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Jet Lag is a New and Surprisingly Brutal Thing

Two airplanes
Jet lag can leave us feeling like we aren't sure whether we're coming or going!

Hello, my gracious friends! You all are amazing. You know that, right? Just in case you need to be reminded today, hear me! You are a walking, talking (and writing) miracle and I am blessed by you.

Jet lag is a new thing for me, and it is surprisingly brutal. I sit here, wide awake at 0’dark thirty in the morning, feeling overwhelmed. I have so much I want to tell you, ask you, share with you… and for some reason I feel crunched for time.

I’m not sure if there is a real reason for that or if it is jet lag making mountains out of molehills. (Have you heard that expression? I’ve always liked it!)

Updates, Photos, and Life Events held momentarily captive by jet lag

I am grateful for your grace this fall. I know I owe you some updates. I cannot thank you enough for your prayers for me regarding the skin treatment I underwent last month and my trip to Ireland, from which I’ve just returned.

Autumn is amazing and it seems to have fallen upon my little mountain town while I was away. It shows me God’s wonder afresh, as the places I’ve previously lived did not showcase seasons the way I get to experience them now. Naturally, I have photos to share with you!

Looking forward, I spy a few major life events staring back at me. I want to tell you about them in hopes you’ll walk with me through them. Your insights, stories, and prayers are precious to me. These things make us more than fellow bloggers. They make us friends.

Is jet lag brutal for you?

I have some writing to do! And I promise to get to it… just as soon as my mind catches up with my body. I feel as though my mental faculties took a parachute mid-journey while my physical form stayed on the plane and arrived home. And I don’t even know where my sleep schedule derailed. Maybe it got stuck in the same overseas time zone as my luggage.

This was my first international trip. The jet lag is surprisingly more brutal than I expected. I want to hear your stories. Please commiserate with me!

How does jet lag feel for you? Or are you one of those people who can hop around the world and not feel it at all? Bonus points if you can identify the airport in the cover photo. I can’t wait to hear from you!

33 replies on “Jet Lag is a New and Surprisingly Brutal Thing”

Mama, I understand jet lag and have experienced what you are going through (if the airport were Denver I’d recognize it right away! I tend to fly through there more often). I’ve always dreamed of Ireland and happy for your trip. Im not always here on WP getting to “see” everyone and I’m happy to know your treatment was well. It may take several days for your body and mind to “recalibrate” (that’s what I call it, lol)! Give yourself grace as you do all of us! You are a miracle too and a blessing for us! 💛💕❤️

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Oh, Karla- I saw your name and immediately felt selfish for thinking I’m going thru something here. Thank you for your kind words. “Recalibrate” is a great word for what I’m waiting on. How are you?

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My friend, please know that I understand we all are going through things. I love it that we’re all in it together!! I’m enjoying a few weeks now being “off” of treatments and praying for strength and growing blood counts. I’m going to get out today! Praise God! And if I get exhausted I’ll come home and rest! I’m learning to give myself grace. And I’m so happy to have opportunity to read about your life. It blesses me! 💛💕🥰

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You sure bless me too! I’ll be praying with you for your strength and growing blood counts. I’m so happy you’re getting out – breathe deep and look far! Fresh air blessings to you, my friend!

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I feel like a brat if I tell you that I’ve not traveled anywhere much, and so have not experienced jet lag. It’s not in my budget right now, but who knows? I am opening my soul up to God and I’m pretty sure He has some truly awesome plans for me! Give yourself the grace to rest and heal. God will use this too for His good. He has shown me an awesome way of late and I am so very grateful not to have to worry anymore. I will do the scut work and He will do the rest. Praised be Jesus Christ Our Lord, now and forever. Amen!

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I love that – scut work. That is all we can do, my friend! And let me tell ya – the trip God has planned for sure, the one where He is the tour guide and takes us to the place He has prepared for us in the eternal realm… that travel takes us to the ultimate paradise and when we reach that destination, we will not have jet lag. In fact, we will be free from all that burdens, hurts, confuses, and tries us! That is the only boat (so to speak) we truly DO NOT want to miss! And I will definitely see you there!

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That is interesting! I didn’t travel much as a young me. But I know this is true of roller coasters! haha! And it might be quite the same thing. The motion, the excitement, the flying through space and time… maybe I’m just too mature for it now! Bwahahahaha! 😉 Thanks for sharing. I hadn’t thought about it that way!

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Hi! And welcome to the jet set! Traveling anywhere by plane now is brutal–just getting through the airport is harrowing enough. I used to fly a lot in my younger years (working at FedEx), and jet lag was always a problem, more so as I have aged. There are suggestions out there online for dietary and sleep habit changes to accommodate time differences, but they’re only minimally effective. Sleep deprivation/changes just take time for adjustment, and I always dread the launch of Daylight Savings Time…glad we will do it only one more time, with the permanent measures starting next year. Give yourself a few days, even a week, to pull out of it. Don’t make any life-altering decisions at the moment!! Enjoy the fall colors and breathe in the energy of the season!

