It’s no secret that things have been quiet since 2020. But this summer has started to turn that around, with lots of people traveling to Hamilton from all around the world. We have been happy to welcome them all – from cyclists crossing the globe to families returning home for a wedding. It’s always lovely to be a soft landing place for people who are on a journey.
Necessity
Unfortunately, I had to fly out myself in August – hence the break in communications. A death in the family had me on a plane back to Australia, a thirty-hour trip all up. It’s awful to have to travel for an unhappy reason, but it gave me a reminder of how tired, jetlagged and stinky long-distance travelers feel when they arrive here.
While perhaps nothing is better than being back in your own bed after a long voyage, we hope that our comfy beds can be a close second, and a home away from home. Especially for those people who have just landed after an epic flight! A warm, strong shower and a cup of tea or coffee can go a long way to making you feel human again. And a comfortable place to sit and relax until the sound of jet engines has receded from your brain.
Body Hacking
While I waited in Hong Kong airport for four hours between the two legs of my journey, I thought about the things that make jetlag easier to handle. If I could give some advice it would be this: try to sleep, or at least doze, on the flight. And try to set your internal clock to approximately the time of your place of arrival. If you know the time you’re landing, local time, then get yourself in the headspace of that time a few hours before landing.
If you’re landing in the morning, try not to eat or drink as much as you can, and convince your body that it’s just a long night. On the other hand, if you’re landing in the afternoon or evening, try to stay awake for as long as you can before arrival, and make your body think you’re just having a very long, busy day.
Of course, you won’t be able to fool your body absolutely and you will feel jetlagged if you’re changing time zones. If you’re traveling for pleasure, it doesn’t matter as much and you can nap and relax as you need on arrival. But if you’re flying back to real life, or an important event, do your best to acclimatize as much as possible while en route.
I’m looking forward to keeping my feet on the ground for a while. But we will always be here to welcome people to Hamilton and help them relax, no matter how far they’ve traveled. And for whatever reason they’re far from home.
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