The Traveller's Magazine
If you’re travelling long (sometimes even short) distances you’re bound to cross at least one of these, sometimes many. They turn your day upside down and pull your mood off its track. They induce sleep and leave you craving food at the strangest hours. Of course, we’re talking about time zones.
Fighting the big fight
Let’s start off with the inevitable that happens whenever you cross time zones: the legendary jet lag. It’s inconvenient and although you always swear beforehand, “This time it’s going to be different. This time, I can fight it.” You never can. Our bodies work like clocks. But there are a few industry secrets to fighting it, or at least living with it until it passes.
Q1 via @waphle: What are your secrets for fighting jet lag?
@traveldaveuk: I always put my clock forward to local time once I’ve stepped on the plane.
@TravelingEditor: Melatonin. On the plane or at destination. A nice sleep and ready to go!
@earthXplorer: Get on and stay on local time right away.
@mygo2it: Start traveling so often that time differences doesn’t phase you anymore.
@traveldudes: It’s a bit like in the good old days, when you party all night long. You feel similar. So no worries at all.
@amandaslav: Caffeine and/or booze and sleeping pills. Depending on what I’m trying to accomplish.
@25travels: Watching twilight then I’ll get to sleep because of boredom.
@PLUSHOSTELS: Just download the jetlag app. 🙂
@whereisyvette: I deliberately did my #rtw traveling westward to counter jetlag- staying up late is SO much easier than waking up early!
@IdealCruising: Cellotape on each eye lid!
@TravelWithKat: Cheat! Only go to countries in same time zone e.g. I’m off to The Gambia soon, same time zone as UK !!
When things don’t go as planned… laugh
Ridiculous situations that are painful at the time but hilarious later are a dime a dozen with travellers. Somehow it just comes with the experience, right? Time zones definitely do their part to confuse us, turn us upside down. It’s either a “I can’t believe this is happening to me” or “Someone kill me now… or show me to the nearest bed.” Have any of these funny time zone mix ups happened to you?
Q5 via @HotelPRGuy: What’s your most hilarious time zone confusion situation?
@iamfrafuga: Spending half of every phone conversation with my mum trying to explain what time it was where I was & why.
@GuestHouseIntl: Tried to order a beer when I landed in LA from Miami….it was only 9am, they looked at me very strangely!
@chandalier: Figuring out I was going to arrive in Honolulu before I’d left Auckland. I had two Fridays, but lost a day going back.
@earthXplorer: Waking up, showering, getting ready to go, walking outside, realizing it was 3am.
@alixjasmine: When you change your clock and don’t realise it’s already been done automatically so you end up being off anyway.
@25travels: Checking in 7 hours early for a flight.
@robglaws: On Trans-Siberian, everything runs on Moscow time: bar, locals and buffet car. We were hitting the vodka, they were going to bed!
Share your funny time zone mix ups? Have any of your own secrets to fighting jet lag?
Travel Talk on Twitter takes place weekly on Tuesdays at 9:30 GMT and 21:30 GMT, why don’t you join in? Follow the #TTOT hashtag on Twitter and answer the travel questions that pop up every 10 minutes for an hour. Next week’s topic: How to keep travel in your life if you are NOT a professional nomad.
