How to beat jet lag: Ex-airline pilot shares hack for flights to Europe
It's one of the only downsides of international travel - the dreaded jet lag.
But airline pilots and cabin crew who deal with the effects as part of their job, often have the insider info when it comes to how to deal with it.
Former Qantas captain, Jeremy Burfoot tells 9Travel he had a unique way of combating the condition when he was working.
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Former Qantas pilot Captain Jeremy Burfoot who has written a book. The Secret Life of Flying. Supplied
"I used to try and stay in a time zone of where I was living," he tells 9Travel. "So I went to London, I would just sleep during the day and go out at night."
However, for those who need to be up during usual hours, he advised trying to avoid one thing.
"The first day you get there, spend all day in the sun, in the daylight," he says. "Resist having an afternoon nap so you're really tired when you go to bed."
He said while pilots can get up to five days layover while working, sometimes it can just be overnight.
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The last thing you want is to arrive tired. Getty Images/iStockphoto
Long-haul trips to Europe are common for Aussies and can lead to some of the roughest jet lag there is. But Jeremy has a flight hack for that as well.
"If I was planning to go to Europe, I would try to split it into two, try to fly both of the days in the daylight," he shares.
"You'd want to be on a flight to Singapore out of Australia that left in the morning, so you're basically doing a daylight flight to Singapore, then you have an overnight, eat some curry or something.
"And the next day catch a daylight flight to Europe. So it doesn't actually feel like you're up in the middle of the night."
A night in Singapore can help get you to Europe without the jet lag. Getty
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Meanwhile, Jeremy also revealed how much downtime pilots actually get on a flight.
If they're flying from Singapore to Sydney they would work the whole time, as there would only be two pilots.
But on a longer trip, such as Sydney to Dallas, a team of four pilots would mean they have more time off to leave the flight deck.
He says they would "go and have a rest in the bunk, or watch a movie on the book."
The Secret Life of Flying by Captain Jeremy Burfoot, is out now.
