My friend photographer Blaine Harrington III just returned from an extensive trip to South Africa. Upon his return, he posted a lengthy message on Facebook that I thought was very useful. I asked if I could reprint his remarks here and he generous agreed.
By Blaine Harrington III
I was asked by several of you about jet lag, after returning from South Africa, flying from Johannesburg-Atlanta (17 hour flight), a two hour layover in Atlanta and a 3 hour flight from Atlanta-Denver (22-1/2 hours elapsed time from first takeoff to final landing). I used to be hard hit by jet lag years ago. Now I do a number of things to try to counter it’s effects.
First, I read a book called “Overcoming Jet Lag” which details a program that had been devised for Pres. Reagan, U.S. Army Rapid Deployment Forces and CEO’s. The premise of the book is that our circadian rhythm is what is effected by jet lag. This controls our body temperature, respiration, when we get sleepy, go to the bathroom, when we eat. The effects on us are different depending on how many time zones we change and whether we are traveling east or west. The body actually does better going west bound and lengthening our day, than east bound and shortening it. I had the biggest problems flying from NY to London or Europe, as the flight is relatively short and you have to get up and get off the flight when it is still the middle of the night (East Coast time).
I can see that this topic could get quite lengthy, so I’ll try to hit the key points.
1. I follow the book’s instructions on stopping and starting caffeine intake (coffee, tea, chocolate) in advance of traveling. This “reboots” your system. Caffeine has a big effect on your body clock.
2. I take homeopathic anti-jet lag tablets (No Jet Lag or Jetzone) during the trip (about every 2 hours except when sleeping).
3. The whole reason I do all of this is that I do not have time to be jet-lagged when I’m on intensive, quick paced trips where I need to get right to work as soon as I land. If I arrive in the day, I get outside and get on my feet right away. I stay active. Do not wear sunglasses that day at all (flood your brain with light). I do not nap. Stay up until 10 p.m. or so. I use Ambien both on long flights to sleep and to sleep the first nights when I arrive.
4. According to the book’s instructions I have coffee again when it tells me to, but usually the first real morning after sleeping in a hotel.
5. I find longer flights are better than shorter flights. I sometimes fly west to LA (from Denver) to take a longer flight to Europe or Dubai (for example) than flying to NY and taking a shorter flight. By the time the plane gets up in the air the actual flying time isn’t significant. But I prefer (particularly if I’m traveling in business class) to allow myself enough time to enjoy the flight, have meals, watch movies and still try to get 6-8 hours of sleep) rather than doing all of that and not having time for a good sleep.
The most radical time difference for me from where I live is traveling to India. India is exactly 1/2 way around the world from Denver. (When it is not DST the time difference is 12-1/2 hours). Day literally is night. Breakfast is dinner. When you sleep is completely flipped. Using all of these steps and staying busy I am normally fully adapted within a few days and have no ill effects. Without doing these things it could take a week to regulate.
This kind of stuff is especially hard on flight crews, executives who travel long distances on quick trips and sports teams (also shift workers who work swing and night shifts). Some teams, etc. who travel quickly in and out of a location don’t even go on local time as it can be too much trouble to try to change over.
