Jet Lag

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Travel

Sure, running out of milk for your cereal, hangnails, and single-spaced papers are terrible, but is there anything truly worse than a poorly planned trip? The one you envisioned flawlessly in your mind, but everything that could have gone wrong seemed to? I have been there. Organizing an enjoyable trip or vacation takes serious inspiration and, more importantly, useful planning resources. In attempts to avoid fake tours, dirty hotels, and wasted days, I want to share a few of my favorite travel-related websites that aid in creating the adventure you crave and deserve.

1. Student Universe

For those looking to save some money, Student Universe is your site. This travel company caters to students and provides discounted rates on flights, trains, hotels, and tours. While most people use the website for their flights, make sure to check out their “Tours” and “Activities” tabs to help in creating a fun itinerary. To get access to these perks from Student Universe, all you have to do is create an account and verify you are a student.

It’s easy! Now that you’ve grabbed cheaply priced tickets, it’s time for the nitty gritty details.

2. Airbnb

When I traveled to Panama I stayed in the heart of Panama City in a beautiful apartment in the artsy and historic Casco Viejo neighborhood. The home was stunning with 2-stories, ceramic tile, a balcony with a view, and impeccable decorating. Staying in an apartment was much more economical and enjoyable than staying in a hotel. Using Airbnb prospective travelers can search through various styles and sizes of houses, apartments, and bedrooms to rent from locals during their trip. The spaces belong to owners who have been thoroughly screened and reviews are posted on the site for each owner.

I highly recommend browsing Airbnb’s housing options before looking for hotels because they are cheaper and provide you with an authentic feel during your vacation. If you want to save some money and cook food, you can do that. If you want to stay in for a night and listen to the sounds of the street, you can do that, too!

3. National Geographic Travel

When planning my next journey, I also check by National Geographic’s online travel section. Aside from the awe-inspiring photography covering every inch of the website, the travel section has a huge database of itineraries, destinations, restaurant recommendations, and so much more. You can search by trip type, country, city, and even theme.

If you are choosing between destinations, I would recommend using the photographs and articles written on this website to narrow your options. It’s National Geographic, so you’ll inevitably feel your wanderlust increase ten-fold.

4. Jet Lag Rooster

Finally, a messed up sleep schedule can surely disrupt a vacation, so try using this website to learn how to avoid it! Just type in your departures and arrival cities, and the Rooster will give you suggestion times of when to sleep during your flight and the few days after. No longer will you be wide awake at 4:30 am and ready to pass out at 3pm, thanks to this neat site!

Image: Flickr

food 2 - b
CultureTravel

For the past week, I’ve been recovering from my jet lag from traveling on a couple of connecting international flights. While my body is coping with the time zone changes, my palate has been quite accustomed to zesty flavors I savored back in my motherland: India. I spent six weeks in the city of Bangalore and put my gustation skills to the test. I ventured through the city and found obscure, arcane locations of some of the best food I have ever had. Let’s take a look, shall we?

Perhaps the most basic of all places to start is on the street. No matter what road you decide to take a stroll on, there will be plenty of fruit vendors to satisfy your appetite. There was a guava vendor quite close to my residence in India. I was completely addicted and besotted by his fresh and verdant supply of tropical fruits. Here’s a picture of some of the guava I cut up:

Quite delicious, am I right? These are full of vitamins and goodness. The pink on green color blocking also adds to the fruit being irresistible. Just make sure you wash your fruit, though. Roadside fruit have had flies sit on top of them all day. Hygiene always comes first!

Let’s move on to another type of roadside fruit: coconut. You do not necessary eat the coconut, but you can get fresh coconut water from a street vendor. Your papillae will literally bathe in sweet ambrosia, if you will. The best part about this is that the vendor will cut open the coconut for you and give you a free straw. What better way is there to cool off on a humid day?

Well, now I’m going to wean off the healthy part of this article and get straight into some chocolaty goodness. Agarwal Bhavan in Mathikere (a district in Bangalore) offers some of the best cake in the world. Just take a look at this one:

There’s something different about Indian cakes…they do not taste like the cake I have had in America. I cannot pinpoint what that difference is, though. It may be the eggless batter used for the large vegetarian population in India or it could be a sensation from tasting food in my country. Either way, a discrepancy surely exists.

Let me tell you about a few other dishes I relished at the Agarwal Bhavan. They are called chaats, and they are spicy little snacks with vegetables and various toppings. Two of my favorite chaats are pani puri (pani meaning water in Hindi) and masala puri. You basically encounter puffed or hardened fried dough drenched in spicy mixture of ginger, garlic, chili powder, and mango powder. Frankly, I think these little side trips to heaven were my favorite part of Bangalore!

