Perhaps others can relate, perhaps I’m truly just crazy, or maybe both. I don’t know.
I’m writing this post while sitting in my room at the Hilton Zurich Airport at 3AM, unable to sleep. On Saturday I flew from Los Angeles to Paris to Zurich, I got in at noon on Sunday, I napped from 1PM until 6PM, and I’ve been up ever since. I have a flight at noon, but for whatever reason can’t sleep anymore. And I don’t quite know why.
Really the crazy part of all this is that I’m saying to myself “I need to travel less internationally, and just stay in one timezone for a couple of months.” Or at least I need to do a better job than I’m doing now, where I’m spending more than half of my time abroad, in all kinds of timezones.
Here’s the thing — I don’t think jetlag is that complicated if you’re staying somewhere for an extended period of time, but if you’re like me and are typically in places for 1-3 days, it’s a pain.
I can’t sleep, I’m dead tired and just dreaming of being on either Eastern or Pacific time in the US (where I typically get up at 4AM and go to bed by 8PM), but somehow I’ve found myself in this situation again.
But here’s the crazy part: there’s something about jetlag I love, because I keep doing this to myself. I guess you could say I have an abusive relationship with jetlag, because it treats me very poorly, but I keep coming back for more.
I actually don’t have much international travel planned once I get back to the US later today, and as of now I’ve told myself that I won’t take any more crazy international trips for the rest of the year. Of course that sounds great in theory, but in practice I suspect by Wednesday I’ll be itching to get on another longhaul flight and do this to myself all over again.
Let me be clear, I’m specifically talking about jetlag here. Sure, most people enjoy travel. Many of us even enjoy flying. But in some sick, twisted way, I sort of even enjoy jetlag.
I’m convinced that my loss of a body clock has altered my “normal” schedule, for better or worse. Back in the day I’d naturally get up at around 8AM and go to sleep at midnight. Nowadays I’ve turned into a morning person, and am always up way before sunrise. So when people ask if I’m jetlagged when I get back to the US, I suspect me being jetlagged would look more like a normal person’s sleep schedule than my normal schedule. If I usually get up at 4AM, me getting up at 8AM would represent a greater adjustment to my schedule than getting up at 2AM or 3AM.
Despite all the struggles I associate with jetlag, there’s something I love about it. I love waking up when a city still seems asleep. Sometimes I even love wandering the streets of a city at 3AM. I love looking forward to my first cup of coffee.
So yeah, I’m not sure what exactly the point of this post is, other than to see if others can relate to this bizarre sentiment. On one hand I recognize the constant time changes are bad for me and nearly make me go crazy. As I write this I’m telling myself I want to do this less.
At the same time, I know that within a couple of days I’ll be itching to do it all over again.
Can anyone relate just a little?
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