The start of the warm weather and longer days means many of us are looking to plan our summer breaks. But with Covid 19 still not such a distant memory, many of us will be out of practice with travelling abroad, so there are a few things you may need reminding of, particularly when it comes to how holiday travel can impact your sleep.

However far you’re flying this summer, this article has all the information you need to ensure that bad sleep doesn’t ruin your summer getaway.

How travel can disrupt your sleep

While travel brings exciting experiences and memories, it can also bring potential problems when it comes to your sleep.

Travel Fatigue

A common problem for a lot of people is travel fatigue, with symptoms ranging from exhaustion and headaches to sleep loss and general discomfort.

Things that can make travel fatigue more likely to occur are:

• Fear of flying
• Anxiety about the up and coming journey
• Motion sickness
• Travel delays
• Stress surrounding packing or time keeping
• Long days of travel.

Ultimately, anything that puts a strain on your mental and physical robustness can lead to travel fatigue so causing disruptions to your quality of sleep.

Jet Lag

Jet Lag is usually associated specifically with long distance travel. Crossing numerous time zones can impact your circadian rhythm resulting in a misalignment with the local time zone, making it more difficult for you to fall asleep at night. In severe cases, Jet lag can also lead to reduced physical and mental performance, daytime sleepiness and gastrointestinal problems.

While jet lag tends to last for a few days, it can persist for up to a few weeks and is usually more severe when travelling from West to East.

How to sleep better when you travel

These sleep problems can be reduced or avoided altogether and improve your travel experience plus protect your sleep health when travelling abroad.

1. Give yourself plenty of time in the airport, keep children on a consistent sleep schedule, and plan your travel effectively.
2. Avoid drinking alcohol on your flight, and stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water both before and during your journey.
3. If you’re travelling overnight, try and get some sleep on the plane. When you arrive at your destination, you should set your watch and other devices to that location’s time zone. So, for example, if you land at 11 pm, you should try and get some sleep until the next morning, even if you don’t feel tired.
4. To help you sleep, keep your bedroom cool and dark. Avoid using blue light screens before going to bed, and instead try to wind down by reading, meditating, having a bath or stretching. In addition avoid caffeine and alcohol, as this can make it more difficult to shut down your mind.

Really thinking about your sleep and taking positive steps towards sleeping well prior to your holiday will go a long way to helping you feel more rested on holiday and have a more enjoyable trip overall.

Are you ready to improve your sleep?

Let our team of mattress experts help you transform your sleep with the perfect memory foam mattress or topper for you. We make everything ourselves so there’s nothing we don’t know about sleeping comfort, pressure relief and the right support. You contact us online or call us on 01293 871744 and our friendly team will be happy to help.

Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

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We all look forward to a holiday. Whether travelling to spend time with family and friends or going on an exotic trip abroad, getting plenty of rest and a good night’s sleep during and after your journey can be a challenge. So if you have trouble during these times we have some tips that will help make your vacation a time to remember bringing you back rested and rejuvenated!

Plan for Jet Lag

When most people think of travel issues, especially a long haul flight, jet lag is usually the number one culprit. But with the right planning, there is no reason why you should suffer from jet lag at all, just follow these tips:

• Keep hydrated – Drinking plenty of water before and after a flight can counteract the dry air of the aircraft cabin and even help with jet lag symptoms after landing. Avoid alcohol and hot sugary drinks on the aircraft and during your first evening as dehydration can seriously affect your ability to fall asleep at bedtime.
• Move your sleep schedule – Start to slowly and adjust your sleep cycle ahead of travelling depending on which time zone you are going to. It usually takes about 24 hours per time zone for your body to acclimatise, but you can do some of that work ahead of time by going to bed earlier on the days leading up to your journey.
• Embrace local time – The sooner you can get your internal body clock to the local time and adjust your eating schedule, the better, as encouraging your body to find its new rhythm will help shorten the time you are jet lagged or prevent it all together.

Bring a sleep kit

To make sure that your sleep during the night is as comfortable as possible, it’s worth considering packing your own personalised ‘sleep kit’.

• Blue light-blocking glasses for before bed viewing on either your mobile or television, although neither are recommended 30 minutes before sleep.
• Lavender-scented products or essential oils to help you relax.
• A set of earplugs to cut out sleep-disrupting noises such as snoring, music and chatter.
• An eye mask to prevent you waking if the sunset or sunrise is dramatically different.

Travelling comfortably

Being comfortable during sleep is important, particularly on your first night away from home. So making sure you are comfortable both during your journey and on your holiday.

• Make sure you travel in comfortable, loose fitting clothing and consider layering with a t-shirt and then a sweatshirt and jumper so that you can add or discard a garment depending on the temperature.
• Use your reclining seat whenever possible – whether on a bus, in a car or on a flight, leaning back will help both the quality and quantity of sleep you are able to get as this will help you relax.
• Bring a travel pillow – having something behind your head when you sleep will help keep your neck aligned and prevent you from falling forward.

Food and drink

What you eat and drink directly affects the quality of sleep you have during the night.

• Avoid drinking caffeine – avoiding coffee whilst you travel or when you first reach your destination may be obvious to many but there are many other types of drinks which contain caffeine including coca cola, hot chocolate, energy drinks and tea all of which can disrupt your sleep cycle and prevent you from sleeping normally.
• Don’t overeat – eating large amounts of food in one sitting can lead to bloating and constipation, which can make you too uncomfortable to fall asleep peacefully. So small meals before and during your journey plus plenty of caffeine-free fluids, especially water, will help you stay hydrated and comfortable.
• Eat balanced meals – a well-rounded diet is important for good sleep because the nutrients you receive from foods such as fruits and vegetables can impact your sleep patterns. Make sure the day before you travel, and on the journey, that you have as much fruit, vegetable and whole grains as possible. For the journey pack snacks such as nuts, dried fruit, carrot, cucumber and pepper sticks, and avoid salty snacks such as crisps and peanuts.

Keep stress to a minimum

Travel anxiety is very common with many people finding the idea of navigating large crowds, flying on a plane and additional transport connections very stressful. However, reducing and overcoming travel-induced stress is possible if you plan ahead.

• Meditation – meditation and breathing exercises are effective ways of calming your body and mind because they help relax, and it may also help you get to sleep more easily.
• Give yourself plenty of time – plan ahead, make a list of things you need to do before you leave and arrange stressful things such as transport to the airport, well ahead of the day. Pack your suitcase a few days in advance of your journey so you can check you have everything you need.

Remember planning your holiday is as important as being away. With our wellbeing tips you’ll be ready to focus on enjoying the up and coming vacation and put any travel anxiety behind you.

Photo by Vicko Mozara on Unsplash

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