Jet Lag, Squabbles and Finding Joy
Dave and I have been jet setting all around the world during 2012 and have come to realize that we live in a constant state of jet lag.
We flown to five different continents and thirteen different countries in 2012 alone. This looks amazing on paper. Who wouldn’t want to travel the world and make a living while doing it? However, while we have loved globetrotting around the world, we are also tired, very tired. It hasn’t been good for our health or our relationship.
Perpetual Jet Lag
The problem has been that we spend only short stints at any given location. Last week alone we flew from California to Canada where we had a mere four days to prepare for TBU in Portugal. We had another four days in Portugal before we had to fly to Indiana for five short days before returning to Europe to start a stint here in Girona, Spain.
Now it may seem like we’re complaining, but we love travel and that is why we chose it as our career. We want to spend the rest of our lives jetting off to far off places and sharing our experiences with you, but we wish we could do it without the jet lag.
The Beautiful Town of Girona in Costa Brava
Grumpy in Paradise
We didn’t understand why we are so irritable and grumpy with each other until we stopped to think about our jet lag pattern. We spend the first three to five days in every destination, upset, arguing and exhausted.
We’re tired and frustrated, we’re gaining weight and we feel like we’re on edge every single day. We can’t get into a workout pattern because just as we’re feeling good again, we’re back on a plane for another two days in transit. We never seem to get a direct flight anywhere and we constantly spend our time in airport lounges catching up on work.
Catching up on work in the Airport
When you travel for work, you never have the chance to give into the jet lag. We are up at the crack of dawn working on a presentation, writing a travel blog post or attending a session. We’re heading out on excursions, touring the city and spending our evenings at galas and dinners put on by the destination. We’re being wined and dined and all we can think about is how we should be back at the room working or hitting the gym. We look at the bags under our eyes, the puffiness in our faces and our expanding waistlines and we know that something’s gotta give…but not yet.
Being Wined and Dined at the SATW in Indianapolis
Waiters Carry our Gourmet Meals through the Crowd
Symptoms and Signs of jet lag?
Since we have come to this realization that we spend at least half the time at each destination jet lagged, we’ve decided to give ourselves a break. We now know why we are grumpy and why we are short with each other and why we are so emotional. We know why our metabolisms are slowing down and why we feel stress each and every day for no apparent reason. Jet lag doesn’t just cause fatigue, it also causes anxiety and confusion. Just check out these symptoms we found on MedicineNet.com
Jet Lag: Besides fatigue and insomnia, jet lag can cause emotional and physical ailments such as anxiety, constipation,diarrhea, confusion, dehydration, headache, irritability, nausea, sweating, coordination problems, dizziness, and even memory loss.
We experience at least one of these symptoms at any given hour all day long!
So What’s the Solution
There isn’t a lot we can do about jet lag right now. All we can to is accept. We can accept that we are busy and we can accept that we are going to be emotional and tired for three or four days every couple of weeks. Now that we know what the cause is, we can relax and move on and be happy again.
A few times throughout the year, I thought I was losing my mind. I felt like Sybil. One minute I’d be crying or yelling and the next I’d be laughing and feeling complete contentment. But I’m not Sybil and neither is Dave, we’re just tired two tired people who act a little nuts at the start of every trip and by the time we relax into the time zone and the routine, we’re back to our own selves laughing and feeling the joy of travel again.
Enjoying our Travels Through the USA
Our travels aren’t slowing down any time soon. We are in Spain for the next two weeks before flying to Switzerland for another two weeks. It’s then off to a trip that our readers and Expedia’s fans are choosing for us in November. We are then back to South Africa before our end of the year surprise trip. We’ll be crossing time zones, sleeping on jets and yes, we’ll be tired, emotional and anxious because of our jet lag.
While, we won’t be able to slow down our schedule anytime soon, we now know the cause of our troubles. When we put our foot in our mouths during conversations or when we feel the need to snap at each other or a complete stranger, we will stop, take a breath and realize that we are just tired – Not crazy.
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Could be worse! I think I’m still trying to get over the lost computer/bedbugs/TBU/jet lag that I’ve had for the last two weeks!
Enjoy TBEX!
Oh Cat! I remember your story, you had a tough couple of weeks! Take time to recover girl, we feel for you. Hopefully we’ll meet again soon.
I love to travel but on my own terms. And if I don’t get sleep or exercise I feel pretty darned grumpy and unhealthy too. Maybe in 2013 you will have to carve out down time in your schedule and put it on the calender just like a trip.
Well said Leigh, that’s what we need more sleep and definitely more exercise. We’re trying to work that into our travels already, yesterday before heading back to Barcelona from Girona we forced ourselves up at 6:00 am to finally get that much needed run in. It’s something we need to do more often, CEO’s and business people get up at 4:00 to do it, we can too!
Grab life and what it offers when there’s something up for grabbing. It won’t be there forever. You’re still young. There will be enough time to rest later…. much later perhaps? Just make sure you get enough exercise and you eat the right food. (now I sound like your mom, don’t I?)
