I never get Jetlag

i never get jet lag either (like you said it is mental)
I travel a lot for enjoyment and my body knows to switch
it is like building resistance

No jet lag here either. My sleep patterns have been crazy for years. I can get by on 3 hrs easy and 6 about all I get in a night usually in 2 three hour shifts. I don't do anything special to prep for travel - I'll have a cocktail and wine on the plane - I might snooze for an hr but not usually. Once I land I just carry on at local time.

EDIT: I totally missed the "mental" part - totally disagree - the body & brain need the restorative power of sleep

So jet lag is mental...place me in a psychiatric unit. I suffer from jet lag but deal with it.

Did you mention which medical school you got your degree at?

If jet lag is mental, why all the rigamarole? You have just figured out your routine to avoid it. And it is an elaborate routine... LOL. You're in denial.

So this article from last week's Travel News, which attributes jetlag to a protein which regulates the body's circadian rhythms, must be fake news.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-02/how-to-cure-jet-lag-tips-on-eating-exercising-sleeping

Its not just mental or being tired from lack of sleep. Your whole body operates on a routine. When you disrupt the routine, your body has to adjust. Eating breakfast when your stomach thinks its the middle of the night is not normal. Seeing bright sunshine when your body thinks its 3 AM is not normal. It won't kill you but it involves your whole body, not just tricking your brain to not miss that night in the air. Its great that that the OP doesn't suffer, but it gets worse for me as I get older, and I do prepare for it.

Things like jet lag, fatigue, and even pain are all protective functions of our nervous system. Which indeed happen to occur in our brains. But to say they are all "mental" implies that if you work harder at it or have a better character you can figure it out. Even things which happen in our brains are greatly influenced by physical, psychological, and social factors. Even in your post you mention melatonin, caffeine, nutrition, water, and showering which of course influence us biologically.

Everyone will have different responses. We are all unique beings with different genetics, physiology, diet, experiences, activity levels, stress levels, impressions etc..There is never going to be one answer to "solving" jet lag. Each person will have a different response to it and different things will help people differently.

Glad your routine works for you, Daniel, and that you're mentally so fine. I try to take something like kefir (live cultures) before going to a third-world country, for the digestive value. Maybe I'll try it for Europe too -- can't hurt. From your description it appears that you don't sleep very steadily on the flight, since you're up every 90 minutes. I'd love to get 90 minutes' sleep on the plane. Are you short enough to be comfortable in the seat? I'm not. Most advice given is not to drink alcohol because it's dehydrating, but you're right that it helps with starting sleep, and lots of water later should offset the dehydration. And keep you heading back to the bathroom, so hope for an aisle seat.

Bottom line, there are lots of techniques, individuals vary, much depends on physical comfort in the seat (i.e. your height and width and what kind of seat you bought). I'm not sure I'd agree that jet lag is just "mental," but maybe ability to sleep in unfamiliar conditions like a flight has something to do with one's disposition or stress level or age or some such.

When I went over in the 1970s, flying direct from Calif to London or Paris, I never got jet lag, did not arrive zoned out, fatigued, etc., did not know what it was, certainly not the first two times, People told me about jet lag before my departure on the 3rd trip in 1977, I dismissed it.

Since the 2001 trip at 51 I don't get jet lag at all because I make it a point to sleep on the 11 hr flight, at worst maybe 3 hrs, at best 6.5 to 7 hrs. Even dozing the entire flight, if need be, is better than nothing, I don't watch the movies going over, a pretty hard temptation sometimes to resist, don't listen to music, or do any entertainment, just eat the hot dinner served with a bit of red wine and a cup of coffee or tea afterwards, then doze off to sleep. I don't use air plugs, don't take any sort of sleep aids. I've taken "No Jet Lag" pills, they are ok, but at ten dollars a box, not worth it, plus I didn't find that much difference between using it and not. I gave it up after a couple of flights.

Regarding my watch: I keep it set at west coast time until the plane arrives. That way every time I wake up I see how many more hours I have left to fall asleep again and left for the flight.

I do drink water, orange juice, when I'm awake, ie not sleeping on the flight,
When I book the flight (Economy), I look for arrival in the morning, say between 0800 to noon, at the latest. After clearing Border Control and getting the luggage, using the facilities, I take the train to the train station or drop off the luggage, then have a hot lunch at the station or a pub, at which it's noon anyway.

Whether jet lag is mental or not, I've no idea, doesn't matter either, but I have not flown direct beyond 11 hrs, say to Tokyo, Shanghai, Sidney when the flight is 14-16 hrs. In my 40s upon arrival the next 3-4 days I would wake up, say at 0100 and stay that way until 0500. Not anymore since 2001. What to do on the first day after arrival, dropping off the luggage, and having a hot lunch? If it's Paris or London, I take the Metro, the Tube to get to a museum.

I don't do anything to prepare, and I don't get jet lag when I fly to France. I don't consider it jet lag when I have trouble staying awake the first day because I've gone 36 hours w/o sleep, but by the next day I'm fine. On the other hand, when I return to the US I can't function properly for 2 weeks. Maybe because I wish I was still in France.

The good news is that jet lag, like sea sickness, varies. You might not get jet lag for 25 years, then suddenly--bang--look up jet lag in the dictionary and your picture is there. (Not speaking to the OP, just speaking generally.) I have had many "types" of experience with jet lag from none to goes away after an extra long nap to messes me up for several days. Who knows what your next trip will bring?

