How to get over jet lag: advice from the travel editors
As much as we love escaping our day-to-day life by traveling to far-flung destinations, jet lag can make the first few days of a holiday feel like hard work. How to correct our body clocks in a different time zone and bypass the effects of disturbed sleep patterns is a question that still stumps travellers. But some seasoned globetrotters have come up with their own travel hacks. Gwyneth Paltrow claims she spends “30 minutes in an infrared sauna after I land to sweat out the plane”, while Karlie Kloss says her favourite jet-lag cure is exercise: “If I’m pressed for time, I’ll go for a swim in the hotel pool or follow a few ‘Yoga with Adriene’ YouTube videos in my room.” Charlotte Tilbury, meanwhile, swears by her “golden rule: hydrate, hydrate! I carry homoeopathic vitamin drops with me on all flights too”. Below, we asked our travel editors for their top tips on how to avoid and recover from jet lag on your next long-haul flight.
Anita Bhagwandas, beauty director
“My biggest jet-lag hack is simple but wildly effective: the second I step onto the plane, I switch to the eating and sleeping rhythm of wherever I’m headed. If it’s breakfast time in Tokyo, I’ll nibble something light. If it’s 10pm in New York, I’m winding down, eye mask on, pretending it’s already nighttime. It helps my body clock recalibrate before I’ve even landed, so I’m not stumbling through arrivals feeling feral. And for the hours where your face hasn’t quite caught up with your new time zone?
Lydia Bell, senior features editor
“I think the best thing to avoid jet lag is to not eat on the plane and then when you arrive in your new time zone, to make sure you have a healthy, light meal and then get some sunlight and go for a walk. The other thing that helps one feel better on arrival is to try and take the travel time to rest and digest rather than signing up for the plane WiFi and furiously responding to emails, which always helps you to arrive unrested and fractious.”
Charley Ward, commerce writer
“There are a couple of things I do to try to stave off the jet lag-induced hysteria. Firstly, earplugs for the plane: my Loops have an adjustable noise-cancelling setting, and when turned up to max, it’s impressive how quiet the cabin sounds – it’s a solid 60 per cent quieter, which is a game-changer when trying to catch a few hours’ sleep. I’ve even wrangled a solid five-hour rest in economy class before. I’ve also been experimenting with Timeshifter, a jet lag app. The idea is that by making a few doable changes each day on the run-up to your trip (getting as much light as possible at certain times, going to bed a little earlier or later), you can train your body to adjust before you arrive. Surprisingly, it does actually work.”
Connor Sturges, digital writer
“The main mistake I see friends and family make on any long-haul adventure is giving in to the arrival nap. While I'd usually listen to my body when it requests a rest, I'm incapable of sleeping on a plane with my gangly legs – I can just never get comfortable enough. As a result, I'll hit the ground running, bleary-eyed, and get myself into the new time zone's rhythm, usually with an activity in the great outdoors, and shift into the new meal times. It's amazing how a cold (tepid, perhaps) shower and a dose of Mother Nature can keep me going until an early night on arrival day.”
Charlotte Davey, fashion editor
“Water is a classic for a reason. No matter how long the flight is, I stock up on big bottles of water at the airport to make sure I stay hydrated. My other tip is to not think about what time it is in the UK – don’t waste the first few days of a holiday thinking about the time difference or what time your body clock is on. Just embrace whatever time your iPhone says it is. But the one hack that seems to work best for me (as much as I hate it) is to not eat plane food. Just have a light snack on long-haul flights and then settle into your new time zone’s meal schedule as soon as you land. I can’t say I know the science behind it, but it really helps me regulate my body clock.”
Divia Thani, global editorial director
“If you land in the evening, eat a carb-heavy dinner (like pasta) and drink a glass of red wine so you fall asleep right away. If you land early in the morning, restrict yourself to one cup of coffee and eat loads of protein (eggs, for example, but no toast) to help you stay awake. Lots of fresh air always does wonders in waking you up if you start feeling drowsy.”
