Using jet lag to my advantage

Some people get affected by jet-lag much more so than others. I have friends that claim that they are not affected by jet-lag at all and I have a hard time believing that. For me, my body tends to remember a certain wake up and go to sleep time of day and if I mess with that even a little bit I start to get cranky and not so much fun to be around.

Just for the people that don't know "jet lag" is when you travel across many time zones to the point where as far as your body is concerned day is night and night is day and therefore you will be seriously tired at 4 in the afternoon because your body thinks it is 4am and vice versa.

On my recent trip from Danang, Vietnam, to southern Mexico I was jumping ahead in time a total of 14 time zones and try as I did to adapt to the new time by sleeping on planes and forcing myself to stay awake, my body simply wouldn't comply for a number of days and I was forcing myself to stay awake until 8pm or so but would still wake up at 1am or something because my body thought it was 2 in the afternoon.

It took me a long time to get over this on the trip from here to Mexico and I even ended up falling ill at least in part because of it.

On the back end, flying from Mexico to Vietnam, I was going back in time 14 hours and basically the same thing happened, but there was a real difference and I have been embracing it.

src

When I first got back here in the afternoon on a Friday, a lot of people were really excited to see me. They didn't know that I had purchased a $60 bottle of tequila that isn't available outside of Mexico. That was just icing on the cake. I'll tell you more about that later.

I planned to meet a bunch of them at my local regular put around 6pm and seriously struggled simply to stay awake until 8pm. I managed to make it to 9 and then was nearly falling asleep at the table. This was stupid and honestly I should have just saved it for another day but you know how people are: They want to party right now.

When I did get home I ordered some food for delivery and for the first time in my life I fell asleep waiting for it to arrive. There are friends of mine that do this on a regular basis but when I did wake up on the sofa in an upright position 2 hours later, there were 4 missed calls and a photo of where the delivery guy has just left my food on the front counter downstairs. Thanks to the security guy for sorting this out and not continuing to disturb me. I did sent a pretty generous tip to the driver because I was a delivery driver in my youth and stuff like this is seriously annoying.

_{Just like when I was in Mexico, I always make it a point to order local delicacies}

it was the very next day, waking up at 4am or so, that i decided to use this jet lag to my advantage. The early morning of Vietnam is actually a wonderful time to be awake. The noise of the city hasn't begun yet and the weather is damn near cold or at least, as close as we get to that here. Also the streets are not busy so I can take Nadi on safe walks as well. The rest of the day you are running the gauntlet if you take a dog into the streets here.

My strategy was that unless I woke up at a time that is truly absurd like 1am, to not go back to sleep. I set my window at 4am or afterwards to just stay awake and embrace the day. Also, even though I am not doing much socializing, if I DO decide to do so, I will not try to stay out late even if the party is going strong. The last few days I have been at home before 7pm and normally in bed and sleeping before 9. It is still a bit of a struggle the rest of the day to stay awake because even though I am now 6 days home, my body clock is still a bit messed up.

On Tuesday for example, after going practice bowling with some friends we went to go have a few beers afterwards. By the time I went home I was completely shattered (not drunk, just tired) and went and lied down on my bed for just a second.... ha! The next thing I know I am opening my eyes and it was 11pm. I forced myself to go back to sleep and woke up at 5am. This is a win in my world because I am not a morning person by default nor am I someone that can just get to sleep naturally very easily. Because of the jet lag I haven't used any sleeping pills and I naturally am waking up refreshed and ready to face the day at a much earlier hour. Of course I can do this because I have an atypical job and don't have any real hours, per se. I can see how this wouldn't be possible for someone with a 9-5 job.

I've been going to the gym and basically getting everything done that I need to get done in a day before noon every day. Then I will watch some Netflix and eat then go to the pub for early happy hour around 4pm. Get home by 6, walk the dog, then get in bed by 8pm.

src

I guess I am living the life of an old person and if anyone wants to dub me as that than so be it. I feel better because of this sleep pattern and that's what it is all about, right?