Eleven tips for better sleep when you’re travelling
Whether travelling for business or pleasure, these tips will make sure you’re always ready to go.
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At its best, travel can be a thrilling adventure that reboots both body and mind. At its worst, it can wreak havoc with sleep, which will put a cranky damper on exploring your destination.
Long-term lack of sleep can make you look older; it can cause you to gain weight and experience more pain; and it can leave you more likely to engage in risky behaviour or act unprofessionally in work settings. While chronic sleep deprivation may significantly compromise overall health and well-being, even brief periods of sleep loss can affect mood and memory.
So if you want to etch the highlights of a trip into your recollections, getting quality slumber while traveling should be a priority, and it is easier than ever to do so.
The real issue when crossing time zones, says Dr. Rachel Salas, a neurologist at Johns Hopkins Medicine, is exposure to light. "Light, especially sunlight, is the biggest clock resetter we have," she says. If we can reset our circadian clocks when we travel, then we are much more likely to enjoy the trip. Many top international hotels design their rooms for optimal sleep so you can be your best self.
Travel can also be tough on sleep because by its very nature it casts aside routines. A healthy sleep regimen, however, is one habit you will want to preserve during your trip. Dr. Param Dedhia — the director of sleep medicine at Canyon Ranch in Tucson, Arizona — says ideal sleep hygiene includes keeping non-sleeping activities out of the bedroom.
That's challenging when your hotel room or flight cabin has to serve as a workspace. Nevertheless, you can still harmonise your external environment with your internal state by following these tips:
1. Reset before you even leave home.
You can begin adjusting your sleep clock to a new country's time zone at home by wearing darkening glasses or visors, or by going to bed and waking earlier or later, says Salas. She also suggests using a light box to tell your brain to wake up, even if it's dark outside, or drawing blackout curtains to bring on the night a little earlier.
2. Plan to arrive in a foreign country in the morning and sleep on the plane.
If you need help falling asleep, Salas suggests a 1mg dose of melatonin, a hormone the body produces to signal the mind that sleep is around the corner. Take it 30 minutes to 1 hour before you want to sleep, she says, but don't use it as a sleeping pill: "It's not a very good one. In our clinic we use it as a circadian-rhythm anchor."
3. Forgo the beverage-service nightcap.
The most commonly used sleep aid, Dedhia says, is alcohol. However, it's a poor choice. Every serving of alcohol affects sleep for 2 hours, he says. Sedation levels increase for the first hour, but during the second hour arousal increases as the alcohol leaves the body.
4. Bring your own pillow.
Sleep posture can affect sleep quality, especially if you have pain or sleep apnoea, says Nancy Davis, an expert on sleep posture at Canyon Ranch. Unless you have sleep apnoea, sleeping on your back is best — and most first-class lie-flat airline seats now extend to 2 metres.
Side sleeping is the second preferred position for good slumber, Davis says. Whatever your sleep position, you want a pillow that supports your neck. Davis notes that most down pillows can easily be stuffed into a carry-on. She suggests tugging the bottom corners of the pillow down toward the shoulders to make a nest for your head.
5. Get exposure to light early in the day and retire to a dark room at night.
When you change time zones, you're really changing when your body is being exposed to light, which confuses the sleep/wake signals for the brain. "If you get light exposure at the same time every morning, that's essentially when your brain is reset, like a stopwatch," says Salas. When you alter that, you scramble the cues to the brain.
6. Choose a hotel with a pillow menu, blackout curtains, and circadian lighting.
Most luxury hotels have made guests' sleep a priority. MGM Grand, for instance, offers Stay Well suites in Las Vegas. They're equipped with dawn-simulating alarm clocks, warm-hued lighting that won't send the brain cues to wake more substantially during middle-of-the-night bathroom trips, and energising light therapy for the morning. At Zurich's Dolder Grand, the darkening shades can even be programmed to let light into the room gradually.
