting the alarm. Then I get up, freshen up, and go grocery shopping and grab dinner at a local cafe. I go to bed about 9 or 9:30pm and wake up at 7 or 8am rested and ready to go. I am tired early (6 or 7pm) the second night but stay up for a few more hours. After that I am fine.
Unfortunately, coming home to California this doesn't work and I deal with jet lag for a week or longer. But I'm home so it doesn't matter as much.

Book a flight that arrives in the afternoon. Matter checking in to your hotel, explore the area. Stay outside in the sunshine as much as possible. Have dinner and go to sleep as close to your normal bed time as possible. Wake up the next morning good to go. Don’t schedule any early morning tours that day.

I always get 10 days of brutal jet lag coming home to W. Canada from Europe.
My face is in my dinner and I have to go to bed at 7pm.
I don’t mind it now I’m retired, but having to go back to work , shift-work, with it was terrible.
This time, coming back from London on a BA A350, I had hardly any jet lag.
I believe it’s something to do with the altitude at which the plane is pressurized.
Going to Europe, I rarely have jet lag, but am just tired my first day.
I put it down to the adrenaline of being on a trip.
I think I’ll try the Timeshifter app next trip, Pam, since it seems to work, and hope to eliminate jet lag for ever more!

I walk outside in the sun when we arrive at our destination. I limit myself to two movies on the plane during the 9-hour section of the flights.

For this trip, our first flight was substantially delayed which messed up the rest of the plane reservations. So we found out that staying overnight mid-route adds time to get there, but we arrived with barely any jet lag.

Wow! You all have given such great advice & suggestions. Thank you so much!

Since we were unable to book flights that arrive during daylight hours, we will try those apps and other helpful tips.

Sooo excited to give everything a try this trip, it’s going to be awesome thanks to y’all! :)

• Ronda

My husband and I have successfully beaten what used be be truly awful jetlag for our last seven trips to Italy. HOWEVER, probably not many people would be able to do what we do or would want to. We are retired, and we normally wake up at 4 or 5 am anyway, and we sort of like doing wacky DIY things to solve problems. So, for 10 days to two weeks we gradually shift both our sleep and our meals until we are four hours onto Italy time. No jetlag at all on arrival. My husband sleeps on the flight over, but I can't even nap on the plane, so I do arrive tired but then I am so energized by being in Italy again that I am fine until an early bedtime. Coming home, we just put up with almost two weeks of bad jetlag.

The first year we tried this, we only got two hours onto Italy time and even that was helpful --- someone could try that more easily than our extreme version and see if it helps.

At home, I am a light sleeper and sometimes a very poor sleeper for several nights in a row, so I am quite familiar with the difference in what being super tired feels like vs what jetlag feels like. I tend to think that if a nap takes care of someone's jetlag, they are just lucky not to have severe jetlag --- one of our sons is lucky that way.

We may try that anti-jetlag app --- what we do really is kind of goofy and does mean that some normal activities (such as being awake for trick-or-treaters on Halloween or attending evening meetings) are disrupted.

We never pay for expensive Business or First Class seats. Also, we usually fly into Europe overnight arriving in the morning.

We always stay up until 7PM, after dining before we go to sleep. Try to stay active that first day.

Don't do too much alcohol.

"I think I’ll try the Timeshifter app next trip, Pam, since it seems to work, and hope to eliminate jet lag for ever more!"

@ S J - I hope it works as well for you as it does me!

Ronda, if you do try Timeshifter, I also hope it works for you as well. At least the first trip is free so you can try it out. I also liked getting pings on my Applewatch about 30 minutes before I was supposed to do or not do something (sunlight/no sunlight, caffeine/no caffeine).

it may be too slow travel for you but when I used to go back and forth between New York and Southampton by ship - liners - in 5 days we never had jet lag. But of course we weren't on jets.

The daytime flights. I’m actually doing daytime flight in April because honestly it does make a huge difference. Now I do have to spend the night before the flight in New York but it’s worth it for me.

