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Opinion: Leaping over eight time zones in a single day is a modern problem. Nothing in human evolution prepares us for this.
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The only thing that rivals hangover remedies are jet lag remedies. There’s actual science available on both, but that doesn’t seem to reduce the amount of folklore that swirl around the topics.
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It’s been a long time since I required hangover advice. I’ve never been much of a drinker, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t had my share of grim mornings-after. The “hair of the dog” antidote was always the chief nugget of misinformation on offer the “day after the night before”. A close second was the prescription of black coffee at its most malevolent level of caffeination. According to medical authorities, however, nothing really works except sleep, time, and constant hydration. Well, that, and rueful reflection.
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Jet lag is another topic where people have advice. Leaping over eight time zones in a single day is a modern problem. Nothing in human evolution prepares us for this. If you’ve ever wondered just how many people on any given day are up in the air, aviation market analysts put that number at between 10 million and 15 million people, with a chart-topping 153,359 commercial flights taking off within a 24-hour period on July 23 of this year, according to Flightradar24. Now, not all of these flights are long-haul flights, but it’s fair to say that, at any given moment, there are scores of jet lag zombies out on the streets.
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Sunrise
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Now, think about that for a minute. What’s one of the first things people do when they arrive at an airport? They pick up their rental car. According to the International Journal of Travel Medicine and Global Health, “road travel accidents are the leading cause of death for international travellers”. Their report suggests that jet lag-induced fatigue is responsible for a significant number of road traffic collisions.
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The advice to beat jet lag revolves around tricking your circadian rhythm. Apparently, the savviest travellers start well in advance of take-off by adjusting their bedtimes to suit their destination. The recommendation is to go to bed earlier and wake up earlier for east-bound trips, and later for west-bound travel. You do this over the course of a week or more so that you leave town already on the local time of your destination.
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This seems a tad unrealistic to me. Generally, I use the any time prior to a flight for last-minute panics. This is when I ask myself if two hardcover books is one hardcover book too many? Are rain pants absolutely necessary? Do I have all 17 adaptors and converters so I can charge my devices and blow-dry my hair?
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The hours leading up to departure are used for things like over-watering houseplants, reflecting on the life expectancy of an open jar of mayonnaise, and triple-checking all the doors and windows. Being in bed on Denmark time a week in advance of arrival in Copenhagen is just never going to happen.
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The people who study jet lag advise on eating lightly and avoiding in-flight alcohol. Upon arrival, it’s recommended you get in some light exercise and, if it’s daytime, get some sun on your face so as to help reset your circadian rhythm. Melatonin is often mentioned as a useful tool in creating the chemistry your body needs to induce sleep.
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If, like me, you lurch into international travel, you can expect it’ll take a day for every hour of time zone change to adapt to the new time zone you find yourself in. A two-week trip to Europe will be sandwiched between two weeks of jet lag … but it’s totally worth it, right?
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Jane Macdougall is a freelance writer and former National Post columnist who lives in Vancouver. She writes The Bookless Club every Saturday online and in The Vancouver Sun. For more of what Jane’s up to, check out her website, janemacdougall.com
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This week’s question for readers:
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Question: How do you handle jet lag, or hangovers?
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Send your answers by email text, not an attachment, in 100 words or less, along with your full name to Jane at thebooklessclub@gmail.com. We will print some next week in this space.
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Previous question for readers:
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Question: Has a split second ever made a difference in your life?
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• Has a split second ever made a difference in my life? Nearly every day, for over 40 years. I was a photojournalist, mostly for Time-Life. I trained myself to have wide eyes, seeing everything in my field of vision, then focusing on what was key and, critically, timing when I squeezed the shutter button. That split second was the difference between a nothing photo and a great one. At 86, I still keep eyes wide, even when I’m not making photos. It has saved me from car wrecks and kept me aware of, and a participant in, the world around me. Now I observe people staring at their phones as they walk in public, lost in digital worlds and unconnected to the only real one. Good luck with that.
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Michael Alexander
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• Close calls, I’ve had a few. But the closest one I guess is as follows: I was working on a client site but had to return back to head office. I’m getting close to the office and there is an alley just behind the high-rise building I’m going to. I’m just about to cross the alley when a courier truck came flying out of the alley right in front me, didn’t even think of stopping. I’m a fast walker but, just that once, just slow enough to not get splattered all over the pavement. Is someone/something looking out for me? Luck? Not my time? I don’t know …
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John Smith
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• Recently, at 88, I was pulling buttercup from my backyard, lost my balance and tumbled backwards over a rock retaining wall with boulders below. By some miracle, on my way down I managed to grab ahold of a fern in each hand, leaving me hanging upside down. Nobody in sight. After 15 minutes of calling for help, someone — a nurse — finally answered my calls and came to my rescue. An angel in disguise.
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Sandra Schemmer
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• I was returning home from Seattle to Vancouver travelling Highway 91. In front of me was a small truck with a mattress in the back, not tied down. I realized this could be dangerous and decided to pass it. Just as I pulled out, the mattress came flying at me. I had a split second to react. While the natural impulse would be to brake, somehow I stayed calm and realized if I stepped on the gas, the mattress was still in the air and I could drive under, or at least have it bounce off the top of my car, which it did. I still shudder thinking about what could have happened if the mattress dropped in front of me.
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Valerie Henderson
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• Four years ago, on King Edward Street at Lougheed Highway. I’m on a motorcycle. The light has been green for six seconds. The car in front of me is running the red light at 60-plus kph. The guy behind me caught the scene on his dashcam. It couldn’t have been closer.
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Glen Taylor
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• Parked at Mabel Lake, getting ready for the boat ride to our friends’ cabin, I was standing, leaning in over the passenger seat. My husband, Rick, said, “Yvonne, get in the car.” I looked up, confused. Again, a tone I’ll never forget: “Yvonne, get in the car!” I jumped in. Immediately, the door slammed shut. A truck behind me had backed into us. Rick’s hunch the driver wouldn’t stop saved my legs from being crushed. Miles from medical help, I would have been a goner. Rick will tell you it is the only time I have obeyed him.
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Yvonne Marie Smith
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• Two months ago, I walked up two steps to my front yard, remembered I needed something, did a quick turn, stumbled over my flip flops and fell over the two steps onto the concrete sidewalk below, all in a split second. I broke my right hip and had a partial hip replacement two days later. It has totally discombobulated my beautiful summer.
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Brenda Viney
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• It wasn’t a split second, but three hours after I crossed the St. Petersburg-Tampa bridge in May 1980, it was hit by a tanker and 35 people plunged to their deaths. Close enough to spook me.
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Liz Munro
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