Don't let jet lag spoil that much needed holiday trip to paradise or stop you from closing that career enhancing deal you've been working on for months.Arriving full of excitement and anticipation is great, but finding that you can't sleep at night, you're tired during the day and you've got an upset stomach and a headache can do a lot more than just take the edge off your trip.If you're seeking ways of preventing jet lag, or looking for the perfect jet lag remedy, then here are seven tips to start you on your search.

Tip 1. Clear the decks before your departure.A much overlooked aspect of jet lag is the part played by stress. Running around trying to do a 1001 last minute jobs in the week before you fly. Worrying about whether the house will be safe. Sitting up until midnight the night before your flight paying the household bills. Sound familiar?Plan well in advance and make sure that you've taken care of everything at least three or four days before you go. Then take it easy, get lots of rest and set aside time specifically for relaxation.

Tip 2. Start adjusting your bedtime before you go.In the two weeks before your trip start to gradually adjust your bedtime. If you're flying east, bring your bedtime forward by ten or fifteen minutes each night so that, by the time you leave, you're going to bed about two hours earlier than normal. This will 'narrow the gap' between the time at which your body wants to go to bed and the time that the clock says you should go to bed at your destination.Similarly, if you're traveling west, put your bedtime back by ten or fifteen minutes each day.

Tip 3. Reduce you caffeine intake.Coffee, as well as other caffeinated drinks, both speeds up and slows down your internal body clock, depending upon the time of day that you consume it. When you're settled into a regular pattern of sleep this doesn't necessarily present too much of a problem, as the effects can tend to 'balance out'. However, when your body clock finds itself at odds with local time the effects of caffeine can be quite marked and add considerably to the problems of jet lag.

Tip 4. Avoid Pills.With the exception of any prescribed medication that you normally take, you should avoid sleeping pills, so-called 'jet lag' pills and over the counter medication for jet lag. Not only do these have little or no beneficial effect, many of them can actually add to your problems.In particular, avoid the common temptation to take sleeping pills during your flight. They may well help you to get to sleep on the aircraft, but they will add to your problems when you arrive at your destination.

Tip 5. Dress comfortably for your flight.Choose comfortable and loose fitting clothes to travel in and tuck a pair of slippers into your carry-on luggage to wear on board the aircraft. It's nice to be able to get dressed up and go out once you reach your destination but nobody is going to expect you to get dressed up to the nines while you're traveling.

Tip 6. Get out in the sunshine.Once you reach your destination get out into daylight as much as possible during the first few days of your trip. Daylight sends powerful signals to your body clock and you'll find that it adjusts far more quickly if it is exposed to the normal cycle of daylight and darkness at your destination. So take advantage of this and don't hide yourself away indoors.

Tip 7. Take something special with you.It can often be difficult settling in strange surroundings and, in particular, relaxing sufficiently to fall asleep. So, take one or two items of special significance with you, perhaps a family photograph or a favorite bedside ornament, to help give a little bit of the feel of home.

Copyright 2005 Donald Saunders - http://help-me-to-sleep.comAttention Ezine Editors / Website Owners Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety in your ezine or on your website so long as you leave all links intact, do not modify the contentand include the resource box shown above. You may of course use your own affiliate link in the resource box. For details of our affiliate program, please visit our website at http://help-me-to-sleep.com/affiliatesIf you do use this article, please send me a note so that I can take a quick look. Many thanks.About the Author
Donald Saunders is the author of a number of health related publications including "Jet Lag - A Natural Approach".Jet lag ruins many trips, but the solution is simpler than you might think.Click here for more information on Jet Lag
Get Free Content at ContentMart.com

Don't Worry, Go Traveling

What card should you never leave home without? It's not the one you think. It's the new Triple-A card-Attitude, Awareness and Attention tips, offered by authors Sheila Swan & Peter Laufer in their new book Safety & Security for Women Who Travel. Wherever you go, whatever you do, whoever you're with, no matter how far you stray from home, carry this card to remind you to stay alert in your surroundings. Trust your intuition and instincts.

Swan and Laufer, world travelers, help lay to rest fears as well as provide guidance for women to travel confidently anywhere in the world. Safety & Security for Women Who Travel offers specific and tested tactics and techniques to help women travel safely and securely.

