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What Timezone is this Anyway? Tips for dealing with jet lag.
Jetlag sucks. I even know people who won’t travel across timezones because of it. It can make for a miserable trip and can even contribute to being robbed or getting in an accident when you get to your destination.
What Causes Jet Lag?
Our bodies simply aren’t designed to move around the planet that quickly. We are “programmed” as diurnal creatures to wake more or less with the dawn and sleep at night, but our bodies have an internal sense of when that’s supposed to be. Jet lag throws that off. (And yes, if you take your pet or service animal on a long flight, they get jet lag too).
What Effect Does it Have?
The most common impact of jet lag is the twofer of travel fatigue and insomnia. You’re exhausted, yet you can’t sleep. Red eye flights can contribute to travel fatigue substantially — even if you “can” sleep on planes, you’re never going to sleep well.
Other symptoms of jet lag include anxiety, bowel issues in both directions, irritability, headache, nausea, difficulty concentrating, dizziness, malaise (that’s when you feel just a bit out of it) and even short term memory loss. Jet lag can also affect your immune system, which increases your risk of being sick.