Two weeks today we caught an early morning train from Brussels to Paris to connect to our 2:30 WestJet flight back to Calgary and then Regina. It seemed like a hectic day but looking back was really quiet seamless….it is about an hour and forty-five minute train ride, and the train goes right into Terminal 2 of the Charles De Gaulle Airport. After some security and customs, a long walk, a tram ride, a long walk, and a bus ride, we got to our gate and had time for some lunch and relaxation before our flight. By now our head colds had set in full bore, and we were both coughing and blowing noses and feeling lethargic and grumpy. We were excited to be going home to see family and get those recharging hugs that we needed.
After a nine-hour flight from Paris, and a few hours layover in Calgary, and a one-hour flight to Regina – we were met at the airport by the Helgason family and Ry (who is very much part of the family) and got those first hugs that so help to heal and re-energize. We spent the evening hearing family stories and sharing some of our exploits and headed to bed for a good nights rest. We had been awake almost exactly 24 hours. According to our bodies it was 8 a.m. – according to the clock in White City it was midnight. I’m not sure what was going on in our internal clocks because we both fell asleep fast and hard but by 2:30 a.m. we were wide awake looking at the ceiling. What? We rolled around and tried to go back to sleep for awhile, but finally succumbed and got up around 5 a.m. We headed out to Foam Lake later that morning and were greeted by pictures and flowers at our house from the littles, and a welcome back from all the rest of the family for supper and another round of wonderful hugs. It was awesome to be able to see every child and grandchild within a day of getting home. After a great visit and delicious meal we headed to our house, exhausted and in much need of a good sleep. We tumbled into bed by 9 p.m. and we were wide awake at 2 a.m. with no chance of sleep returning. Without dragging you through the boring details of the next few days – you can see the pattern. We were exhausted by 3 or 4 in the afternoon, trying hard not to nap, falling into bed early evening and wide awake between two or three in the morning. OK, we decided, this is jetlag. We just have to suffer it through, continue trying to modify the schedule to reach some kind of bedtime and wake time normalcy and it will pass quickly, The colds didn’t help – we knew we also needed rest to beat the virus and get better there – so we did steal naps when we just couldn’t function.
That’s been our two week story. Very slowly (way more slowly that I expected) we started sleeping later and later until we could actually remain in bed until 6:30 or 7 (which is quite normal for us for spring and summer mornings when the birds are singing and the sun is shining) and we actually could stay awake until 10 or 11 in the evening, We still had zero energy all day.
So I guess, what I am saying – to make a short story long- is that jetlag is a real thing. I wasn’t sure if it wasn’t just travelers being a bit tired from having a great holiday, and a little time-zone adaptation, but I’ve never had a whole lot of sympathy. I will now. It is a thing…it is real, and impactful and for us, two weeks of really feeling foggy and fatigued. Of course, the head colds didn’t help and were exacerbated by the tiredness or maybe the tiredness was exacerbated by the head colds? I’m sure it was some of both.
When we headed to Europe 65 days earlier, we didn’t seem to experience the same phenomenon at all, even though we crossed the same number of time zones and we were heading East; research says travelling East intensifies jet lag…not for us. We did have a few nights in Spain right in the beginning of some broken sleep; I know I did my first few blog posts in the wee hours when I had woken in the night from sleep, but there wasn’t any feeling of exhaustion. We were up in the morning early, rarin’ to go and were going until 9 or 10 most evenings.
I have recently read an article in my two weeks of lethargy and uselessness about Travel Fatigue, which I had never heard of before but makes a whole lot of sense to me. This article stated that when we are at home, for much of our day we engage in routine activities. These activities are so much a part of our daily lives and ingrained in us, that we don’t have to think too hard about them. We all have rituals where we are tending to our daily tasks and taking comfort in the familiar. When we are travelling our rituals disappear. We are actively thinking about each step of each day, We are in unfamiliar surroundings and exploring and therefore are actively “on” each minute. As well as not experiencing brain relaxation, we are eager and want to experience every special minute of this experience so we tend to over-schedule ourselves and physically tax ourselves as well. Even our diet changes as we indulge in the dishes and the drinks of the places we are visiting. According to the article, this all contributes to travel fatigue. This was a very interesting read and it helped to explain why we were feeling so exhausted for the past two weeks; not only our age but well above it.
We said we planned this trip initially in our 20’s and we were going to experience it with the exuberance of youth. We tried, we were amazed by the beauty and the differences that we got to experience but we realized quite quickly that we are not in our 20’s and we couldn’t even fake it! I thought we had adapted our travel well to suit our real age and I still feel that we did. We scheduled in down time, and naps, and days that we weren’t always on the go but we did have a 65 day experience and obviously, our bodies and minds needed recuperation. We are thankful the travel fatigue didn’t hit until the very end.
Was it worth it? Without question! We loved our adventure and entertain ourselves with memories and laughs every day from those wonderful European days. But we have learned….and just want to share this important tip – be ready to extend your holiday by another week or two after you get home, because there is definitely a renewal time. Especially if the holiday is extended and if you are up in years – all of that adds to the bounce back.
I just hope that I have to recover from travel again in my future. It’s a small price. I’ll take it!