7. Embrace sleep-inducing technology.
Use downloadable dimmers for your computer and the night-shift function on your iPhone to switch over from brain-waking blue light to sleep-inducing warm-hued light. Consider using products like the new Genesis lamp from Lighting Science, which attunes to your circadian patterns and adjusts its light output accordingly.
8. Be mindful of sleep trackers.
These could backfire and cause anxiety if you discover you're not getting enough sleep. But, Salas says, they can help by making sleep a priority.
9. Keep it cool.
To help restore cells, the body and brain's temperature drops during sleep, says Dedhia. Travelers can fall asleep faster by mimicking this cooling process. Dedhia and Salas both suggest indulging in a hot bath or shower before bed. The subsequent cooling can help prompt sleep. And keeping your hotel room's temperature between 18 and 20.5 degrees will help you sleep soundly.
10. Stick to your normal routines as much as possible.
The brain loves patterns — they help it understand when it's time to wake or sleep. You can give it the same signals when you travel by sticking to that morning workout or after-dinner walk.
Just avoid strenuous activity too close to bedtime, Salas advises, because it stimulates waking hormones and endorphins. "The mind and body respond to habits," Dedhia says, so consistency of sleep and wake times might be even more important than the number of horizontal hours you log.
11. Get comfy.
If you're not flying privately, then choose first class or business class. You especially want to be well rested if you have to hit the ground running when you arrive at your destination.
Try to book a lie-flat seat bed or premium cabin with sleep pods, such as those on British Airways, Qantas, and Korean Air airliners. Better still are the full-bed suites and "first apartments" offered by Singapore Airlines and Etihad Airways. "You can lower the light, block the noise, and control your sleep environment," says Johns Hopkins' Dr. Rachel Salas.
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Forget a Bow Tie. Here Are 3 Black-Tie Accessories to Rock Instead
Stylist Tom Stubbs on ditching the bow tie this festive season—and what to wear alternatively.
Black tie, that essential marker of an increasingly rarefied ceremonial style, is inspiring. Nothing coaxes men into upping the sartorial ante quite like reading those words on an invitation. I say amen to raising the bar, but I can’t bear wearing a traditional bow tie—and haven’t done so for over a decade.
Around the turn of the millennium, I was enthusiastically dress-code obedient, but two unstoppable forces put me off: Fashion moved on, and I got old. Where abiding by hallowed traditions once felt exalted, it suddenly began to seem restrictive and stuffy. And while it was extraordinary to be a bow-tied 30-something, in my 40s, the convention made me feel like a pompous, conservative square. Now, menswear has changed so much that bow ties register as pedestrian garb better suited to waiters than to revellers.
Fortunately, there are several black-tie alternatives that excite and inspire me now that I’m well into my 50s—many espoused by stylish guys on the red carpet and innovative designers in London, Paris, Florence, and Milan. And though I might take a bow on nonconformism as I step into my 60s, I still plan to steer clear of the bow tie, that ultimate symbol of gentlemanly customs, for as long as I can. Here’s what I’m replacing it with.
Form and Function
I got excited seeing Lemaire’s slim metallic modernised bolo ties in the house’s fall 2024 show. A favourite of men as varied as Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, and Snoop Dogg, the bolo is perhaps best remembered as the chosen neckwear of John Travolta’s surly hit man, Vincent, in Pulp Fiction. Originally, Native American tribes including the Zuni, Hopi, and Navajo used these accessories used to fasten bandannas with plaited-leather cords. High-end versions double as a bit of jewellery, with silver slides set with turquoise and often engraved with animal motifs, including buffalo skulls and eagles. Contemporary takes abound, but vintage sleuthing can turn up some particularly beguiling options.
