If you’re planning to travel this holiday season (or anytime!), you might feel worried about getting good sleep while you’re away. Not sleeping and feeling tired can really ruin your trip. 

Read this blog post for important tips to help you sleep well while you’re flying, staying in the hotel, or traveling internationally - so you can truly enjoy your trip.

Sleep Tips While Flying


Flying Tip #1: Stay Hydrated

It’s very easy to become dehydrated from a day of air travel; both because of the altitude and the recycled air. 

Because of this, it is important to ensure that you increase your liquid intake about 24-48 hours before departure. 

Bring a large water bottle of your own to stay hydrated. 

Flying Tip #2: Always avoid the Red-Eye

It may seem like a good idea at the time as you think you’ll sleep and arrive at your destination ready and raring to go. But the reality is usually very different. The seats are not comfortable, your neck gets sore, there is a lot of environmental noise, and you may be tempted to stay up all night watching the in-flight movies. 

Plus, being on the plane is only a portion of the travel experience. You have to travel to the airport hours in advance, maybe transfer planes, and wait for your luggage. By the time you arrive at your hotel, you’ll have such a sleep debt that it will take you days to recover. 

Flying Tip #3: Avoid Alcohol and Caffeine

It can be tempting to have a couple of glasses of wine on the flight. But just remember to cut out the alcohol at least 2 hours before you’ll want to go to bed or it will interfere with the quality of your sleep. 

Likewise, try not to guzzle large amounts of caffeine to try to stay awake. This, too, will make it harder for you to fall asleep when you are ready for bed. Most people need at least 4 to 6 hours to metabolize caffeine. So keep that in mind when you are thinking about your ideal bedtime when you arrive. 

Flying Tip #4: Time Your Meals 

Food is another thing to consider while traveling. Eating a big meal too close to when you want to fall asleep will impact your night. Try to shoot for no food at least 2 hours before you want to sleep. 

Chamomile tea right before bed can be an effective sleep aid. Also, the scent of lavender is a natural sleep enhancer. Try carrying a lavender candle, a scented facemask, or some essential oil. 

Flying Tip #5: Naps 

Short naps during the day can be helpful in paying back some of the sleep debt acquired during the travel day or poor sleep at night. Try to keep these naps in the early afternoon so they don’t impact the sleep pressure needed before bed. It’s also wise to keep them to about 30 minutes. This will rejuvenate you, but won’t let you slide into deep sleep, which can affect nighttime sleep.

Sleep Tips In The Hotel


Hotel Tip #1: Travel Prepared 

Odd sounds and inconvenient light are two of the biggest sleep-robbing culprits in a hotel. There are a few things you should pack to eliminate distractions and make your nights far more comfortable. 

It’s worth investing in a decent light-eliminating eye mask; one that you’ve practiced using for at least a week before your flight so you are comfortable sleeping with it on. 

Or travel with black electrical tape and a small pair of scissors. Once you’ve turned out the lights for the night, you can block out any and all other small things that emit light, like the phone or the TV. 

To prevent noise interruptions, bring along some earplugs or, if noise is a huge issue for you, consider investing in a portable white noise machine to block out unwelcome sounds. 

Hotel Tip #2: Pick A Quiet Room 

Some parts of the hotel can be quieter than others. For a good night's sleep, try requesting a room on a higher floor, away from the elevators. This should help block out street noise and foot traffic. And don’t forget to put out the “Do Not Disturb” sign! 

Hotel Tip #3: Stick to your Bedtime Routine 

The excitement of travel can leave your mind buzzing when it’s time to go to sleep. It’s important to stick to your bedtime routine as closely as you possibly can while you travel. 

Your body and brain are deeply in tune with this cueing system, so it will help calm down and signal the body that nighttime sleep is near. 

Sleep Tips For International Travel


International Travel Tip #1: Melatonin
 
Melatonin, or an over-the-counter sleep aid, can be helpful for the first night or two upon arrival or return, especially if you feel yourself also getting stressed out about potential sleep disruptions. 

International Travel Tip #2: Jet lag

Select a flight that allows early evening arrival and stay up until 10 p.m. local time. If you must sleep during the day, take a short nap in the early afternoon, but no longer than one sleep cycle (90 minutes). Set an alarm to be sure not to oversleep. 

Upon boarding the plane, change your watch to the destination time zone. 

Avoid any heavy exercise close to bedtime when you arrive. 

Try to get outside in the sunlight whenever possible but preferably at the noon hour when the sun is at its strongest. Daylight is a powerful stimulant for regulating the biological clock. 

At least two hours before your bedtime, close down the black out blinds, and block out as many light sources as you can. Avoid watching screens at least one hour before bed. 

Bring elements or objects from home like a picture of the family, favorite pillow, blanket or even a coffee mug to ease the discomfort of being in a new environment. 

Most importantly: Be Patient.

Even if you do all of the above, jet lag will affect us all. The best thing to do is to try to stay calm. Stressing about your jet lag will just make it worse. So trust that your body is doing everything it possibly can to work with you and get you on track as soon as possible. 

It usually takes 3 to 5 days for our body clocks to come around. That is because it can take up to a day for each time zone crossed to adjust to the local time. 

Traveling several time zones to the east causes worse jet lag than flying the same number of time zones west. Although the precise mechanism isn’t known, it probably reflects the greater difficulty of advancing rather than delaying the body’s internal clock. 

Just remember that a few nights of poor sleep is not the end of the world, and you’ll find that you do just fine during your days and are still able to enjoy your trip.

If you’re struggling to sleep normally while you’re flying, staying in the hotel, or traveling internationally, these sleep tips can help you.

But if sleep is a problem for you throughout the entire year, I can help you figure out what’s causing your sleep issues and how to fix them inside The Complete Sleep Solution program.