8 easy ways to avoid jet lag

If you’re a traveler you know that it’s important to make the most of your holiday, but if you’re flying across time zones it can take a bit of time for your body to adjust, even up to several days, no one wants to spend their holiday feeling tired with insomnia, confusion, and irritability. Don’t worry if you’re travelling soon here are some easy, effective things you can do to fight jet lag!

Prepare your internal clock

A few days before you get on your flight, shift your eating and sleeping times to match the destination you’re going to. Be aware that the more time zones you’re flying across the earlier you’ll have to start.

Stay hydrated at all times
Drink plenty of fluids before and on your flight, dehydration is one of the symptoms of jet lag. Always stay away from alcohol and caffeine!

Try to sleep on the plane

This is very important if you’re traveling overnight or flying east to west. Traveling is very tiring and it can drain your body completely if you can afford it fly business or first class or just get a window seat and a pillow.

Use sleeping pills wisely

A sleeping pill with a short cycle can be useful on overnight flights, make sure you take the dosage correctly though, you don’t want to be groggy when you land.

Eat like you’ve already arrived

Avoid eating the food on the airplane, they’ll serve food based on the time zone you’re leaving. If you’re hungry just snack lightly and eat during what would be mealtimes at your destination.

Get outside 

When you've arrived at your destination spend as much time as you possibly can outside in the sunlight, the exposure will help your body adjust to the new time zone.

Eat light meals 

Not only is your sleep cycle adjusting but so is your digestive routine. Large, rich meals will make it harder for your body to adapt, stick to light meals in small portions.

Consider taking Melatonin

This is the hormone your body naturally creates around the time you usually go to bed, so if you take it at the time you want to tell your body to go to bed it can help your internal clock to adjust.

Keep these helpful little tips to almost try and trick Mother Nature into letting you fly around the world without experiencing the dreaded jet lag.

Has the horrible jet lag hit you hard? Book your shuttle from the Airport with Airport Shuttle, contact them for the best, reliable, convenient shuttle service.

A wearable that will help you beat jet lag?

As more and more wearables come out, the stranger their functions get! The focus so far on wearables, however has been mainly health and fitness.

The people from the F1 team McLaren are actually making a wearable that makes jetlag a thing of the past!

In a paper, the car firm set out a vision for a brand new device that will help you combat that tired and drained feeling you get after a long flight. Duncan Bradley from the McLaren’s Applied Technologies Team (MAT) wrote: "We'll get people to think about the condition in which they'd like to arrive somewhere, and then make it possible for them to achieve this."

He said that what they will be able to do is take your body’s vital signs, look at your travel details and actually predict the best way for you to travel and get to a point in time where you’re feeling as good as you can be.

All this will involve collecting information from your body over time and knowing how it reacts in context. Bradley added: "You'll then be offered information about interventions, even if they're counter-intuitive." Though there’s no word on what kind of interventions.

Most people just say that if you adjust the time zone at your destination a couple of days before, you’ll actually minimise the effects of jet lag. It’s hard to see what else this wearable can offer besides that.

Although McLaren is best known for its work with Formula 1 racing and super cars, the Applied Technologies team is focused on the future of wearable tech.

It’s unclear what form McLaren’s jet lag culling wearable will take or when it will become a reality. Sadly, we don’t imagine it will be anytime soon.

For a reliable, affordable shuttle service to and from Cape Town International Airport - Contact Airport Shuttle today! 

4 Flights that will bring on the horrid jet lag

If you have ever flown overseas, especially from East to West and West to East, you have probably experienced the pain of jet lag. It may seem like a regular thing for constant travelers, but even if you are the most experienced jetsetter you can still have your clock screwed up with these certain weird flights.

          Arriving Before your Depart
The only way to really experience this is by travelling to the Western Pacific and then jump on a plant from Tokyo’s Narita International Airport that is headed somewhere in North America. A flight like Delta’s DL284 departs from Tokyo at about 5am and will arrive in Los Angeles at 11am, the same morning! Yes, it’s true; the flight will arrive before it departs. Well, that’s definitely going to mess with your body clock a little.