This book covers the basics and so much more. Find practical information on what to do:

Before you leave: pack a destination-specific medicine cabinet En route: remember the buddy system, find a companion on the plane or at the train station Driving: lock your doors when you get in the car as well as when you get out of the car Lodging: conceal your gender by registering at hotels with your last name and first initial only Also find details about more complicated issues, such as:

Money and scams: guard your PIN carefully as phone card thieves use binoculars Dealing with officials: do not carry things that can be interpreted as illegal or threatening When a threat is real: noise is effective; practice screaming before you leave home In all aspects of travel there is an element of risk which can be reduced with attention, attitude and awareness. Safety & Security for Women Who Travel contains memorable anecdotes as well as tips and wisdom. It will empower the most timid and most seasoned woman traveler.

About the AuthorSheila Swan Laufer has been traveling the world for fun and business since the 1960's. From camping in Latin America to luxury resorts in the Old World, from long-distance buses across the American South to first-class airliner seats five miles high, from quaint pensions on the Iberian Peninsula to five-star hotels in Oceana, she has experienced the extremes travel offers-taking notes all along the way.
Peter Laufer is an award-winning journalist whose career has taken him to many of the world's most dangerous destinations. While researching his book Nightmare Abroad, he traveled around the world, stopping in twenty-one countries, interviewing Americans locked up in foreign prisons. Another of his books, Iron Curtain Rising, recounts his journey through Eastern Europe during the revolutions of 19893990.

Safety & Security for Women Who Travel
Edited by Sheila Swan and Peter Laufer$12.95, 150 pagesISBN: 1-885211-29-5Publication Date: November 1998 About the author:Press Release
Get Free Content at ContentMart.com

Planning your next Trip?

Currency movements can affect the cost of a trip. For example, a favorable rate of exchange means that your local currency is worth more and will provide you with more buying power. In fact, travelers whose local currency has appreciated dramatically will find that they will be able to afford much more on their vacation this year. On the other hand, a less favorable exchange rate of exchange means that your currency will be worth less resulting in less buying power overseas. If your domestic currency has depreciated significantly you may find your options more limited. As a traveler, your main concern should be to get the most favorable rate possible. In order to do this, however, one must first understand the foreign exchange market.In the foreign exchange market, the currency of one country is exchanged for an equivalent amount of the currency of another. Foreign exchange rates are not static, but change dynamically-sometimes many times within a single minute. At this point, however, most of you might be asking, why does it take more dollars to buy a euro this week than it did last week? Why would it cost you more today to buy a cup of coffee in another country than it did before, even though the price has remained the same there? The answer has to do with the value of a country's currency relative to the price of another currency.Currencies, just like any other commodity that can be bought or sold, are subject to the laws of supply and demand. When more people want a particular currency, the cost of the currency in terms of other currencies will go up. When demand decreases or people do not want to hold a country's currency, the value will go down. One factor that directly affects demand for a currency is international trade. For instance, if I buy a Japanese car in the US, I give dollars to my dealer, who gave dollars to his distributor, and so on. But before the profits are banked by the carmaker in Japan, they are converted into Yen. There is a surge of buying of Japanese cars this month, the result is going to be increased demand for Yen-which will in turn cause an appreciation in the Yen's value. An increase in international investment into Japan would have the same effect, since more money is being converted into Yen to purchase Japanese assets.As a traveler, understanding currency fluctuations will help you to take advantage of favorable rates of exchange and spot a deal when you see one. For example let's look at the EUR/USD (Euro vs. US dollar) currency pair did over the last three years and how any changes might have affected tourism in each of them.Currency pairYear Rate of exchange (highest)Rate of exchange (Lowest)EUR/USD 2003$1.2646$1.0333 2004$1.3666$1.1758 2005$1.3579$1.1864 From looking at the table taken from www.dailyfx.com, we can see that in less than 3 years, the euro steadily rose in value against the US dollar going from $1.2646 to a high of $1.3579. This favorable rate of exchange for Euros vs. US dollars made traveling to the United States a much better deal in 2005 than in both 2003 and 2004. For the traveler who noticed this long term upward trend early could have probably delayed his 2004 trip to the United States knowing that his hard earned cash would go further in 2005.When planning a trip to another country all individuals should keep in mind that the major currencies tend to move +/- 1% in a given day, which is a relatively minor move unless you are changing thousands at a time. This means that visiting smaller countries with less developed economies should warrant more research and planning since, these countries' currency would prove more volatile to rate changes. A great way to find out about the current state of exchange rates is to visit GoCurrency.com, a currency conversion site that covers over 150 currencies worldwide.To sum up, whether it's a business trip or a second honeymoon, a working knowledge of the foreign exchange market can and will make any international journey a more relaxed one.About the AuthorNone Get Free Content at ContentMart