It’s been awhile since we’ve done a travel tip — but here’s one to help those of you who may be traveling to far flung places this summer: My (almost) foolproof strategy for battling jet lag, including a secret formula for falling asleep on the road.

Pink’s Travel Tips — Intro
Pink’s Travel Tips — Tip #1
Pink’s Travel Tips — Tip #2
Pink’s Travel Tips — Tip #3
Pink’s Travel Tips — Tip #4
Pink’s Travel Tips — Tip #5
Pink’s Travel Tips — Tip #6
Pink’s Travel Tips — Tip #7
Pink’s Travel Tips — Tip #8

17 Responses to “Pink’s Travel Tip #9 — A few techniques for avoiding jet lag”

  1. That was epic, Dan. I love your secret on how to instantly go to sleep. Literally laughing out loud…and I’m pretty sure that works 100% of the time as well.

  2. Chris Sweeney says:

    Dan, sorry I missed you in Japan. I should have caught it on your schedule. Next month, we are headed back to the U.S. after serving three years at Yokota Air Base, Japan. You advice is excellent and will be followed. Thanks again for the signiture card and of course the books. I have to replace Johnny Bunko because of sharing it so much I lost track who has it. Continue safe travels.
    Chris

  3. Sue Reddel says:

    Good advice, love the Economist as an over-the-counter sleep remedy, hysterical. I just got back from Dubai, my jet lag has been minimal. I’ve heard you should try to stay awake when coming back which I had no problem doing with the 3 million screaming and crying children accompanying me on my Royal Jordanian flight. Good times. Love your travel tips. See you next time you’re in Chicago.

  4. Chris Ungar says:

    For me (not an international traveler), I have the most difficult going from west to east. My cure? Take a red eye, and stay awake at your destination ’till your “normal” bedtime. Works every time.

  5. Tom Catalini says:

    Dan,

    Glad to see you have revived the travel tips series… kind of eerie that our posts coincided today….

    Tom

  6. Mike Brewer says:

    Dan,

    I am heading to Scotland in a few weeks and your travel tips were tremendously helpful! I don’t have a copy of The Economist so I will take some of my Education Policy reading with me instead. The security checkpoint tip is spot on and I am off to pick up the bacitracin right after I finish posting this.

    Thanks!

    Mike

  7. Dan O'Connor says:

    Excellent stuff. I thought for a second you were going to whip out “Drive” or something and self-deprecatingly say “yeah, this’ll have you asleep in seconds!”

    Very natsukashii seeing and hearing Narita Airport. Family there tell me it’s excruciatingly hot right now – hope it wasn’t too hellish.

  8. Kaz says:

    Wow!
    Thank you for showing DRIVE Japanese edition!

  9. Mary Wiseman says:

    Dan, Love, love, love your travel tips. I’ve used ’em all, except the ‘instantly-go-to-sleep tip’. Seems like a good plan thou. I would add one more tip: hydrate!! Airplanes are very dry- I might suggest 6-8oz of water per hour in flight. Oh, and alcohol-probably not a good idea…it messes with the body’s systems. Travel safely!

  10. Bruce Howard says:

    Dan, all the travel tips are great. I hate to admit this, but I’d discovered the “Benadryl + Economist” trick on my own…at home!

  11. Jeff Gaus says:

    As an avid reader of The Economist, usually at bedtime, I laghed out loud when watching your travel tips. Before I saw the ending, I thought you were going to say a college textbook.

  12. Natalie Rivera says:

    Thanks for the tips. I’ve followed them on a recent trip and they really helped.

  13. LOL… love the economist plug!

  14. Carol says:

    Good luck trying to sleep when it’s dark if you’re at a high latitude in the summer. Once I sprang out of bed in Stockholm in May, thinking I would be horribly late to a 10 AM meeting…it was 3:30. (The reverse is true in winter. When you go from dark gray to light, it’s hard to wake up.)

    Regardless, eyeshades are your friends.

    But I’ve gotta try the Benadryl + Economist trick! Ambien is a mixed bag on my end.

  15. JLK says:

    Malatonin and an overnight laxative at bedtime and exercise first thing in the morning after arriving at the destination is my solution.

  16. ET says:

    Order the fruit option instead of standard, reheated airplane meal. Refreshing vitamins instead of salt & sugar.

    Light only works as long as you don’t travel too far from the equator. If you go north in the summer it’s never very dark, if you go in the winter it can be dark almost all day….

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