The Ultimate Tip To Conquer Jet Lag Once And For All

Jet lag can easily be the worst part of a holiday – how are you meant to maximise your time exploring a new destination if you’re groggy and cranky the first few days of your trip? Thankfully, there is an easy way to guarantee you’ll beat the beast.

The dreaded jet lag is a difficult problem to conquer, and that’s mainly because it happens to all of us. “Jet lag hits everybody,” Julian Kheel, senior editor of online travel platform The Points Guy (TPG), tells Culture Trip. “It’s somewhat unavoidable, especially on long overseas flights.”

But just because you’re most probably going to experience jet lag, does not mean you have to let it be your ultimate holiday downer. Kheel, who flies around 100,000 miles every year, has the secret. “The best way to handle jet lag is to make sure you expose yourself to daylight as much as possible in the new location,” he explains. “Your body will tend to try to stay awake in the daylight and go to sleep in the dark.” So in other words, no matter how badly you want to nap, get yourself outside and moving.

Take advantage of your new surroundings immediately and whatever you do, don’t spend time hanging out in your accommodation. “Go out and explore rather than staying in your hotel room where it’s dark,” Julian says. The goal is to “try and get on to the new time zone as quickly as you can, regardless of whether you’re feeling tired or not.” You’ll not only be getting used to your new time zone but also starting your vacay as you mean to go on.

Will you ever be able to get some shut-eye if you want to outsmart the lag? Kheel offers this winning hack: “Don’t go to sleep until the bed time of your new location. This way you can wake up and be adjusted to your new clock as soon as possible.”

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