Gambling Man
Varying in size, flounce, and attitude, ribbon ties—also called gambler or Kentucky neckties—have long been a legitimate black-tie alternative. Actor Cillian Murphy has worn Saint Laurent’s take to various award shows, looking stand-alone chic and authentically cool. They have a distinct Western energy—Kirk Douglas donned one as Doc Holliday in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, as did Robert Vaughan in The Magnificent Seven. But they’re as much rock star as they are gunslinger: The late Johnny Thunders of the New York Dolls and Bauhaus front man Peter Murphy (style role models of mine) also wore them with panache. Take a note from the runway and wear them with a pair of boots—cowboy, Chelsea, or with a Cuban heel—to really step away from the standard.
Fit to Be Tied
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If you want to give yourself some breathing room, consider scarves and neckerchiefs. This fall, Tom Ford proposed a louche take on evening style, using black, slim-plaited, or delicately sequined scarves whose long tassels provocatively dangle at the hips. For maximum effect, the brand styled them with open satin shirts, recalling rockers Mick Jagger and Rod Stewart. London’s La Bowtique also does beautiful outsize bows. On a smaller scale, the Twilly—a short silk scarf pioneered by Hermès—works in much the same manner. The French maison makes gorgeous options with angled ends for extra verve, whether hanging loose or more discreetly knotted.
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The concours d’elegance concept (“concours” means “competition” in French) can be traced back to 17th-century Paris, when aristocrats would flaunt horse-drawn carriages in local parks during summer months. Animals eventually gave way to automobiles, and the gatherings mutated into more organised contests in which these new-fangled contraptions were, in somewhat prescient fashion, judged solely on the appearance. The trend spread throughout European high society, before reaching America in 1950 with an inaugural pageant at Pebble Beach, California—a concours which has since evolved into a behemoth of the species, now billing itself as “the world’s most prestigious car show” and drawing 214 vehicles and spectators in the low five figures at the last annual meeting. Other concours are thriving globally, from spectacles in Lake Como in Italy (the longest running event, launched in 1929) to Udaipur in India. Vanity, it seems, remains in vogue.
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“In 2024, we had 500 people over the three days; this year we’ll aim for 750. But we’re never going to become a 20,000-people show,” he says. “We want it to be bespoke and beautiful, so people don’t have to queue for a glass of Champagne. You can talk to the car owners, and everyone feels like a VIP.” The overarching aim is to become a “destination event” on the socialite calendar, on par with the Melbourne Cup or the Australian Grand Prix.
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Hole In One
The Citizen Kanebridge VHG Golf Open Returns to The Southern Highlands This February.
The third annual Citizen Kanebridge VHG Golf Open Day is happening again this year at Citizen Kanebridge Lodge in the Southern Highlands on Friday, February 21. Players will tee off from 8 am for a day of unrivalled bucolic hospitality in the spirit of friendly competition.
The Open unites forces with the operators of Mount Broughton in Sutton Forrest to stage the popular day, in which teams of four enter to enjoy 18 holes of unadulterated fun.
Players will meet at the clubhouse, where—golf aside—they will be served breakfast, lunch and liquid refreshments throughout the day before heading back to Citizen Kanebridge Lodge for a special dinner, fun awards ceremony and more drinks.
Located just 10 minutes from the Citizen Kanebridge Lodge in Berrima, the stunning Mount Broughton course gives players—male and female, and ranging from amateur to semi professional—the chance to compete in a golf day with plenty of high-jinks and food along with way.
The event is part of the new offering from Citizen Kanebridge, a private membership club based in Sydney. Citizen Kanebridge allows members to have access to the Robb Report Club(RR1) based in the United States of America, Citizen Kanebridge Lodge in the Southern Highlands of NSW, and The Royal Automobile Club of Australia (RACA) in Circular Quay, Sydney.
Members interested in Golf Open Day, may enquire by reaching out to leanne@citizenkanebridge.com.au. For more information on Golf Open day, you can download the information brochure here.
Love golf? jump to our golf connoisseurship package from the Spring 2024 issue of Robb Report ANZ.
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