I tried that Timeshifter app on my last flight and I couldn’t tell a difference. I also found a little unrealistic. I got on the plane at 7 PM and I was already supposed to be asleep. I’m not sure how that was supposed to work Luckily, I do not have debilitating Jetlag, so I was OK.

Flying from SFO to Frankfurt or Paris, you have a choice in terms of departures. I only fly Basic Economy. I don't get jet lag upon arrival after the 11 hour flight.

Certain things I still do anyway to ensure no jet lag when I land.

1. The flight has to be non-stop and direct.

2. Take the overnight flight, ie, landing in the morning ca. 9-10 AM with a full day ahead .

3. The aim is to sleep on the flight, must get in that 5-6 hour sleep or more.

4. No distractions to prevent that sleep, and no meds at all to induce sleep.

5. Hot meal , basically lunch, soon after landing, totally refreshed by then.

"I tried that Timeshifter app on my last flight and I couldn’t tell a difference. I also found a little unrealistic. I got on the plane at 7 PM and I was already supposed to be asleep. I’m not sure how that was supposed to work"

I can completely understand that. My plan had me going to sleep at 6PM which was the time the flight left. I opted to eat some of the airplane dinner and then I put my sleep mask on and reclined (I was in Delta One so no imposition to others) about 8. I'd been up since 4A (the suggested wake up time for me so I was ready to rest. I did get 5-6 hours of sleep on that flight going over. I wasn't sure the mask would make a difference but it did. First it's a signal to the flight attendants that you are sleeping and perhaps to other passengers as they move thru the cabin and second it really helped not seeing the flicker of others' screens plus I think it really told my brain it was time for sleep.

The most difficult thing was no screen time for an hour before sleep. I'm pretty bad about reading my iPad Mini right up to the time I go to bed.

Flying from the Inland Northwest I've got a 9 hour time difference to Amsterdam or Paris, 8 for UK.

Prices look bad for Delta One for the Fall so I may be back to Economy Comfort, lol. If that's the case I will eat in Seattle and skip the plane food and attempt to sleep right away.

Each person is an experiment of one so it's a process to see what works best for you.

Here's what Rick has to say about Jet Lag.
Most professional business travels will agree with this statement:
"the sleep aid zolpidem (commonly sold as Ambien) has become my friend in fighting jet lag. Managing a good seven hours of sleep a night in Europe (or after flying home) hastens my transition to local time. That way, I'm not disabled by sleepiness that first afternoon and can stay awake until a decent bedtime. Zolpidem can have side effects, and if misused, can be habit-forming; consult your doctor, and read and follow the directions carefully. "
I would only add that we find it particularly helpful in resetting our body clocks when dealing with travel over multiple time zones. There's nothing worse that lying in bed at 1 AM local time and trying to get to sleep when your brain keeps insisting that it's only 4 PM body time.

As a few others have said, the day flight makes all the difference. No jet lag, little fatigue (only on day 4 for me, so maybe it is just fatigue from my activities, but who knows)? I am retired so I'm in no particular hurry to get to my destination. Although now that I think about it, I took my day flight before I retired also...

I took an overnight flight in May after many years of the day flight. I have no idea what made me do this. The flight was flat Business Class. It just meant I was awake laying down instead of awake sitting up. LOL. I had the worse jet lag ever for me...4+ days. Never again.

It's my impression that I couldn't work with the No Jet Lag app. because I cannot expose my eyes to the sun. I'm sticking with my favorite flight.

I also just tried the timeshifter app for free. I found it helpful and logical that on the way over, shifting your sun exposure, caffeine usage and sleep a bit closer to you destination time would be reasonable. My experience was that it was fairly easy to make the modifications prior to my trip, but I was mostly unable to sleep on the plan over. I may have dozed for a max of 1-2 hours, but I never watched the screen, and kept the eye mask on a lot. On my first day, I landed at 6am, dropped my bags at the hotel and conducted a very full day of sightseeing. I was in my room about 5pm and asleep by 7 and slept over 11 hours, getting up at a reasonable time the next day. I don't think I had any jet lag whatsoever, unless you count being able to fall asleep at 7pm the first day. my week long trip went just fine - I attended the Opera my second night, and all of my days were full and on schedule.

