danielonn

I flew to Thailand from SFO to Incheon and then to Bangkok and from Saigon to Manila then to SFO and had zero jetlag. I took very little melatonin and stated up to a reasonable bedtime.
My eturn flight got in at 8:05 PM we were home by 10 and I went to bed and woke up at 6 AM.

​​​​​​Yes I am 39 but some friends my age got bad jetlag. I was lucky to have rhe row to myself to ICN and from Saigon to MNL and to SFO. There was no one in the middle from Incheon to Bangkok in Economy.

I was able to sleep on the plane both ways. A 16 hour time shift was very easy just a medium cold on the return. I was healthy for the entire trip with my Parents.

Steve Weagant

Individuals have different experiences. On my first trip to England in 1988, when I was 22, I experienced jet lag. I was traveling with a group and groggy when we got on the bus to go to London. Then, the next thing I knew, I was waking up in the middle of London. I had taken at least a 60-minute nap. I remember our British tour guide commenting that I "had a bit of jet lag." I had taken no precautions on this trip. On subsequent trips with preparation, I still struggled with jet lag.

Bandicoot

True - and I might add the experience of a single individual can be different at different times. I have sometimes experienced severe jet lag for 2-3 days (unable to sleep much at night, falling asleep during the day) on trips US → Asia, but other times have had little to no jet lag. I can't pin down all the factors that might be responsible, in terms of how rested I was, general stress level around the circumstances of the travel, diet, etc. Only two things seem to have some real effect in alleviating or avoiding jet lag for me:

1 - Exposure to plenty of daylight / sunlight early in the day at the destination to help re-sync my brain early in the day
2 - Some melatonin at night (bed time) to help sync the onset of sleep

Plenty of coffee during the day will help to stay awake, but I don't know if this double-edged sword might also be counterproductive in worsening the quality of sleep, or preventing sleep, at night.

I've seen all the tips about having a high-protein breakfast, or exercising early in the day, etc., but I haven't found those to have much of an effect for me.

YVR Cockroach

Wait another 10 or so years. It'll catch up with you.

And then slow (and hopefully luxurious) surface transport will be the way to go.

moondog

I can't imagine this conversation is going to be materially different from the other 10 times we've had it, but I suppose it's been a while, so I'll jump in.

Yeah, as I have gotten older, the way jetlag affects me, its triggers, and my mitigation rules have evolved quite a bit.

Interestingly, I've discovered that seat comfort has far less of an impact than other more fundamental things.

On that note, following are some scenarios that I try my best to avoid.

1. More than ~22 hours continuous travel time. So, if a 30 hour itinerary looks fine to me, I might still bite, but only after I insert a true stopover outside of the airport.

2. Double red eyes (e.g. arrive in SFO at 5p and then jump on a 10p flight to BOS). Just like #1, I can potentially amend these using a stopover, but it's usually easier to just book something else.

3. Early morning arrivals followed by more flying. I'm a little flexible about this one, but arriving in Taipei at 430a isn't so bad if I'm staying in Taiwan, but the last thing I want to do at that juncture is wait around the airport and get on another airplane.

Moving onto my proactive measures:

1. Eating and drinking well/properly during travel is really important for me, and I can't rely solely on airlines, airports, and hotels to cater to my specific needs (I learned about this during COVID when lots of airlines scales waaaay back on their offerings). Now, I come armed with a warchest of snacks and supplements that have various effects.

2. Eating before flying might be smarter than eating on the plane. I used to subscribe to the "this airplane ticket costs as much as a small car and it includes food ---> I must eat as much as possible" school of thought. While I still enjoy eating on airplanes, especially when I'm not tired, if I have a chance to eat nice food in the airport, I increasingly avail of it. The result is that when I get to my seat on the airplane, my body is already in a happy state.

3. Sleeping aids are effective for me and alcohol in moderation isn't so bad. This is usually a button issue in our jetlag threads here. I don't see much point in relitigating it, but I will say that it's something I've optimized over time, including learning what doesn't work or what constitutes "too much".

4. I don't really try to force or trick my body in recovering faster than it wants to on its own. We've also debated this subtopic quite a bit and I know all about sunlight, exercise, various types of stimulants/stimulation. But, I've pretty much come around to the idea of accepting that I'm going to be out of whack for two or three days, so maybe I'll take naps or be wide awake during odd hours. This honestly doesn't materially hurt anyone (e.g. those factories we need to visit are still going to be there three days from now).

5. I decline longhaul travel unless my rules can be accommodated. I suppose some of you might regard this as an overly entitled or privileged stance, but I place more value on my health, happiness, and well being than on clients' business needs.

TravelDream

I think I am pretty lucky not to be majorly affected by jet lag. Even though I don't really sleep on planes/ when actually traveling so usually have a fair sleep deficit.

I do have some general rules though. Some of these go against what others above state, but I find they work well.
It's always better to arrive at fairly late at night so you can go home/ to the hotel and straight in to bed.
Transits are best avoided. Especially long ones unless you book a hotel and stay at the transit location for a night or two.
If you arrive during the day, take a quick power nap with three alarms set (though i am a regular napper throughout the year so maybe this is easier for me). If you arrive around dinner time, eat dinner and go out as normal. It's most important to get on local time immediately.
Always drink plenty of fluids and try to eat as healthily as possible.
Try to exercise as much as possible. I am up at least once an hour in flight. If doing a transit, I give myself a tour of the terminal. If arriving at a hotel late, I go for a walk around the block before bed.