Monday, November 5, 2007

Jetlag, Being in a Timeless World

You are sitting. Arms irritate your own. Not enough room. Too much time. Yet there really is no time here. Sitting in this bubble of air, flying thousands of feet over an invisible land cause clouds have covered them now beneath you. Yes. There is no time here. You`re traveling through so many different time zones, you`re not sure what time really is anymore. Neither does your body. We are beings of habit. Repetition. Our body takes cues from that. Normally we get up in the day, go to work be productive, come home relax and go to bed at night time. This schedule your body knows well and prepares for each segment of the day. With traveling via an airplane though it can mess everything up, even if you traveled through only ONE time zone it can disturb your body`s normal clock.

So how do we fix this? How are we able to trick our body into notbelieving we are in a different time zone? As I`m sure you and anyone who travels often, jet lag is no small thing to worry about. It can literally ruin first encounters. It makes you more irritable, tired, disturbed, and all-around uptight. Even vacations are ruined if a physician`s general rule of thumb could be believed.

Under one physician`s generalization,Ph.D Charles E. Ehret, "Basically, the rule of thumb is that after you land, it takes one day to recover for each time zone you go through." Imagine that. If you travel internationally you could be suffering more then fifteen days worth of jet lag such as between New York and Japan. Have no fear though, minor changes can have major effects.

Here are some tips for your avid travelers or casual voyager. Get sleep before your flight so you`re well rested and consistent with your usual sleeping patterns. Exercise on the plane (Trust me I`m not a health freak I`m just telling the truth, walking up and down in the aisles of the plane, stretching in the back, get your muscles looses helps amazingly to counter jet lag.) Don`t drink the in-flight alcohol (Seriously not a health freak.), it`s a very dry air bubble that you`ll be traveling in for the next few hours so drinking alcohol will only inhibit you more. It will make you thirstier and more irritable, and dehydration worsens jet lag just by itself. That desert air plane does not need your help! The most important tip here is to make sure when you get to your destination you try to arrive at night time (Destination`s night time), and try to go bed at the same time as you do at your home. Your body will thank you being able to sync with the new time zone easier, and you will thank it, trust me.

You will.

Happy travels!

By: Gregory Elfrink
Edited By: Bruce A. Tucker

About the Author:
Gregory Elfrink is a freelance writer for and Bruce A. Tucker is the Associate Director of http://www.Indocquent.com. http://www.Indocquent.com is an online resource that allows businesses and individuals to post their products and services for sale and hire in 20,000 cities throughout 200 countries around the world.


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