At the end of the trip I was unwilling to make accommodations to stay out of the sun at the prescribed times, but I did stay up late and try to sleep as directed, Now, back home, I am finding myself very sleepy by 8-9pm, and up early each day, but otherwise no real effect. This is still better than usual for me.

I will purchase the timeshifter app for my next trip in April. I am fairly certain that it helped.

Sleep as much as you can on the flight. For that, noise cancelling headphones and for those of us not able to afford Business Class, a good neck pillow. Ideally boarding to deplaning or as close to it as possible (obviously I know this isn't possible). If you are awake at any point in the middle of the flight, stand up and walk a bit, try to do some stretching (some standing yoga poses that don't take much space are surprisingly good). Continue to hydrate during the flight.

Another tip for flying--hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. And I mean overdo it for two days before the flight. Try to avoid greasy foods and eat lots of really healthy things in that time and get as much sleep as you can so your sleep deficit is minimal; this makes it easier to cope with lack of sleep from lost time / flying.

Upon arrival, you have two options. If you are sand-in-the-eyes tired, shuffle to the hotel and take a 20-30 minute nap. NO MORE. Then get up and get active (see below).

If you are not sand-in-the-eyes tired, immediately get active. And I mean brisk walking, maybe 20 minutes of deep stretching or yoga--get the kinks out. Then be outside as much as possible. Walking tours, outdoor activities or sites, fresh air, Vitamin D. Also, lighter, healthier breakfast and lunch. You can have a slightly heavier dinner and then get to bed early. If you do those things, you should wake up at a decent time reasonably rested on your first full day in Europe.

Incidentally, the hydration, etc. applies to the return flight. Yes, including the sleeping (though it's harder to do). Upon arrival at home, try to do some sort of exercise, be outside, etc. as well--staying up late (think 9 pm) will definitely help.

Things to avoid:

--Before / during flight: Soda and alcohol, greasy foods, binge watching movies you have been dying to see (best bet re: movies is to watch something insanely stupid like The Meg, then watch it again)
--Upon arrival: A longer nap, museums, stuffy rooms, lectures, heavy foods, sitting, late night plans

All depends on each individual. I have found that I want to arrive early in the morning in Europe. I take a 2 hour nap, no more, as soon as I can get into my room. Get up, shower, change clothes and eat, but no carbs or sugar because they will make you begin to get sleepy. Get out into the sunlight for at least 2 hours. Walk a little, but careful not to exert too much. I scout out my hotel area and head to an easy to see sight or two on my list. Snack in the afternoon, but still no carbs. Get hydrated with water only. Dinner at six and carbo load. Asleep at 10:00pm and awake no later than 8:00am. Second night asleep at 10:00pm again. After that, whatever you think you need for rest each evening. IMO, rest beats jet lag. Super long days from the get go will make jet lag linger.

Is there something that the Timeshifter app does that a phone with alarms and a piece of paper for timezones can't?

"Is there something that the Timeshifter app does that a phone with alarms and a piece of paper for timezones can't?"

It's a fairly complex plan so I'd never be able to figure it out on my own. You do give them information on your normal sleep/wake times, whether you are a lark or a night owl as well as your flight schedule for them to run thru their program. They break the information down into 3 columns, Light, Caffeine and when to take Melatonin if you use that (I do not) and when you should sleep or rest with your eyes closed. The app information states they use the same algorithm they use for the astronauts at the space station.

