Travel Essentials Blog

by Nancy Bestor

No one likes starting a vacation tired. And when traveling to Europe or Asia, where the time differences from the U.S. are dramatic, arriving fresh eyed and ready for anything is a major challenge. No matter how often you travel, jet lag will likely affect you. There’s no getting used to it. But here are a few tips we’ve learned to help get over jet lag as soon as possible.

Start hydrated and stay hydrated. When flying, drink lots of water and avoid alcohol and caffeinated drinks. Get out of your seat about once an hour to walk around the plane and stretch your legs. If your flight is scheduled to arrive at your destination in the morning, try getting some sleep on the plane. If you’re scheduled to arrive in the evening, do your best to stay awake on the flight by reading, watching movies, eating, etc. A couple of products that might aid in sleeping on the plane include the First Class Sleeper, and the Bucky 40 Blinks Eyemask.

Above all get on local time immediately. Do whatever it takes to stay awake that first day! Even a short nap could set back your time adjustment period. I remember arriving in Rome at 8am from the U.S. once, when our children were 2 and 4, and doing every single thing possible to keep them awake all day long. Candy, yes! Sugary soda, yes! Toy stores, yes! Red Bull, yes! (Just kidding.) We figured the more fun they had and the more food (and sugar!) we put in their bodies, the better they would stay awake. And it worked. We all hit the hay at 9pm, slept until 8am and everyone was rested with body clocks set to local time.

So when we travel abroad, we stay out and about until 8 or 9 pm at the earliest. No lying down in the hotel room. We keep snacking throughout the day as that keeps our energy levels up. And above all else, we keep moving, because remaining stationary for too long makes us sleepy.

Get lots of exercise the first few days of your vacation. Walking during the day will help keep you awake, and help you feel more tired when you do get to bed. Getting out in the sunshine will also help, as light helps our body clocks adjust easier.

Try the homeopathic jet lag remedy, No Jet Lag. Customers rave about this product, saying it helps them fight them effects of jet lag every time they travel.

by Nancy Bestor

Our Swiss train starts chugging its way up from Interlaken to the “Top of Europe”, the Jungfraujoch, Europe’s highest railway station (11,333 feet). We leave green fields, wildflowers and balmy 80-plus degree weather and as we climb, the temperature continues to drop, and the terrain begins to look more and more rugged. What were once tiny patches of snow in the distance become large snow fields, then snow covered mountains and glaciers. It’s about then that I realize that advising my daughter Emily to change out of pants and into shorts before heading out of the hotel that morning may not have been my best parenting moment ever.

We arrive at the Jungfraujoch, where people are sledding and skiing, and the temperature is a “balmy” 35 degrees. Emily and Sarah are ready to award me mother of the year when they see people changing into snow pants and parkas, and we all come to the conclusion that our shorts, t-shirts and windbreakers will keep us from hiking the one mile across the glacier to the snow hut, seeing the sled dogs that live on the mountain, and tobogganing down the short snow packed slopes.

Oopsy-Daisy. Read the rest of this entry »

Our recent summer trip to Europe was my first trip abroad with my new toy, the Apple iPhone. In addition to using it for checking work email, the iPhone was great for Google maps, games (Scrabble is awesome!), texting, and of course, telephone calls.  I was very worried about the cost of using the iPhone abroad, having heard stories from friends who had incurred charges huge charges ($1000 for a three-week period!) while overseas. A little research goes a long way though and I was able to purchase an iPhone package that ultimately saved me quite a bit of money. For $25 I was able to get enough data usage to check my email to respond to work email messages regularly (about three times a week). It was great to use Google Maps and find the fastest route from Andorra to Geneva, Switzerland too, all part of the data usage plan. I also paid $6 for international roaming that provided a discounted rate in case we needed to use the phone in an emergency. And when we were locked out of our hotel room in Andorra at midnight with the front desk unstaffed, believe me, it was an emergency!

The New York Times recently published a detailed article on avoiding excess cell and data charges when traveling, which is very informative. But the most important thing you can do is research your cell and data plan. Every company has different offerings, and different charges, so make sure you know what you are getting into before using your phone abroad. I recommend calling at least twice, as I’ve had friends get different information from two different employees at the same company.

Finally, think seriously about how much you’ll want to use your phone/email while on vacation. They are great to have in case of an emergency, but we all survived before the invention cell phones and email, so perhaps we could go on vacation for two or three weeks and not be as connected with our jobs and home. Note to self.