How to Sleep Well While Traveling?

Sleep is one of the essential things that you should consider when traveling. Particularly when you switch time zones, if you lack sleep, you’ll discover that your sleep cycle will be out of sync. This can result in endless yawning during the day and feel restless in the middle of the night.

However, if you’re a frequent flyer, you become desperate on coping up with the changing environment and time zone. You probably experienced waking up in the early dawn, sleeping at airports, and having sleepless nights at the hotel.

Sleep disruptions can be annoying when all you want is to have a power nap. This can leave you feeling exhausted the next day. Moreover, since it can weaken your immune system, exposure to a new location with unfamiliar germs can put your health at risk. So, here’s what you can do to sleep well while traveling:

Pamper yourself

Traveling can take a huge amount of stress in you. Whether you’ve had to cope with a delayed flight or lost your luggage, this can prevent you from having a peaceful night’s sleep. To get rid of this stress, make time to pamper yourself.

Arrange a massage or sign up for a lovely spa package at your hotel to help you get the sleep that you need to make the most out of your trip. Whether you’re traveling for a vacation or for work, spending time some time to treat yourself can make you more productive during the day.

Avoid red-eye flights

Red-eye flights may appear to be only for those people who are scheduled for international flights. Though, there are individuals who chose to book red-eye flights for a domestic destination just to get the most out of their trip.

Except if you have an international trip, it is highly recommended not to opt for red-eye flights. Since the air flight is just a small part tiny part of your trip, this may interfere with your sleep cycle. Moreover, you have to handle baggage claims and hotel transfers. In this way, this most probably the reason for your sleep disturbance.

Skip the alcohol

Due to air and cabin pressure, one drink on the plane is equivalent to two drinks while on the ground. So, you should be aware of how many glasses of wine you’ve already have. Actually, having “nightcap” will not help you fall asleep easier. Instead, it will leave you wide awake.

Many individuals think that drinking a glass of wine with a sleeping pill on international flights can help, however, this can make you disoriented. Hence, it can become hazardous if the aircraft has to land early or has delayed take off on time.

Bring essential oils

If you can’t sleep at night, the trick is to make your vacation bed smells familiar. Before leaving your home, the practice of spraying your pillow with few drops of lavender essential oils for sleep at night. In this way, you can easily mimic this practice when traveling. When your olfactory senses have in contact with scent, your brain will tell you that you don’t have to worry every night.

Why should you choose lavender over other scents? Because for centuries, lavender has been used by people as natural remedies for its soothing characteristics. It’s well-known for its power to alleviate anxiety, clear minds, and instill a sense of peace. Moreover, it smells beautiful.

Bring comforts from home

Traveling can bring you a sense of boldness that you must only pack the thing that you need and leave everything unnecessary behind. However, if you think that you can’t sleep well in an unfamiliar place, you can bring some comfort from your home comforts that could help you get a good night’s sleep. Although it may seem to take a lot of effort, it is definitely worth the extra few pounds.

Having a quality of sleep during your trip can greatly affect everything that you do. Hence, a few added pounds on your backpack can make your trip more enjoyable. It would seem silly if you would take your whole queen bed dimensions with you. Instead, take your favorite pillowcase along with your backpack. Because of your familiarity with the texture and scent, you’ll be able to help you sleep better at night.

Create a sleep schedule plan

Pushing yourself to overcome your lack of sleep could be on the last part of your list during vacation, however, it could be the best way to do it.

Instead, force yourself to be awake until local bedtime by adjusting your eating and workout agendas to the new time zone. According to a few airline members, they allow themselves to take power if they arrived at their destination before. Otherwise, they won’t catch some sleep.

Clearly, this is part of the adjustment. On the first day or two, you’ll feel uncomfortable about the new schedule, but you’ll enjoy the rest of your trip because of this re-syncing. Moreover, create a sleep schedule adjustment plan based on your destination before you leave.

While this may not make a difference with journeys that are oceans apart, it may be effective for those with changes in time zones. Other people have adjusted their sleep schedule a week before their international flight to avoid jet lag.

Eat like a local

Food is one of the factors that can help your body clock adjust to the new place. Eat a small portion of a meal before leaving to simulate the time zone of your destination if it’s still morning there. You could also bring snacks on the plane and avoid heavy in-flight meals.

When you arrived at your destination, start eating a protein-heavy meal at the correct local mealtime on the first day. This will send some indication that your body should adjust to this new mealtime changes.

Choose your usual hotel

One of the reasons why people book with the same hotel in their every trip is because the hotel is offering a loyalty program. Another is that they’re already familiar with it. Because of this, even well-know and prestigious hotels are owned by different franchisees, they strive hard to have a cohesive brand image. This implies that they’re using the same pillow, decors, and even mattresses for all the hotels. Because of this, it can help you adapt faster to your new environment.

Lastly, cool, dark and quiet space is the best environment to sleep in. From mid-range hotels to high-end hotels, some of the hotels are offering blackout curtains to help you sleep during the morning. Also, you can also ask your hotel to relocate you to a quieter room if you need it. Adjusting your thermostat to your ideal sleeping temperature can also help you sleep soundly.

Avoid electronic devices

If you’re trying to sleep on the first night at your hotel, it’s best if you’ll reduce the number of stimuli you’ve got while trying to get some sleep. This means restricting the use of mobile phones, TV, and computers for about one hour to one hour and a half before going to sleep.

Sleeping in while listening to music is all right. However, it’s best to play music that isn’t sidetracking or loud. For example, heavy metal music isn’t the best choice for a playlist to put you to sleep. It can stimulate a few portions of your brain that will prevent you from preparing yourself to doze off.

Remember

Travelling can be surely exciting, especially when you’re off to new places. Before you leave, make sure you’ll get adequate sleep, take frequent stretch breaks, and have healthy snacks to be on top of your game while on the road. If you’re driving for long distances, make a stopover for safer driving and avoid adverse effects of fatigue and sleep deprivation.