For instance, on my departure day leaving from Spokane via Seattle and Amsterdam to Aberdeen:

Wake at 4A
Bright light from 4A to 8A
Caffeine from 4A to 9A
Moderate light from 8A to 2P
No caffeine from 9A to ...
Sleep/eyes shielded from light 6P to midnight (Spokane time) (I wound up putting on my sleep mask about 8P and was actually able to sleep to about 3A/Noon)
Light from 1A Spokane time/10A Amsterdam time
Caffeine from Midnight to 3A Spokane time/9A-Noon Amsterdam time
No caffeine from 1P Amsterdam time to bed time.
No light, no screens from 8P to 9P (I did read my Kindle in my darkened hotel room with sunglasses on, lol)
Bedtime 9P (my usual bed time)

I am not a huge tech person but the pings on my watch for when it was time to move to the next phase really helped and I realized I didn't have to "know" what to do next, just go by the app. It worked for me and was less complex when actually doing it than it looked like it would be from looking at the schedule.

If I hadn't been so affected by jet lag in April 2023 I'd probably never have gone with it but that messed me up for a week. The "get all the sunlight you can on your arrival day" method did not work that time, it just got me out of whack.

Each person is an experiment of one!

I live in Hawaii, so any trip to the east is a red-eye and Europe is 23 hours away. I started flying only lie-flat when I turned 80 and I found that I have no jet lag. The price is certainly better than spending the first day of your vacation as a zombie.

We’ve only flown from a NY/NJ to either Zurich, Munich or Frankfurt. We never felt jet lagged, 13 trips. We are fully packed at least 2 days in advance of our flight. We rest as best as possible on the flight. We arrive early to mid morning and go about sightseeing. We do fall asleep by 8pm on the evening we arrive. But nothing else. Next morning we’re ready to go.

I love all of your helpful suggestions!

Thanks so much! :)

• Ronda

P.S. Has anyone tried those "No Jet Lag" homeopathic pills? Success? Waste of money?

As to Nigel's question about the timeshifter app: I didn't think every suggestion was completely intuitive as to when to get bright light and when to stop caffeine, especially on the westward travel, so I think they have come up with just a tiny bit more information than pure "time shifting." You can try it once for free and see what you think.

We just got back from a trip and I used Pam's suggestion of the Timeshifter app. Well, I used it for the way over, but then totally forgot about it for the return trip home. The app isn't much different than my regular days as we are up by 4:30-5am every day anyway, I only drink one cup of coffee each morning and no other caffeine, but the part about no screen time before bed was hard as that is my usual way to unwind before going to sleep. Landing in Iceland was like all the rest of our trips and we land about 5:30am and then just keep going all day. We headed into Reykjavik and walked 7.5 miles that day (pretty good considering all the ice and blizzard conditions lol) and did not go to bed until about 9pm. Waking up the next morning we were adjusted to the time and just fine.

Coming back to Seattle though is always the hardest for me in regards to jet lag. For some reason, I did not have the notifications from Timeshifter on and totally forgot about it. I am one that can sleep on the plane pretty well, but I caught a cold (turned out to be covid) on this trip and was so thrown off that I did not sleep on the flight home at all. When we got home Friday night I went to bed right away, and so far have been fine. First time ever that I have not had horrible jet lag on this end.

I will try the Timeshifter app again on our trip this summer, and will make sure that my notifications are on for it;)

Jet lag is and always will be undefeated. But I can manage it on my arrival day reasonably well if I (a) get outside and stay active (b) DO NOT take a nap, and (c) stay awake until a decent local bed time. The next day I'm always fully adjusted and full of sass and energy.

It’s all about the plane for me. I am very sensitive and get very bad jet-lag. If i fly on a Dreamliner or A300 series planes i have no jet-lag at all because they are designed to greatly reduce/eliminate jet-lag. I just flew on an A330 plane round trip Paris, no jet-lag at all either way.

Re: The "No Jet Lag" homeopathic pills (made in New Zealand) I used to take them a few times years ago, the last time flying over in 2007, SFO to Paris on the overnight non-stop 11 hour flight. Then I quit.

Fred: Why did you stop?

I never understood the "gutting it out" thinking, along with "by 1800 I'm wiped out,", etc.

