TRAVEL TIP: HOW TO AVOID JET LAG, pt 2- FOLLOW UP REPORT

inside plane

For those of you who checked out last week’s travel tip How to Avoid Jet Lag and might be wondering how well my technique worked for me on my recent 40-hour, 3-flight trip from USA to Malaysia, here’s the follow up report:

Quick summary of technique: Basically, I routinely deal with jet lag by simply avoiding it entirely. I manage that by getting myself onto the destination time schedule during and/or before my trip. It has worked for me repeatedly during 20 years of international travels.

Quick summary of last week’s trip from USA to Malaysia: This time I had a particularly tough schedule to deal with. It included 3 flights, 2 of which were 12 hours long. Added to that, there were 11 hours of layover in between: 4 hours in Chicago and 7 hours in Amman, Jordan. My plan of attack was to keep my usual US time schedule all the way through to Jordan and then switch to Malaysian time on my final 12-hour flight from Amman to Kuala Lumpur.

Technique in action:

As planned, I stayed awake during my 3-hour flight to Chicago (and enjoyed take off, aerial views of US and a sea of clouds floating below bright blue skies)

I also stayed awake during my 4-hour layover in Chicago (Wow, Chicago International Terminal has NOTHING to do!

On my first 12-hour flight from Chicago to Amman, as planned, I stayed awake the first 2 hours of the flight, then slept the final 10 hours. I did take 2 doses of mild sleeping pills to help me out. Even so, to be honest, I didn’t feel like I had a really knock-out, solid sleep. Rather, I felt liked I’d been tossing and turning all night. However, the 10 hours whizzed by super fast, so I must have actually slept a serious chunk of the time.

Hotel in Amman, Jordan, near airport

I got help in Amman, Jordan: Unbeknownst to me, Royal Jordanian Airline provides a complimentary lux hotel room for any passengers with > 6 hours layover. That included me! I was taken on the ‘transit bus’ to a nearby lux hotel and returned to the airport later. I luxuriated in a hot shower and enjoyed a solid 3-hour heavy sleep on a spacious bed. I’m pretty sure that helped with my ‘avoid jet lag’ program! (I was also treated to a huge buffet Jordanian dinner, au gratis. Thanks Royal Jordanian! ) Before boarding my next flight, I belted down two double shots of espresso, then…

Lash with Jordanian guys at Amman airport

On my final 12-hour flight from Amman to KL, I stayed awake the entire flight, without any problems. En route, I enjoyed a few movies and documentary shows. It was just like vacation! I arrived in KL at 6:30 pm, reached my friend’s house about 9:30 pm, and went to bed about midnight, all ready to sleep.

I woke up the first morning in KL without a hitch and stayed up the whole day. To be honest, throughout the day I had several fluctuations in energy level, switching between full-on normal energy to feeling a bit drained or dazed. I suppose I did suffer some mild affects of jet lag. I went to bed at 11 pm.

The second day I awoke full of energy, completely switched over to local KL time schedule. Set to go!

Pasar Seni area of Kuala Lumpur

Summary: Overall, my technique worked really well. My en route waking/ sleeping scheme worked just as planned. I did get an extra help with the hotel room in Jordan. By the time I reached KL, I was pretty much on Malaysian time schedule, though I apparently felt some jet lag affect on my very first day. By my second day in KL, I was completely switched over to Malaysian time.

Not bad at all for completely reversing my sleep schedule! (13 hours difference between Florida and Kuala Lumpur)

I hope this technique will help you next time you have a super long flight schedule.

Happy travels, Lash

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Q: Do you have any other tips/tricks that help you deal with jet lag? Share here!

Have you ever tried this technique? How did it work? Let’s hear your version!

You might also like:

How To Avoid Jet Lag, pt. 1

How To Avoid Jet Lag pt 3: More Strategies

Great Reasons to Love Super Long Flights