Jet lag

Jet lag is the curse of the traveling.  It is officially known as  desynchronosis, a chrono-biological problem  that effects us like shift work does to those who constantly work nights. It is a relatively modern dysfunction caused by the easy availability of rapid jet travel in either east-west direction.  It  does not seem to effect those who fly in a north-south pattern. It is related to the crossing of multiple time zones along lines of the Earth's latitude.  If you have been affected by jetlag, medical specialists suggest you need to give yourself one day to recover for every time zone you cross in any given trip.

Having returned from a trip to Europe two weeks ago, I am finally back solidly on Eastern Daylight Savings Time.

I usually try to deal with west-east jet lag by bucking up and getting on with it.  Basically, that means if I am heading east on a plane, I drink water, read a trashy novel, watch a movie, and take a nap. I try to "hit the ground running". I take a shower, brush my teeth, put on clean clothes, and head out  to explore the place.  This works for me, but not for everyone.

My late husband did not travel well.  I think this was because he worked the night shift for over twenty years until he retired, and he had messed up cicada rhythms. When he travelled west to east he would crash for at least five hours usually making up for the five time zones we'd crossed. However, he did better on ocean cruises. My second child is the same, needing several hours of rest before she is able to function in the new time zone.

It took some time, but I finally came up with a viable solution. Most trans-Atlantic flights from the east coast of the US leave in the late evening which is good for business travelers.  They get to their destinations in time for mid-day business meetings.  They are not so great for other travelers who often must wait for hotel rooms to be ready. I found a daily flight from New York that leaves for London in the morning and arrives there in the early evening. One can arrive, check in at a close by airport hotel, have a nice dinner, and get a good night's sleep before catching a connecting flight to your final destination.  We did this once, and it worked out well.

The best way to avoid jet lag while traveling from Europe to the States is definitely to travel by ship. I did this in May and highly recommend it, if you can do it.  You gain back an hour every other day , and by the time you get back home:  no jet lag!

What makes this doubly nice is that the ships have laundries on board, and you can return home with clean laundry!