Ear buds in, “Love, Actually” and a thermos of caffeine-laden coffee in my hand.
That’s my strategy for preventing the monster that is jet lag from sinking its teeth into me, and as I sat in my cramped, Economy airplane seat, sandwiched between an elderly, already-dozing couple and faced with 14 grueling hours of turbulence and mediocre food until EVA BR0012 touched down at LAX, I explored exciting, energy-filled thoughts of bungee jumping and sky diving, essentially anything that kept the drowsiness at bay.
Whenever I travel to a different timezone, I make sure that I never sleep during the flight so that when I land in my destination country, it’ll be evening and just a few short hours away from bedtime, mimicking my regular sleep schedule.
This method’s proven itself countless times over the years, but this time, as I departed from Taoyuan International Airport, heading back to the good ol’ U.S. of A., I had a moment of weakness and succumbed to my fatigue and slept during the flight.
Perhaps it was the unusually rhythmic turbulence that rocked me to sleep or the weakness of my coffee, but what I thought to be a little nap quickly melted into six, seven, eight and eventually ten full hours of sleep. Even Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Keira Knightley and Martin Freeman discovering true love during the holiday season wasn’t enough to wake me from my slumber, and although I eventually awoke feeling refreshed and happy, that night I lay in my own bed and stared at the ceiling for hours, sleep eluding me.
This vicious cycle of groggy days and hopelessly awake nights continued for three weeks, and by the time I had finally conquered my jet lag, the bags underneath my eyes seemed permanent and school was just about to start.
Since then, nearly every day of my life has revolved around the frantic, desperate question “How can I get the most amount of sleep tonight?”
For once, listen to your teachers: sleep is more important than anything else. I had to be an insomniac for nearly a month before I had this epiphany, so, whether you’re a senior, junior, sophomore or freshman, get into a good cycle this school year–ask yourself, is that new episode of “Breaking Bad” really worth staying up an extra hour for? A month ago, my answer would have been “definitely,” but now, sleep is my new best friend forever and I’d definitely choose my bed over Walter and Jesse. Sorry, not sorry.