"...much depends on the physical comfort in the seat...." True, whenever I get 6 hrs of sleep in that sardine can Economy seat, which has happened more often than not, then if I am lucky enough by chance to get upgraded going over (happened only twice), my sleeping on the plane is assured. In 2007 I took Lufthansa SFO to FRA, checked all the luggage in, was assigned a seat in a row facing the wall in the middle, all seats taken, obviously not very appealing. I didn't particularly like it but said nothing, since it was Economy someone has to sit there.

Of all a sudden a steward comes towards the end of the boarding saying, "all you ie, the whole row facing the wall, come with me." We were given seats in the last row of the middle area, obviously better, more spacious, separate from each other, more roomy and comfortable, and best of all, reclining easily to the max with space between that row of seats and the wall, don't know if that was Economy Plus, or what they call it. Bottom line, I had the best uninterrupted sleep on a flight going over, well over six hours, and no jet lag upon arrival.

Robert, I call that "returner's remorse".

No, jet lag is not "mental". It involves a physiological disruption of an established circadian rhythm, most often experienced when someone rapidly crosses multiple time zones. Testing can demonstrate distinct and measurable endocrine and EEG changes. In addition to the subjective sensation of being tired, it also involves changes in sleep patterns, and slowing of reaction times that are similar to alcohol intoxication. And while some may claim that they "never suffer from jet lag", studies on airline pilots have shown conclusively that everyone experiences impairments in reaction time and mental problem solving, no matter how tired or alert the subject claims to be.

Most of us have our own routine for dealing with jet lag that we've reached through trial and error. My own personal approach is that no little tricks have worked, so I just simply accept that jet lag will hit me and I plan the first day accordingly. There's no magic formula for everyone, however individual travelers should do whatever they think works best for them to minimize the disruption to their trip. However, I think it is worth emphasizing again that even though the sense of fatigue is subjective and varies tremendously among individuals, the reaction time and cognitive slowing is an objective reality verified by clinical research. For that reason, the one bit of advice that should apply to everyone is this: don't attemtp to drive on your first day of arrival until you've properly rested yourself. From time to time, the local news around Frankfurt will report that on the A3 and A5 Autobahn routes (the two major roads that intersect right by the international airport), a disproportionate number of accidents involved drivers from North America on the first day of their trip. And when I lived about 30 minutes south of the airport, I just missed being involved in a fatal accident caused by the same problem during my morning commute. So once again, do what you think works for you, but please, don't drive.

don't attemtp to drive on your first day of arrival until you've
properly rested yourself.

Also, be careful of this when you return back to the US. I learned this lesson the hard way last year the day after I returned back from a trip across the pond. I fell asleep at the wheel of my car, destroyed a utility pole, and $15,000 of damage to my car. When the DMV found out about the accident they had me go to a doctor to sign-off that I didn't have a more serious condition. I thank god everyday that I only hit a utility pole, and not a pedestrian or someone in another car.
...all due to "reverse" Jet Lag.

Jet lag is real, I have always had it and every year I have gone to Europe it gets worse for me. So what do I do? I have given up on the "stay awake and active" approach and simply follow what my body is telling me and that is: SLEEP!

I don't sleep well on a plane, usually I don't sleep at all. It doesn't matter if I'm in the sardine class or 1st class. There is simply too much activity, noise, and movement in general. I can't take melatonin or anything similar due to other drugs I take for my other medical conditions, they don't play well together. I am happy if I get a couple 30 minute naps on the flight. Because of this, I try and take flights that depart later in the evening that put me in Europe after noon so by the time I get through border control and manage to get my hotel it is check in time. There are a couple flights that leave New York at 08:00 and arrive in Heathrow at 20:00, just in time for dinner and off to bed. These work perfect for me other than requiring me to spend the night in New York before the flight.

The fact that I get jet lag and it impacts me so much is strange given that all during my 20's and 30's I worked jobs that required me to be up at random hours of the day and night. I would work the night shift, come home and sleep 4 hours, go to college classes, and repeat again for the whole week. Another job require me to work 8 hours on and 8 hours off round the clock until I hit 40 hours for the week (I did get 4 whole days off per week on this job). I never felt tired and I could even skip a sleep cycle and still be fully functional. Now, if I don't get a good 8 hours every night I am completely a zombie.

So, if you have found some method to fool your body into thinking you don't get jet lag, then great. Unfortunately jet lag is not all mental and is not easily avoided by many.

I've driven from SFO back to the city after a 11 hour direct return flight from Europe. I never did it in Europe and would never do it but here it's my turf (I can pull over when I want, no need to look at the signs, etc), which takes 20 to 30 mins depending which route is taken, I-280, El Camino Real, or US 101, more importantly, I'm in my own car, not a rental, that makes a distinct difference. Did I sleep on the return flight, a bit but usually not as much as going over since I don't focus on sleeping but watched movies, etc.

It makes a big difference whether you're sitting in sardine can Economy seat or a seat a tad more spacious with roomier leg space which you can recline to the max without disturbing anyone behind, since there may be no one there at all. Given those conditions my uninterrupted sleep over 6-7 hrs is guaranteed. That came about because of an upgrade, the chances of which in getting one is pretty slim to none.

It is the normal routine that the body is used to in a particular time-zone, then switch to a different distant time-zone. Or like a person switches from working day-shift to swing (or graveyard) shift. Some people adjust quicker than others...

Vic, that's a pretty simple and common sense way to put it.