There are a million things to keep you from sleeping while traveling. Not getting enough sleep really can be a miserable feeling. Whether it’s adjusting to a new time zone, scheduling early morning hikes or sipping cocktails at rooftop bars until the wee hours of the night, expect to feel tired until you return home!
After all, traveling is about seeing and experiencing everything, isn’t it? And there are only so many hours in a day to see it all.
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Tips to have a Good Night’s Sleep Before Traveling
The fatigue is worth it, but, just to make your trip a little more comfortable, it’s a good idea to get the best sleep possible before you set off. We bring to you few tips that will ensure you get a good night’s sleep before traveling. These tips will help you doze the night before and recover if you find yourself burning the candle at both ends on your adventures.
Go to Sleep Early—A Week Ahead of Time
Trying to get to sleep earlier than usual won’t be possible if your body isn’t used to it. Instead of making it a one-night thing, practice going to bed earlier for a week before your trip. Your body will get used to the change and drifting off to dreamland will be easy as pie the night before you leave. Taking care of yourself generally before you travel really does help you with your journey too. Make sure to eat well and drink a lot of water so you are hydrated and in the best health.
Set Up a Bedtime Routine
If things are different every night before you lie down, your body may not realize it’s time for bed. Create a routine that tells your mind it’s time to wind down. Your brain will get used to this and adapt much more easily once you’re on the road. Prep everything for the next day—something that will likely already be done if you’re traveling soon—then get into your pajamas, brush your teeth and hair and have some relaxation time.
You’ll particularly want to make sure to avoid watching television or scrolling through your phone as the light can keep your mind active. Instead, read a book, sip some tea or listen to calming music so that your brain knows it is nighttime and the hour to get some shut eye.
Eat Foods that Boost Serotonin Levels
Your diet is incredibly important to sleep patterns. Eat foods that will boost your natural serotonin levels in order to help you get to sleep. Consider mixing fruit and yogurt, bananas and peanut butter, or whole grain cereal or toast with milk or cheese. Other foods that may help include turkey, salmon, eggs and nuts. Not only are these foods great for your body, they’re really delicious to eat generally too!
Avoid Foods that Will Keep You Up
Before you start counting sheep, make sure you didn’t eat anything that will keep you awake. While caffeine is a major no-no, there are other foods you should stay away from before bed as well. Don’t ingest too much sugar and keep your meals or snacks small before hitting the hay or you won’t get much rest. So no munching on that junk food before bedtime OK? If you really want to snack, keep to some healthy fruit, vegetables or nuts to get you through those late-night snack pangs!
Create a Comfortable Environment
Your nighttime scenery can have a huge impact on your ability to sleep as well. Make sure you’re in a dark, comfortable spot that will facilitate sleep. It’s important to keep the temperature at the perfect level so you don’t keep waking. Many prefer it cool, so open a window or turn on a fan. If you’d rather sleep in a warmer environment, layer on some blankets. Relax with memory foam pillows and spray some lavender essential oils in the air before bedtime. Make sure to keep your TV and electronic devices out of there so you don’t allow in more light into your sleeping space!
Stay Active During the Day
Daytime naps are definitely something that will keep you up at night, but not moving around can get you as well. Make sure your body is worn out the day before your flight by exercising. Give it your all—your fitness will improve and so will your sleep. Just don’t over-do it and make your muscles sore before a long day of traveling.
Limit Stress Levels and To-Do Lists
Sleep is nearly impossible if you’re stressed out so limit your stress as much as possible. It may be hard to do before a big trip, but one thing that will help tremendously is being prepared. Pack your bags ahead of time and go over your to-do lists well before bed so you won’t lie there wondering if you’ve forgotten anything. The earlier you start, the more prepared you’ll be—and the better your sleep will be.
A good night’s sleep is essential to getting the most out of the day especially when you are traveling. The body, mind and the soul will feel fresh and rejuvenated after a good sleep. The above mentioned tips will ensure you get a good night’s sleep before traveling!
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Good Night sleep are very important to traveling, your blog is very important for night life, thank you for share this.
Interesting post and I will try to follow some of your tips. I did not know that milky , dairy products were good to serotonin, I am trying hard to avoid /reduce them. Thanks
So true that sleep is crucial, and serotonin a big factor. Ive had heaps of success with melatonin tablets. As part of the bed routine you mention you can start adjusting your body’s clock for jetlag too!
Another theory is that a bad night’s sleep before flying may help you sleep better on the plane?
These are great suggestions. I never thought to change my sleep routine a week in advance. I also love the advice about eating certain food. I’m going to try all these for my next trip.
I cut coffee out of my life this winter, but gave myself a free pass while I was in Europe for a couple weeks, so I could stay productive while getting used to the time change. Maybe next time I can try adjusting myself a bit better with your tips!
Cut down on caffeine and sugary alcohols before bedtime helps too.
This is such a smart post. Of all the travel planning, ensuring a good night’s sleep is one of the most important for sure. The most magical location in the world loses its appeal when I’m a sleep deprived zombie. The food tips are really genius, didn’t think of those before.
Exactly what I needed. Most of the time, I am finding myself up late the night before the travel. And it affects the next day’s plans. I would stretch on what you say – complete the preparations and pack your bags the day before so that you don’t end up doing chores way into the night. This is what has been keeping me awake recently
Reading your post reaffirms my belief in a disciplined lifestyle when one needs to wake up at the right time, eat right and sleep on time!
