Jet lag is a condition that many seasoned travellers have learned to live with, and just a few have learned to beat. While it is certainly true that jet lag can be minimized, it is not always possible to avoid it completely. Taking this idea a step further, there is also no doubt that some flights are more likely to result in jet lag than others.
New York to London
One notorious flight that travellers talk about is the one between New York and London. There are only five time zones involved, but that's enough to cause anxiety, irritability, nausea, both extreme tiredness and insomnia, as well as various gastric problems in men and women of all ages, and in children.
Let's assume the flight leaves at 6.20pm and arrives at 6.20am the next morning. London is ahead of New York by five hours, so when you left, it was already 11.20pm in London. When you get there it is only 1.20am in New York. This means that you have effectively lost five hours. These hours have gone, never to be recaptured unless you travel back to New York on the same route. Even if you manage to fall asleep soon after the aeroplane takes off, and sleep for eight hours as you would at home, your body is going to be confused because of the time you haven't lived through.
Los Angeles to London
Another notorious flight is the one between Los Angeles and London. Like the New York to London flight you are travelling east, which definitely has more impact on the body. When you fly east, you have to stay awake for a lot longer than when you fly west – which probably has something to do with flying against the sun rather than with it.
An example of the LA-London route: departure time is 4pm (that's midnight in London). Arrival time is 10am (2pm the previous day back home). By the time you get to bed it's going to be 12 later than you normally would – in real hours, that is (if you normally go to bed at 10pm). You have lost time, and it is sleep time that you have lost. Of course you could crash as soon as you get to London, but then you'll be awake in the middle of the night. So rather stay awake. A good way to do this is to get as much sunlight as possible. At night our brains make melatonin that controls our wake-sleep rhythms. This doesn’t happen during the day. So, ironically, if you can stay awake, you will probably be able to restore your body's normal rhythms more quickly.
But back to the LA-London route. Travelling westwards you might leave London at 10am and arrive in LA at around 1pm (while it's already 9pm in London). That shouldn't be nearly as difficult because you'll only go to bed about nine hours later than usual. And we all do that from time to time.
London to Sydney
Flying from London to Sydney is another even more notorious flight. In this case you will pass through 10 time zones, because Sydney is 10 hours ahead of London. You may, therefore be forgiven for feeling as if your body is still in the UK even though you have landed on Australian soil
In general the more time zones you travel through the worse jet lag will be. So take this into account when you book your next flight.
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