Why is eastbound jet lag so much worse?
Flying east shortens the day and forces your internal clock to advance, which is much harder for the body to adjust to than westbound travel. This leaves travelers wrecked and fatigued for up to two weeks, ruining the first days of a trip or a return home.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Waiting for time to pass naturally
- 2Flying in a lay-flat or business class seat
- 3Selecting departure times to align with a late schedule or midnight flights
- 4Forcing oneself to stay awake all day upon landing, walking around, eating, and going to sleep early at the destination's local time.
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“This trip absolutely wrecked me.”source ↗
“Flying east from Manila, the jet lag seemed to get down into my bones. I lost days I wanted to spend enjoying my family, and for the first time in my life I even ended up with vertigo.”source ↗
“I’ve flown from Canada to the UK 6 in a 10 year span, definitely harder as I’ve gotten older. Eastbound is definitely worse!”source ↗
“I always have problem coming back from Asia to east coast Canada. I’m absolutely wrecked!”source ↗
“Going home I'm trashed for two weeks.”source ↗
Where this came up
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