          The Day Stretcher
Transatlantic travelers will know all about this one. A flight from London to San Francisco takes about 11 – 12 hours yet you will often arrive just 2 hours later than you departed, which adds about 10 extra hours to your day! These flights are usually daytime flights, which makes it even harder to get some sleep. It can actually take days to recover from the confusion caused to your body clock.

          The Disappearing Day
This one probably won’t ruin your body clock, but it will rob you of your time. You’ll get a lot of time to sleep if you take the Air New Zealand’s NZ001 from Los Angeles to Auckland, which is a 13 hour flight. Where it gets weird is that if you were to leave on the 1^st of the month at 9:45, you’ll only arrive on the 3^rd at 5:45am! So, one day of the month would completely disappear from your calendar.

          The 27 Hour Flight
Everyone complains about spending hours and hours crammed in a seat, especially the 12 hours from Cape Town to London, the 17 hours from Johannesburg to Atlanta and of course the journeys from the Middle East which take more than a whole day to  complete. But, you are way better off than the poor New Zealanders who take the Air New Zealand’s NZ001 from London that uses just one plane for a full 27 hour journey! Here’s the breakdown:
- Depart London at 4:15 on the 1^st of the month
- Fly for 11 hours & 20 minutes over Greenland and Canada and land in Los Angeles at 7:35pm
- Stop for 2 hours for refueling and cleaning
- Depart from Los Angeles at 9:45pm
- Travel for 13 hours and arrive in Auckland at 5:45am on the 3^rd, completely skipping the 2^nd of the month!

These 4 weird flights may shock your body clock by extending days or missing them entirely, and even if you are a regular flyer you can still experience the horrid jet lag.

Call 808 Cartwright for a luxurious, self-catering apartment with amazing views! Need a shuttle service to and from Cape Town International Airport? Contact Airport Shuttle today.

Written By: Christine Romans

How to avoid jet lag

If you’re a traveler you know that it’s important to make the most of your holiday, but if you’re flying across time zones it can take a bit of time for your body to adjust, even up to several days, no one wants to waste their time away with all sorts of unpleasant feelings like fatigue, insomnia, confusion and irritability. Don’t worry if you’re travelling soon here are some effective things you can do to fight jet lag and what to do once it sets in.

Prepare your internal clock

A few days before you get on your flight, gradually shift your eating and sleeping times to match the destination you’re going to. Then more time zones you’re flying across the earlier you’ll have to start.

                                                                       Stay hydrated

Drink plenty of fluids before and on your flight, dehydration is one of the symptoms of jet lag. Always stay away from alcohol and caffeine!

Try to sleep on the plane

This is very important if you’re traveling overnight or flying east to west. Traveling is very tiring and it can drain your body completely, if you can afford it fly business or first class or just get a window seat and a pillow.

Use sleeping pills wisely

A sleeping pill with a short cycle can be useful on overnight flights, make sure you take the dosage correctly though, you don’t want to be groggy when you land.

Eat like you’ve already arrived

Avoid eating the food on the airplane, they’ll serve food based on the time zone you’re leaving. If you’re hungry just snack lightly and eat during what would be meal times at your destination.

Get outside

When you've arrived at your destination spend as much time as you possibly can outside in the sunlight, the exposure will help your body adjust to the new time zone.

Eat light meals

Not only is your sleep cycle adjusting but so is your digestive routine. Large, rich meals will make it harder for your body to adapt, stick to light meals in small portions.

Consider taking Melatonin

This is the hormone your body naturally creates around the time you usually go to bed, so if you take it at the time you want to tell your body to go to bed it can help your internal clock to adjust.

Jet lag can be the main killer of your productivity and enjoyment while traveling; do you really want to spend the first few days of your holiday sleepy and confused with no appetite? Keep these helpful little tips to almost try and “trick” Mother Nature into letting you fly around the world without getting jet lag.

Has the horrible jet lag hit you hard? Rest up at comfortable, affordable, self-catering 808 Cartwright Corner! You can travel there from Cape Town International Airport with Airport Shuttle, contact them for the best, reliable, convenient shuttle service. 

Written By: Christine Romans