I Wore Sunglasses Inside And At Night To Prevent Jet Lag. Here’s What Happened

According to the Mayo Clinic, jet lag is a temporary sleep problem caused by traveling quickly across time zones.

Jet lag can affect anyone, and although it is temporary, symptoms of jet lag can include gastrointestinal distress, fatigue, and a general "unwell" feeling.

The reason jet lag affects us is because traveling across time zones messes with our circadian rhythms.

Circadian rhythms regulate your body's clock and alert your body when to be awake and when to sleep.

When your body switches time zones quickly, your circadian rhythms do not switch as quickly, which can leave you feeling like you're in the wrong time.

There are a variety of remedies for jet lag, including medications and lifestyle changes.

I was definitely not interested in using any sort of medication for my travel (but it can be a good option, if you travel a lot), so I looked deeper into lifestyle changes I could make that would help prevent jet lag.

While I really wanted a jet lag cure, I found that there's no perfect way to beat jet lag.

Two of the best jet lag remedies were using light control to alter your exposure to sunlight and ingesting caffeine to combat daytime fatigue.

Since I wasn't sure what my access to caffeine would look like while on the plane or once I landed in Casablanca, Morocco, I decided that adjusting my exposure to sunlight would be the best option.

People have had great results with sunlight control, and it seemed pretty easy to do, so I did some more research and got ready for my flight.

According to Scientific American, the best way to get your circadian rhythms to reset is to adjust your exposure to sunlight.

By changing your exposure to light the few days before you travel and the few days during your travel, you can greatly impact the number and intensity of jet lag symptoms you feel.

Because Morocco is five hours ahead of New York, that would mean I'd need to expose myself to light early in the morning and limit my light in the evening before traveling — this would tell my circadian clock that I was in a time zone east of where I actually was.

Once I arrived in Morocco, I would keep my morning light exposure limited in order to let my clock adjust more naturally.

With my research done, I packed multiple pairs of sunglasses, a sleep mask, and some sleeping pills (just in case).

The night before I left, I tried to go to bed earlier than usual, but with packing and stress, I didn't get into bed until around 11:00 p.m.

My flight was a red-eye, so I knew this would be my last night in a bed for at least a day and a half.

Needless to say, I wasn't exactly excited to sleep on the plane, but I was definitely more than ready to get to Morocco.

I had a full day of work ahead of me before I would leave for the airport, so I knew I needed a lot of sleep (which of course made it harder to get the sleep I needed).

After what seemed like the longest day at work ever, I finally left and got on the road.

I knew it would take me about an hour via subway to get to the airport, so I left work a few minutes early and booked it to the train.

My travel buddy, Stephanie, was already waiting for me at the airport, so I couldn't wait to just get there and get on the plane.

By the time I sat down on the subway at 5:30 p.m., I was already exhausted, so I knew I'd be able to fall asleep on the plane no problem.

The flight would leave at 9:00 p.m. (which would be 2:00 a.m. in Morocco), so the earlier I could fall asleep, the faster I could adjust my circadian clock.

After eating a (ridiculously overpriced) airport dinner, we got on the plane and got comfy.

As you can see, I kept my sunglasses on from the minute I left the office (5:20 p.m. NYC time, 10:20 p.m. Morocco time). This was my primary method of controlling light exposure.

I definitely felt pretty silly wearing sunglasses all evening, but if it would help me feel less tired in Morocco, I was all for it.

Before falling asleep, I switched my clock from NYC time to Morocco time.

Well, that was my plan, at least. I'd been wearing my watch all day, but somehow didn't realize until I got on the plane that the battery had died and my watch was just a nice bracelet.

Anyway, I knew changing my mental clock was essential, so I stopped checking the time on my phone and switched to only checking the time on the little TV screen in my airplane seat.

Next up? Time to sleep.

I took a sleeping pill to help me stay asleep through any potential turbulence, slid my eye mask onto my face, and got cozy.

I can't say I slept the entire way to Morocco — flight attendants woke me up twice for meals — but I definitely got some sleep on the plane.

Airlines are pretty good at helping you adjust to time zones. They dimmed the lighting as soon as we took off and started bringing the lights up in the morning.

They also served meals at times that were close to meal times in Morocco.

When the plane finally landed, I was more than excited to be in Casablanca!

I was definitely tired (it was 9:00 a.m. Morocco time, which meant it was 4:00 a.m. in New York), but I was hoping my adrenaline would keep me awake until I could get some coffee to prevent jet lag.

I kept my sunglasses on to hopefully adjust to the time zone more naturally.

By the time I got through customs and found a cab, the exhaustion was definitely hitting me.

It took everything I had to not fall asleep in the cab on the way to the hotel. I knew I needed a quick nap before sightseeing in order to recover from jet lag.

I finally got into bed for what would be my first nap of the day.

After a longer nap than I originally expected (probably almost two hours… oops), I left the hotel to start my Moroccan sightseeing.

Although I hadn't originally planned on napping, it became clear very quickly that I had definitely needed it to avoid jet lag symptoms.

I felt so much more energized while I was out and about, and I tried to forget about what time it was in New York and just fully commit to Morocco's time zone.

After our first sightseeing stop, we went back to the hotel to "relax."

We were waiting for our friend (who lives in Morocco) to arrive for dinner, so we wanted to just chill before she got there.

Of course, as soon as I sat down on the bed I immediately fell asleep.

This nap was shorter, probably only 45 minutes, but I felt very rested again when I woke up and I felt like I had totally gotten over my jet lag.

By the time I got into bed that night, I expected to be exhausted.

Unfortunately, even though it was almost midnight in Morocco, it was only 7:00 pm in New York, and my body decided it wanted to be wide awake.

Once I showered, turned out all the lights, and got under the covers, though, I was able to convince my body to get over jet lag and fall asleep.

The next morning I woke up at 6:30 a.m. to get on a train to Marrakech — to my surprise, I had an easier time waking up than I do on a regular work day.

After my first day in Morocco, I felt entirely adjusted to the time zone and had no more noticeable jet lag symptoms.

According to WebMD, jet lag can last up to four or five days, depending on how many time zones you've crossed. Luckily, my most extreme jet lag symptoms only lasted one day.

Even though I had to nap more than once on day one, days two through five were seamless.

I didn't experience much gastrointestinal distress, and aside from the first day, I wasn't fatigued.

It's hard to know if I was so tired on day one because of jet lag or because I got less than five hours of sleep, but I'm guessing it was some combination of both.

Did altering my exposure to sunlight work to remedy my jet lag? It's hard to say.

It definitely didn't make things worse, but I can't say for sure that it helped.

If you're considering trying this jet lag remedy, I'd definitely say go for it!

I found absolutely no negatives with this remedy (other than feeling a little bit awkward wearing sunglasses at night), so even if its benefits were negligible, I'm glad I tried it.

Would I recommend it to a friend? Absolutely.

Would I try it again? Sure, why not? Next time, though, I might try to start adjusting my light exposure a few more days before traveling.

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