When you’re not traveling for long, you can usually avoid jet lag by sticking to your normal routine. Keep your watch set to your ‘home’ time and just do what you’d normally do at home—eating, sleeping, exercise, etc.

Your body won’t even notice the time chance when you do this, and it will readjust without any problems on the way back.

Sleep like a baby

When you’re traveling out of your normal time zone, you’ll want to try to keep to normal bedtimes. And while you might have troubles at first, try to get the same number of hours of sleep per night. This will help your body fall into a new rhythm for the time when you’re away.

Even if you can’t fall asleep right away, try to get into bed and close your eyes until you fall asleep. Eventually your body will pick up the clue and you’ll get all the sleep that you need.

Fill yourself up

Many times jet lag can be made worse by becoming dehydrated on your trip or while you’re headed there on the plane. To combat this you’ll want to make sure that you’re drinking plenty of fluids as you travel—water and juices especially.

Alcohol can dehydrate the body so it should be avoided if you can. And if you’re expected to drink at a business function, just follow each glass with a chaser of water.

Find the rhythm

When you’re headed into areas where the time will change significantly, you want to set your watch when you get there and start following the local hours. You’ll want to eat when you are supposed to eat, sleep when it’s dark, etc.

By changing the routine that you’re used to directly into the new hours, you can help to offset jet lag before it even starts. Follow your new daylight and darkness hours to adjust your circadian rhythms.

When you arrive

One of the best ways to avoid jet lag is to do some form of exercise when you arrive at your destination. This can be as simple as a walk or a few calisthenics in your hotel room. Do a few jumping jacks to get your heart pumping or start touring the town.

When your body gets exercise, it can ‘bank’ the extra energy and help you adapt to changing light conditions.

If you just can’t sleep

When all else fails, you can try a sleeping pill to re-teach your body when to sleep. Normally this isn’t recommended, but when you’re on an extended trip or you have to switch time zones frequently, a sleeping pill can help to give you some rest in order to be alert during the day.

Natural cues

And if the sleeping pill doesn’t appeal to you, you can try aromatherapy.

Find a good travel kits that includes oils that you can smell for energy as well as soothing oils for relaxation, like lavender.

With all of these tips, jet lag will no longer follow you on your next trip.

Travelling is a great fun, but it can be stressful either. The trick to successful and stress-free travel is planning ahead. For example, some people find that the best way to reduce jet lag is to change the time on your watch to suit your destination time while you are still seated on the plane flying there. Then you have to live the rest of your time by the destination time, which means that you should eat and sleep by that time. It will help you get into the swing of things a lot more easily.

Being proactive will reduce the possibility of a serious crisis occurring during your trip. For example, if the person sitting next to you on the plane spills some of his or her dinner over you and you are in your best outfit in order to make a good impression on arrival, you do not have to panic. Just ask the flight attendant for a few bottles of soda water and soak the stain out with a cloth. You should be clean and dry by the time you arrive at your destination.

Life is full of unexpected events. One doesn’t really know what will happen next year, next month even tomorrow. Losing a passports can be a real nightmare when you are abroad, because it is a statutory requirement to carry ID at all times in most countries and a driving licence is not usually enough. In this case, the local embassy or consul can issue you a new one within twenty-four hours, provided that you have the correct details to give him. The minimum you should have when you go for a replacement is your old passport number and a copy of your birth certificate, but it is even better if you have a photocopy of your passport as well.