Thanks Marlys and I love that you sound like my mom. What I love about both of you is how you say “Enjoy it now and grab life” That’s what my mom says, “Enjoy life Deb” and Dave and I certainly are. Once we recover from Jet lag, we always have so much fun! Big hugs and hopefully we’ll see you again soon.
jet lag is the worst. Staying hydrated on flights help a little! (although I struggle with choosing water over wine, especially when enjoying both means frequent trips to the airplane bathroom!)
Good for you guys for pushing through and living your dreams! Jet lag is totally worth it with the adventures at the other end of each long trip!
Haha, it can be difficult when you see everyone having a glass with dinner, but when you think of the consequences it helps in the decisions process. You are so right! Jet lag is worth all the adventure in the end. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Hi Deb,
The idea of travelling to 13 countries all over the world and making a living off it sure sounds like a romanticized way of living. Sad that it comes with various health related problems that don’t have an immediate fix. Body clocks are primal and we can never get used to such constant harsh changes (well, unless you are a teenager). It’s so nice to see that you are addressing the jet lag problem in a scientific and rational manner. Good luck!
cheers, Priyank
Hi Priyank and you are right, it is a wonderful way to live and I’d hate for it to stop. Now that we know what our problem has been, we’re feeling a lot better. It’s funny how we never really put two and two together. We just kept on travelling and wondering, “why are we arguing so much?” and then we finally said, hey wait, I see a pattern here. We’re going to work on taking it easier when we land so that we can adjust better.
I give you guys a ton of credit – it’s NOT easy to travel constantly like you are and run a mobile business at the same time that requires a lot of time and commitment. Hopefully you can slow down a bit in 2013!
Hi Amanda. I hope that we get to slow down a little as well. Not too much because we do love travelling, but a little. Just enough to get a good workout routine in and to be able to settle into a place for more than a couple of weeks. What we need is to stop criss crossing and have more rhyme and reason to our travels. A nice circular motion would be perfect…ie…Europe for a few months than overland to Morocco and Western Africa and work our way slowly down the continent to the countries we haven’t seen yet. Ah, to dream
I have found people are very unsympathetic to this discussion, i on the other hand am not Jet Lag can feel like the worst flu. As much as I can relate to this, I could go on forever! I will add what works for me crossing time zones for a living as a pilot. Compression socks aid fatigue and and reduce body aches. Laxatives are not an enemy, use as needed. Sleep aids work marvels for adapting to a new time zone. Eating light and staying hydrated are imperative. Good luck to all my fellow travelers.
Hi Chris, thanks for the advice, I haven’t tried sleep aids, I’ll give them a try. You are right, a little help would go a long way to helping you adapt. I am a person who is on the constipation side of things and Dave is the opposite, it’s good to know that laxatives help. I’m going to give them a try after my next flight, because two days after each flight are rough for me, I’m bloated and in pain half the time. All excellent points cheers! PS, I’ve tried compression before years ago, maybe I’ll give them another go, my calves have been killing me during flights… lately was thinking that the other day.
Sometimes, I wonder if there would be a negative health repercussions knowing how your body uncomfortably cope with the constant jet lag because of over long distance travels. Just like the risk of astronauts in space.
I often wonder about flight attendants and pilots. I don’t know how they do it. I am so uncomfortable during flights and they have to constantly work. My skin is dry, my sinuses are dry, my eyes are dry and my body aches. How do they look so well put together and alert after eight hours in the air? It amazes me. I feel the affects and yet they do it for a living day in day out.
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Last year I had a 43 hour journey from Germany to Australia due to changing my plans and ending up stringing together 2 sets of flights. Jet lag started setting in before I even arrived, and while in the Saigon airport getting ready to board my 4th (and luckily final) flight to Melbourne, I had a meltdown because they wouldn’t let me bring a bottle of water, which I purchased after clearing security, onto the plane with me. I ended up making an expensive call to Andy because I was so distraught and I just needed to hear his voice. Jet lag *definitely* makes me an unpleasant, cranky person!
I love the story of Sybil. And we can all relate to that once in awhile! Jet lag is the worst because there really is no cure (preventative measures sure, but no cure) and your internal click is doing flip flops with the 5 transatlantic flights your squeezing into 1 month!!! Hope you can relax more on your two week stats!
It’s funny how the grass is always greener on the other side – when you’re at home/work, all you want to do is be on the road, and when you’re traveling constantly, you just want to veg out on the couch watching TV! Oh well. Hopefully you guys can make it through the next few weeks/months of traveling and then slow down a bit!
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Hello Deb and Dave! I totally know what you are talking about with the constant jet lag. For the past 48 days I have been traveling Europe with my mother and sister, and we traveled in a similar fashion of quick stops and lots of transit. We were often grouchy and argued more than I would have wished, and I thought it was just the stress of traveling. I had never even considered the emotional toll of jet lag. I wish I had known to think of that at a contributor to our stress. Thanks for the heads up and information. It is something I will certainly keep in mind in future travels. Knowledge of where stress comes from is one of the best ways to control it!
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