I am always too excited for a trip in which most times, I don’t get any sleep the night before. This article certainly makes sense and I should keep these in mind. I guess, I’ll be ready for my next trip then!
this is very useful… i normally couldn’t get enough rest before a flight .. im either too excited or stressed out… good thing you shared some tips i can follow 🙂 thanks so much!!!
Wonderful article. Actually, I am not able to sleep before I have to travel and even after reaching the destination because of super excitement or something even i don’t know. I think practicing some of the above-mentioned points can really help me out. For sure will give a try to some of these.
My entire schedule before flying is always so chaotic and stressful lists of things to complete. Maybe I need to start working ahead of time to get better sleep. My travels might go smoother!
These are such handy tips. I travel so frequently and its affecting me. I am tired all the time, mentally and physically. Maybe I should try the tips mentioned here and see if they help me.
Ahh this is my problem since time immemorial, adjusting sleep when I travel. What I do is I just skip sleeping and then when I reach my destination, that’s when I sleep. Never tried some of these trips though and maybe they will help me next time. So yeah, taking notes of your tips.
Thank’s for the post!
Any tips that could help to avoid to be jet-lagged is interesting 😉
Starting a trip without a big lack of sleep is definitely the base for great moments
These are such great tips! Love this! I usually just take a sleeping pill when I’m flying overnight to try to prevent jetlag.
These tips come in handy especially to us travelling long-haul. Well, it depends on one’s body on how they would get sleep. I can even sleep if the place is very noisy. Hehehe 🙂
A very interesting article, Kelly, especially since most of my trips – especially the longer ones – end up with a sleepless night. But that seems okay too. I find it equally important to take some time-outs during the travel period so you can start refreshed in a new day of sightseeing.
I know that adequate sleep is important for our health but at the same time keep fighting with myself to get the same. However, in your article, I found the key to my problem I.e., make a routine. I am going to apply this right away. Thanks so much!
I usually face this problem of sleeplessness in new places. So I found this post very useful. Need to check the diet I take first. In hotels this is one thing that effects the most.
Gaaah it’s really hard to correct my sleep cycle once I screw it up…!
This was dead useful because I didn’t know mixing bananas and peanut butter made you naturally sleepy. No wonder my classmates in elementary school kept falling asleep after lunch! It’s also hard for me to go to bed early but I’ll definitely try your tips!
I need tips for getting rid of jet lag. Still got it and been back a week from Korea. Killer!
Great set of tips in preparation for travel. However I have never been able to sleep before travel . Maybe more out of excitement of what lies ahead. I am told anything sweet at dinner time puts you to sleep.
Very nice post. For me reading in the bed works the best, that always makes me sleepy quicker than anything else would.
The last minute frenzy always gets to me. I need to discipline myself a little more. Gosh! Thanks for these tips.
Thank you for sharing a important tips for traveling in night and sleeping time, very informative post.
This blog post is what I really need. The problem whenever I travel is that I get too excited that I cannot really sleep much before my trip. Then, what happens is that I have less energy during my trip and easily gets tired. I must follow your tips so my future trip will be more memorable and not spoiled because I get exhausted easily.
Sleep is one of the most crucial things that can upset any travel plans if not taken seriously. Some great tips here, and I think the most important of these are making a routine and staying active during the day – both are so helpful for the balance.
Informative and interesting post , i like your post , thank you for sharing.
I would like to try these tips. I usually cannot sleep the night before my travel and it sucks the energy out of me the following day. 🙂
Setting up a bedtime routine is something that has helped me get more sleep on a regular basis. It’s so important to give our body time to rest.
Just what I needed. I am so bad at sleeping before I travel. Way too much on my mind.
Some extremely good points here. I particularly agree that conditioning yourself and your mind at the appropriate time by following many of these cues is a sure-fire way to get mentally in the right space for sleep. It’s all about creating the right atmosphere and conditions to make you really want to enter the land of nod.
I’m not a good flyer, so I am always too nervous to sleep. These are smart ideas!
These are wonderful tips to ensure you get enough sleep. Sleep is so vital in keeping us healthy and happy for sure. Loving these tips and hope they help others … 🙂
It’s really important that we get enough sleep especially if we have a long flight or a long drive ahead. It’s not easy to focus on your trip when you don’t have energy, not to mention, you might not be able to push through with some of your plans due to lack of sleep.
I try to skip coffee late in the day or else I can’t sleep! These are good tips for on the go.
I find that when I’m getting ready for anything exciting (traveling being one of them), I can’t sleep. Which is fine for me because I love sleeping on the plane.
Sometimes I have overworked myself getting ready for a trip. These tips will help me ensure I get adequate rest beforehand.
What a great way to energize so that you are well rested for a long trip! Though I’m sure I could start doing a few of these tips for a better morning in general!
A good night sleep is so needed before traveling. You are fresh and in good mood during traveling. This is a great post, loved it so much.
This is truly a help for me cause I always can’t find a good time to rest whenever I have a schedule trip on the next day. Maybe because I’m always excited and I feel like I might miss my flight. I think eating properly and proper food is the best. Thank you so much for sharing this with us.
Very interesting post. I always have problems sleeping before a big trip. The anticipation usually keeps me awake for most of the night. I will try your tips before my next big trip. Thanks for sharing