I am super excited that I will be flying to the Netherlands this week! You will have to miss my column for two weeks while I am visiting my family. I am not the only one traveling through different time zones. With the holidays already here and Christmas less than a month away, there will be many of you traveling over time zones. Even a one hour change will make a difference and affect you in all kinds of ways.

Usually, it is easier, for most people, to adjust to an added hour or hours than when you are losing time. This is even the case with daylight savings.

Whenever the time changes or you cross different time zones, you mess with your biological clock. It’s an internal biological clock that regulates the timing for sleep in humans. The activity of this clock makes us sleepy at night and awake during the day. Our clock cycles on an approximately 24-hour period. Did you know that we spend about one third of our lives asleep? Sleep is a required activity, not an option. Sleep actually appears to be required for survival. Rats deprived of sleep will die within two to three weeks, a timeframe similar to death due to starvation. No wonder that one hour can affect us!

A misconception about sleep is that the body adjusts quickly to different sleep schedules. The biological clock that times and controls a person’s sleep/wake cycle will attempt to function according to a normal day/night schedule even when that person is trying to change it. The biological clock can be reset, but only by the appropriately timed cues, but, even then, by one or two hours per day at best. When I fly to the Netherlands this week, I “lose” six hours, so when I arrive in Netherlands at 6 a.m. Dutch time, it is midnight in N.C. Normally, at 12 a.m., I am asleep. But when you arrive, it is daylight which makes it very hard to go to sleep, or even to feel sleepy. Later on that day, due to sleep deprivation, you will crash. At least, I do. Jet lag can produce a number of unwanted effects including excessive sleepiness, poor sleep, and loss of concentration, poor motor control, slowed reflexes, nausea and irritability. Eastward travel generally causes more severe jetlag than westward travel. (When you travel east, you lose time; when you travel west, you gain time.)

For some people, one hour change does not really make a difference, and for some people (like me) it makes a huge difference. This is what helps me: Get up at the usual time. If that is 8 a.m., get up at then. My biological clock says it is 2 a.m. By getting up and starting your day you will get in the swing of things within a couple of days. Of course, it helps when it is light outside to start your day early. Do the same at night. In a couple of days to a week, you will be used to the time change. I try to stay up until my usual time, but for the first three or four days, I have a hard time doing that. It’s hard to go to bed the usual time when 11 p.m. is actually 5 p.m. biological time but try anyway. Make sure you set an alarm to get up at a normal time. I try to be up by 8 a.m. every morning. I typically get up at 5:30 a.m. most mornings here but in the Netherlands my biological clock says 2 a.m. when I try to get up at 8 a.m. I do it anyway — it gets me to that time zone quicker and I don’t want to sleep my precious time away with family. While traveling, especially in a plane, hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! Stay away from caffeine and alcohol. On arrival (and return), make sure you eat a well-balanced diet and hydrate your body appropriately. Limit alcohol consumption (as it does not promote good sleep). And last, but definitely not least — exercise! Again, it is proven that exercise has all these positive effects on your mind, body and spirit!

Happy Holidays and safe travels!

Ester H Marsh Associate executive Director JF Hurley Family YMCA