Aside from you, Henah and Marissa are two of my favorite travel writers out there...so I'm not surprised that the density of amazing advice in this newsletter is off the charts! Thanks so much for including me here, my friend.
Thank you so much for including me in this wonderful post, Amelia! It feels great to be among such well-traveled company. The one tip I really want to do a better job with is immediately starting laundry upon arriving back at home AND not waiting like a week to unpack 😅 I'm also with Maddie and make sure to clean ahead of time—nothing like coming home to a fresh, clean house.
I must admit that half the time I do not unpack my bag right away or take dirty clothes to the laundry. My husband is very good at this. I'm still learning my lessons!
Truly trying to imagine what would happen if I - a government employee - set an out of office announcing I was deleting all emails received while on vacation and cackling. But the rest of this was excellent and I'm going to try some of the post-vacation blues tips after my next trip!
Some of my (male) colleagues - I work for a university in Europe - say something like they’ll return XYZ date. If the matter is still relevant after that date, the sender is requested to resend the email after that time. I like that it shifts the vibe from, “So, so sorry that I needed to be out to use the vacation to which I’m entitled/rest/ grieve/ move house/etc.” to “here’s how we pick this up, if needed.”
Obviously not everyone can do this, but for the people who can - I say, go bold!
It's a pretty radical email strategy - although telling people to send another email after your return from vaca date isn't crazy - but what about all the emails you're cc'd on while you're away?!
I used the Time Shifter jet lag app for the first time this summer and I think it worked! The advice was counterintuitive (it wanted me to stay awake for most of the red eye flight to Barcelona, NO melatonin, and on the daytime flight west to NYC, TAKE melatonin and nap). It also agreed with your strategy to get lots of bright daylight, no sunglasses, upon arrival
did you manage to stay awake?! I forgot to add my other tip about flights and sleeping: I just do whatever my body wants when I'm on a flight - I will make an effort to sleep but if it's not happening I don't force it and stress myself out about "failing" at that!
yeah! I’m not a great sleeper on planes anyway so on the red eye I took a nap and then stayed awake listening to an audio book or reading I think, and then just powered through the next day.
I did the Timeshifter app for a few years with good results. I think it depends on the times of your flights, but it usually has me shift my bedtime & waking time in CST earlier for a few days before getting to Europe. At first it was a game changer. It let me feel the typical malaise I felt arriving to Schiphol in Amsterdam in my very own kitchen at 4 am with the lights blazing. It was easier to realize “oh, this is just my body adjusting.” I was not compelled to question all my life choices, which is what happened on the ‘wing it’ system.
I typically struggle more coming back, but I think this is because Timeshifter wanted me to start a gazillion-hour, connecting flight journey at 5 am with no caffeine in an effort to sleep on the way home. I’m making a similar trip this weekend and just googled a free jet lag calculator to get my plan. I’ve heard from multiple sources - the best was eavesdropping on flight attendants while waiting in line for the bathroom - that it’s ideal to skip the plane “meals” and get on the new eating time as quickly as possible.
Aside from you, Henah and Marissa are two of my favorite travel writers out there...so I'm not surprised that the density of amazing advice in this newsletter is off the charts! Thanks so much for including me here, my friend.
Of course!
Thank you so much for including me in this wonderful post, Amelia! It feels great to be among such well-traveled company. The one tip I really want to do a better job with is immediately starting laundry upon arriving back at home AND not waiting like a week to unpack 😅 I'm also with Maddie and make sure to clean ahead of time—nothing like coming home to a fresh, clean house.
I must admit that half the time I do not unpack my bag right away or take dirty clothes to the laundry. My husband is very good at this. I'm still learning my lessons!
God of the Woods!
So good!
Saving this for my next trip, Amelia! Thanks!
Oh yay!!
Truly trying to imagine what would happen if I - a government employee - set an out of office announcing I was deleting all emails received while on vacation and cackling. But the rest of this was excellent and I'm going to try some of the post-vacation blues tips after my next trip!
Some of my (male) colleagues - I work for a university in Europe - say something like they’ll return XYZ date. If the matter is still relevant after that date, the sender is requested to resend the email after that time. I like that it shifts the vibe from, “So, so sorry that I needed to be out to use the vacation to which I’m entitled/rest/ grieve/ move house/etc.” to “here’s how we pick this up, if needed.”
Obviously not everyone can do this, but for the people who can - I say, go bold!
I've got to say, I agree. As long as it's clear and polite - it's basically just like setting a clear, healthy boundary. 💪
It's a pretty radical email strategy - although telling people to send another email after your return from vaca date isn't crazy - but what about all the emails you're cc'd on while you're away?!
The cc emails go quietly into the abyss and shall never be spoken of again 👻. . . (If it works for you!)
ooooh, that kinda sounds like return-from-vacation heaven!
I used the Time Shifter jet lag app for the first time this summer and I think it worked! The advice was counterintuitive (it wanted me to stay awake for most of the red eye flight to Barcelona, NO melatonin, and on the daytime flight west to NYC, TAKE melatonin and nap). It also agreed with your strategy to get lots of bright daylight, no sunglasses, upon arrival
did you manage to stay awake?! I forgot to add my other tip about flights and sleeping: I just do whatever my body wants when I'm on a flight - I will make an effort to sleep but if it's not happening I don't force it and stress myself out about "failing" at that!
yeah! I’m not a great sleeper on planes anyway so on the red eye I took a nap and then stayed awake listening to an audio book or reading I think, and then just powered through the next day.
Timeshifter sounds like it's truly helpful! Questioning life choices is definitely a jet lag side effect 😉
That first day must have been rough!
I did the Timeshifter app for a few years with good results. I think it depends on the times of your flights, but it usually has me shift my bedtime & waking time in CST earlier for a few days before getting to Europe. At first it was a game changer. It let me feel the typical malaise I felt arriving to Schiphol in Amsterdam in my very own kitchen at 4 am with the lights blazing. It was easier to realize “oh, this is just my body adjusting.” I was not compelled to question all my life choices, which is what happened on the ‘wing it’ system.
I typically struggle more coming back, but I think this is because Timeshifter wanted me to start a gazillion-hour, connecting flight journey at 5 am with no caffeine in an effort to sleep on the way home. I’m making a similar trip this weekend and just googled a free jet lag calculator to get my plan. I’ve heard from multiple sources - the best was eavesdropping on flight attendants while waiting in line for the bathroom - that it’s ideal to skip the plane “meals” and get on the new eating time as quickly as possible.