An easy fix is a nap no more than an hour, which allows us to feel 100 percent better the rest of the day, more energy, and we're able to go to bed a reasonable time, 2200 or so, and ready to go by 0600.

Big Mike - the only time I've had really BAD jet lag was the one time I allowed myself a nap. Took me over a week to not be dead tired during the day. If I "gut it out" and make it to at least 9 pm day of arrival then I'm fine on day 2. It does really make a big difference if I can get 3 or 4 hours of sleep on the flight. Then "gutting it out" is not hard.

I think the key here in all this jet lag talk is how much sleep do you get on the plane ride over. I get very little even in Business Class. It is just my sleep pattern. I can't sleep in cars, planes, buses, etc. I envy people who fall asleep while the plane taxis to the runway.

Also, whether I like it or not, my body knows that when I arrive in Europe at 8:30am it is 2:30 am body time and for me that isn't extremely late because I normally am up until midnight.

Just for me, a two hour nap takes the "edge off" to get me to the evening around 9-10:00pm. I personally do not buy into the idea if I move my watch or phone to European time I am fooling my body. That just will not happen to anyone physically. Maybe psychologically it helps get your mind into a pattern, but your body has to adjust over time.

My unproven theory is that the more people sleep on the plane ride over, the less amount of jet lag exists for that person. My unproven theory is sleep conquers jet lag. That is why for me personally, that two hour nap as soon as I can is priceless. I get up shower and stay away from carbs until dinner and caffeine/alcohol the whole day. The next morning I have never had any lingering affects.

@ Big Mike....Yes, I stopped taking the "No Jet Lag" pills after the flight, SFO to Paris in 2007. I did not feel I needed them, didn't notice any difference upon landing with or without taking the pills per instructions.

I don't get jet lag anyway, so why continue with "No Jet Lag" which at the time here in SF cost ten dollars. All in all, I probably took the pills going over or returning to SFO maybe 4 -5 times.

Usually we get to Europe early in the day, from a fight out of the West Coast. We stay up all that extra day, with some sleep on the airliner, with a local walk or something after landing and setting up. Crash the next day, till late local time, at the apartment. This works for us.

“Jet lag is a choice.” - Taylor Swift. No, I'm not a Swifty. No, I do not own a private jet. Yes, I have travelled enough to have a handle on jet lag. It is what you allow it to be. She has it pretty close to right. All of the first and business class travel, phone apps, melatonin and sunshine in the world will not overcome jet lag if you have convinced yourself that it's going to be a problem for you.
Embrace the suck. Change your phone and watch (if you wear one) to local time and hit the ground running. Accept the local time for what it is. Stop thinking about what time it might be where you travelled from. If you arrive in Germany at 9:00 in the morning, start thinking about where you might be going for lunch. Don't think that it's time for breakfast. If you have a place to drop your bags, drop them and go out shopping or for a walk....If I have an opportunity to shower and change, I like to do that. Resist the urge to take a nap. When it's time for dinner, go out for a great and easy meal and then head back to bed.
On the afternoon of your second day you might "hit the wall''.... push through it. And don't think about what time it might be in Boise. Connect to what time it is where you are.
On the flight over I like to have a glass or two of wine, maybe a bourbon. Yes, I know the "experts" disagree. Then I close my eyes and I keep them closed. I don't watch. Mr. Bean or work on my PC. I relax. It does not matter if I am in first class or ouch class, my routine is the same. The reason I picked the window seat is not so that I can see out during take-off and landing. It's so that No one needs to climb over me to go for a walk in the aisle. I'll do the climbing, thank you very much.
You can control most of the effect of jet lag by simply accepting/ignoring it. It is indeed a choice.
If you already have business seats, that's great. You have an extra degree of comfort. Take advantage of that and sleep as much as they will allow you to. Enjoy.

We’ve never had jet lag from NJ to Germany, even with layovers. Once I get on the plane, watches go to,local time where we are landing.

You all are giving GREAT advice & suggestions!

I appreciate you! :)

Thanks again,

Ronda