We all know the ways to avoid jet lag, and most of us don’t listen to them one bit – so I give you, ways to get jet lag.

Drink on the flight

You board the flight, you’re ready for vacation so you start downing a couple either in the airport bar or popping back the minis once the plane is airborne.

Book a long layover

I made this mistake on the way over to Barcelona recently. I was going for the cheapest ticket and I booked a flight with a six-hour layover in Zurich, Switzerland. Never again. I was basically holding my head up come hour three of sitting in the airport. For an extra $70 I could have gotten into Barcelona four hours earlier; next time I will do it or splurge for a non-stop flight if possible.

Sleep when you get to your destination

Another lesson you can learn from me. I checked into my hotel around 3p local time in Barcelona, woke up at 9p local time, had dinner and back to sleep and up again. I was up and down. I slept through breakfast the next morning and woke up literally with no time to spare on catching my shuttle to the cruise port. Actually, if the shuttle weren’t running late, I would have missed it.

Throw off your diet

One of the worst things you can do is throw off your diet with greasy and calorie induced airport food. Especially before a long fight where you’re going to be sitting still for 8+ hours. Consider packing or buying something healthy like fruit, carrot sticks or nuts to hold you over.

Don’t hydrate yourself

Water is your friend on long trips with the up and downs of the planes, pressure constantly switching with your body and the recycled air your taking in and out (they say it’s not 100% recycled but you can’t tell me you’re not breathing someone else’s air). I actually bought one of those refillable plastic bottles – but I forgot it.

These are my tips for, in reality, avoiding jet lag. It isn’t fun. As I type this I’m almost on the tail end of it but I still have it a little bit.

Have you had any rough lessons or I “shoulda done that” lessons when it comes to jet lag?