Every traveller knows the feeling – midnight hunger pangs, 4 am wakefulness and falling asleep at lunchtime. Flying long haul to get to a different part of the world can be a bit of an ordeal already, add to that the biorhythmic body confusion known as jet lag and travellers have a lot to plan for. However, sun-seeking in the offseason need never be off limits again. A little smart destination planning and some clever travel hacks can help travellers avoid the symptoms of timezone tiredness when flying mid to long haul.
It’s hard to believe that destinations as far-flung as Rio de Janeiro and Cape Town are within a 3-hour time difference. Jet lag dodgers who can handle around 14 hours in the air can reach these destinations for €698 and €590 respectively, making them the cheapest long-haul options on the list. Rio is even more attractive in the Irish winter months, when the time difference drops to just 2 hours, thanks to daylight savings.
Exotic locations such as Zanzibar and the Seychelles only have a +2 and +3 hour time difference respectively during the summer months, making them popular long-haul choices with sun worshippers. Average in-air flight times are generally between 10-12 hours for these destinations, which cost around €774 and €740 to fly to.
Closer to home, mid-haul destinations such as Marrakesh (same time zone) and Reykjavik (+1 hour) are under 4.5hrs away, making them perfect destinations for a long weekend getaway. Average prices to fly to these destinations in 2017 on KAYAK.ie are €303 and €247 respectively.
Gran Canaria works out as the cheapest destination to avoid jet lag with average flights costing just €214 this year. With no time difference to Ireland and an average flight time of 4hr 40mins, the Canaries are a great option for year-round sunshine.
Hack the body clock
It’s generally understood that the internal body clock adapts better when flying westwards rather than east. When travelling east, flyers can try hacking their body clock by ‘advancing it’ – waking up and going to bed earlier than they normally would, before they set off on holiday. On the other hand, when flying west (e.g. to Rio or Reykjavik) it’s best to delay the body clock, waking up and going to bed later than usual.
To help with hacking, flyers should aim to control their exposure to light (the body clock’s cue for sleeping and waking). Flyers heading east can wear an eye mask during the flight, while travellers to the west should try to stay out and about in the sun if they land during the day.
So what are you waiting for? Grab a flight to one of these jet-lag free destinations today, or set up a Price Alert and watch out for the best price.
*Average flight duration is for all flight legs excluding stopovers. Some destinations will usually have at least 1 stopover from Ireland, so average flight duration may be longer than a direct flight.
**Prices are for return economy flight searches on KAYAK.ie between 24.04.2016-24.04.2017 for travels in 2017. Prices may change and offers may no longer be available