Lauren Burvill, commerce editor
“I know you're supposed to change your clock to your destination and sleep when they do, but that's easier said than done. I do the slog to Australia fairly regularly and I’ve found that, while it’s impossible to avoid jet lag, getting as much sleep as you can on the flight helps. To do that, I follow a mini bedtime routine: I wash my face, brush my teeth, and change into a comfortable lightweight tracksuit, a very soft bra (or even no bra) and socks. I find eye masks uncomfortable, so I just put on a cap to block out the light a little bit. I curl up in my seat with a neck pillow, select one of my comfort-blanket TV shows and lull myself to sleep while listening to an episode of Friends or Modern Family.”
Amber Port, audience growth manager
“This might be the advice nobody wants to hear, but my method is to just push through the jet lag. I always aim to land in the morning with a full day of activities planned ahead to keep me busy. That means mooching around the streets of my destination, visiting museums and basking in long lunches and dinners. Then I’ll try to be in bed by 9pm, misting my pillow with a relaxing lavender scent and drifting away after a jam-packed day.”
Chloe Laws, acting audience growth manager
“I’m a woman who loves her sleep. So avoiding jet lag disruption is always a top priority for me. If it makes sense time-zone-wise to conk out on a flight, I’ll take melatonin pills, use my favourite Dreem Distillery Bed Balm, wear my Drowsy Sleep Co mask and play some brown noise on my headphones. After I land, I prioritise supplements and try to be as healthy as possible for the first few days – working out if the holiday allows, not drinking too much, and going to bed at a reasonable time. One thing I really find helps is getting outside into natural light immediately, before you do anything else (yes, even before showering), and walking around the block. For supplements, Vitamin D is a must, and I take Shreddy’s new ‘superwoman’ wellness blend; I have PCOS, and it helps me regulate my energy, but that being said, friends without PCOS have also raved about it to me.”
Sarah Bannerman, commerce editor
“I try to get on board with my new time zone from the minute I board a flight. Not just with sleep, but with food and drink, too. I tend not to rely on airline food but take my own everyday go-tos to try and trick my body into associating the meals it knows with a specific time of day. This one might seem crazy, but when I arrive, I always set an alarm to get up early and do some kind of exercise, no matter how gentle. This is how I start most days at home, so it's another way of continuing habits that make new time zones feel more 'normal'.”
Sarah Allard, digital editor
“I totally get how tempting it is to reach for that free fizz when you've just boarded a flight, or to ask for a glass of red alongside your dinner when you're mid-flight and relaxing into your second film. But booze is widely known to be a major sleep disruptor. So if avoiding jet lag means getting some serious shut-eye on your flight, then I highly recommend ditching the booze and drinking plenty of water instead. Also, stay away from caffeine (pretty obvious but easily forgotten for morning take-offs), and I guarantee you'll land feeling far more refreshed and a lot less sleepy.”
Sophie Knight, digital visuals editor
“No matter what the time of day, I always try to sleep on long-haul flights. On landing, I force myself to adjust to the local time zone. If it’s the middle of the night, I’ll hop right into bed, or if it’s the middle of the day, I’ll try to stay awake by getting out and about. In the worst-case scenario, I’ll set myself a 90-minute time limit to nap. Waking up from a deep sleep can be the hardest thing, but I force myself with the help of a cold shower. I also avoid alcohol and caffeine on the first day. Eye drops are essential, and so is perseverance.”
Abigail Malbon, audience development manager, US
“My advice is more on what not to do. In my personal experience, it’s best not to take sleeping pills. I learnt this the hard way on a flight back from Australia – yes, I slept for the duration of the flight, but my body clock ended up completely confused for the next week, and it took me way longer than usual to get over the jet lag. Now, I listen to my body more and sleep when I can. When I’m not sleeping, I’ll do something relaxing – for me, that’s watching a comforting TV show or film and forgetting about the world below.”