Now that we’ve gone over fruits, snacks, and desserts, I think it’s time to get into the main course of the meal. For the best vegetarian food at a reasonable price, head to the Priyadarshini Vegetarian Restaurant in Yeshwantpur (another district in Bangalore). I recommend to you the naan, a flatbread drizzled with light butter and cilantro, and the butter paneer. Truly, this was a match made in heaven…I mean, just look at the photo!

With all this food waiting for you in Bangalore, you really cannot go wrong visiting. Your taste buds will be titillated beyond belief. You’ll always have company, as these places tend to be crowded, but that’s only because they’re amazing eateries.

Do you have any favorite foods from places you’ve visited? Remember, tasting different cuisines is also a great way to get to know another culture. You can learn how different people live just by seeing and experiencing what their diet consists of. I encourage you, like I do in every article, to learn about different cultures. Food is just one way to get started!

Fly
SkillsTravel

The jet lag struggle is real. Jet lag is a temporary sleep disorder that occurs when you cross two or more time zones. When we travel quickly and go from one time zone to another in a short time frame, the rhythm of our biological clock is thrown off. Jet lag can be overwhelming, exhausting, and frustrating, especially when all you want to do is get out and explore new cities and sights. Instead of sitting around in a hazy state of mind, use these tips to prevent and get over jet lag during your travels. This is the time to seize your youth and explore new cultures, landmarks, languages, and to meet new people. You’ve come this far and traveled great distances; you want to make the most of your time traveling. Don’t let your valuable time be monopolized by jet lag.

Pre-Trip Prep

Make Small Adjustments

Figure out what time it is in the country you will be traveling to. A week before you leave for your trip, start slowly adjusting to that time zone. Go to sleep earlier or wake up earlier and schedule your meals for later or earlier in the evening. Small adjustments like this will get your body used to doing things a bit differently, so when you are all of a sudden functioning to a new clock you won’t experience as much shock. When you advance or delay your body clock ahead of time, studies show that you will adjust faster and can reduce the effect of jet lag.

Hydrate

This is just good advice for every day of your life. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. While you can’t bring liquids through security, as soon as you make it to the other side, purchase a big bottle of water or fill your water bottle up. Planes can be very dehydrating, and you don’t want to have to wait for the drink cart to roll past to get your fill of H20.

Use Plane Time Wisely

If you are traveling somewhere far away, use this long plane ride to catch up with the time zone you are flying into. As soon as you sit down in your seat, set your watch. If where you’re going is midnight, sleep on the plane so when you arrive in the morning you feel fresh and awake. Use a sleep mask and earplugs if the light and noise bothers you.

If you need to sleep on the plane, avoid caffeine and sugar as best you can. If it’s the daytime, even if you are tired, try your best to stay awake and keep yourself busy. Get up and walk up and down the aisles and stretch. You can sleep when you arrive, since it will then be nighttime.

During the Trip

Make Wise Food Choices

During the first couple of days of your trip, make wise food choices. Your body will already be trying to catch up with a different time zone and won’t be metabolizing as efficiently, so go easy on spicy foods and large meals in the evening.

Prepare Your Room

Before you drift off to sleep, prepare your hotel, hostel, guest room in a way that will be conducive to a great night’s rest. Shut down your electronics and television an hour before bedtime, close the curtains or blinds, dim the lights, turn the temperature down if you can, wash up and get ready for sleep, and get cozy in bed with a book, magazine, or your gratitude journal.

Schedule Activities

When you are exhausted and feeling jet lagged on a trip, it is unbelievably tempting to just sleep until you feel awake and ready to explore. However, this temptation might get the best of you, one hour turns into five, and then all of a sudden your day of exploring is gone. If you purposely schedule activities at times you want to try to stay awake, you can mentally adjust faster than if you know you have the entire day free. Scheduled activities are a great way to keep you going because you are held accountable for paying and showing up.

Get Moving

Try to exercise as much as you can when you travel. By keeping your body active, you’ll feel much more alert and ready for the day. Exercise first thing in the morning or when you feel sluggishness coming on midday. It can be as simple as walking the block a few extra times, slipping a jump rope into your suitcase, or doing some push-ups and crunches on the floor. Anything to get your heart rate up will be sufficient.

Enjoy a Breakfast of Champions

Start your day with a breakfast of champions. Water, protein, and fruit are great breakfast staples. Don’t forget to try some of the local food if you’re abroad. Just because you’re not hungry now (maybe back home it’s the middle of the night), try to get something in your system so you can start the day on an energetic note. Live by the rules of the time zone you are in.

How do you prevent and overcome jet lag?

Image: Picjumbo