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Great advice! Thank you, my friend! I’m feeling kind of “stale” in my routines… realizing that I rely on them at the most basic of levels. When I don’t sleep and eat and digest and breathe the way I’ve become accustomed, I have trouble doing those things at all. I say “stale” because I feel like an old fuddy-duddy, who can’t have adventure without consequence, lol! But now that I know, if God ever brings me to another adventure, I will understand that I need to plan better and expect differently of myself upon return. Thank you for commiserating with me. And oh – those fall colors! God is THE MOST amazing artist! Btw – permanent measures – are those just where you live or is the whole country getting rid of daylight savings time? In Arizona, we don’t change our clocks. But since most of the states do, we have to be aware for business and other connections. It seems unnecessarily complicated!

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I just checked…looks like the bill that passed the Senate has not been addressed by the House in Congress…still needs that, plus signature from president for DST to become permanent in 2023. Arizona, however, is one of the states that is exempt and will stay on permanent standard time (Mountain Standard Time). Seems things are still up in the air a bit….

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What we need is to dump DST and get on the same page with the majority of countries in the world who use UTC (used to be called GMT).
Arizona has always been one of the more intelligent places to live! 😉

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When Anita and I went to Mongolia in 2013, it was just five years after my last stroke, and I did not travel well. By the time we landed, I could only remember fragments of the trip, the luggage collection, and by the time we got to a guest house where we would stay for the a few hours before our landlord could let us in our flat for the semester, I was so groggy that I vaguely remembering walking down a dark hall and falling into a bed!
No memories of who I was with or what was happening around me nor where I was.
They woke me when our landlord arrived, but I have NO memory of that, of going to our apartment, walking up the stairs, and going to bed. The lady hosting us told me later that I looked like “death, not quite warmed over!” She wondered why in the world The Mongolian International University had recruited me to teach Ecology and thought it would be a disaster!!
Well, a couple days later, I was back into the swing of life and alert and active, so her fears were allayed.
But jet lag!!?? Ugh. “Nuff said!
❤️&🙏, c.a.

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I have experienced jet lag too. It is brutal. We went to Hong Kong and stayed in a fabulous hotel that had a butler for each floor. We couldn’t sleep because our time was upside down. We kept tossing and turning and my husband would hit a button on the wall by the bed. Then there would be a knock at the door. The butler would appear. It happened at least four times. That unlabeled button was to call the butler. I don’t think he was happy with us our first night!

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Wow – a butler on every floor! Maybe he did appreciate you – time goes faster at work when you’re busy! 😀 Thank you for sharing your experience. It is good to know this is somewhat “normal”.

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Jet lag is real, and I’ve felt its brutal effects! Since my husband and I met online and he’s from Australia, I took three trips there in our year of Skype dating. Yes, my friend, brutal in every way – from the goodbyes to the “hello, jet lag.” For a person who never had any desire to travel much because my super sensitive body hates anything out of sync, I have to laugh at our God who decided to send me to Greece, Switzerland, Poland (twice) and then sent me a man who winked at me from down under. They say it takes 1 day for every hour in time difference and I wholeheartedly agree with “they.” Rest well, try to gently draw your body back into your time zone a little at a time, and have grace for yourself. Jesus loves you no matter what time zones you’re caught between.

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Thank you so much for the encouragement! I agree with “they” too. Wow – the places you’ve been! And wow – the days you’ve jet lagged! haha! My husband didn’t get hit as badly. He keeps telling me to work out, that it will clear the cob webs. I am content to just get dinner on the table. It is getting better though. I’m putting more complete sentences together today. (Aye yi yi!)

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Me too! I felt like a walking zombie that first week. But that’s ok- I think it was a gift from God. Before we left Ireland, I was kinda sad that I wasn’t in a position to do more traveling. But when that jet lag hit, it made me much more content to stay home, feet on the ground, in my own time zone (or close to it). Lol!

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As snowbirds ‘enjoying’ traversing 4 time zones on the flight between Alaska and Tennessee twice each year, jet lag always books the journey with us.

Strangely, jet lag’s effects seem more prominent for me when flying east from Alaska to Tennessee than it does flying west from Tennessee. My wife, being from New Orleans, experiences just the opposite.

Perhaps that’s an omen telling me I belong in the Last Frontier more-so than in Dixieland, and to my wife to endure tolerating me knowing “opposites attract”; Yankees and Rebels can live in harmony; and God has our backs no matter which direction we’re flying 😊

Glad you enjoyed experiencing another corner of His creation, and brutal jet lag has departed Mamalava.

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