How to sleep well while traveling for better health

Long travel can affect your sleep habits, but technology will help you maintain a good sleep schedule on the go.

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You have established a good sleep routine and environment at home, but it is easily interrupted when you travel by environmental changes from ambient noise to strange lights…

The key to preventing sleep disruption while traveling is in preparation. Here are tech tips to help you sleep well and stay healthy while away.

Follow the bedtime routine

While staying up late or waking up late in the morning may sound tempting while on vacation, it can affect your sleep and health.

Building good sleep habits is essential because your body has an internal 'clock' (circadian rhythm). It regulates the sleep-wake cycle. When interrupted, the quality of your sleep can be impaired. Research published in Canadian Science Publishing explains that later bedtimes and large fluctuations in sleep are linked to serious health problems.

1. Maintaining (or establishing) a sleep routine can help you sleep well and also provide the following benefits:
2. Maintain sleep quality, help stabilize circadian rhythms.
3. Adapt to the new environment quickly.
4. Reduce jetlag.
5. Improve energy during long journeys

Sleep Cycle is one of a number of applications that analyze sleep and wake up gently in the morning. You can set a goal, choose the alarm sound and the desired wake-up period.

Adjust your sleep habits to the time of day in the place you visit

In the environment you visit, the length of the day may be different from where you live. If the destination is sunny, the sun will rise earlier and set later.

If you want to sleep well while on vacation, but the sun wakes you up before you get enough sleep, you should adjust your bedtime to match the time of sunrise.

You can set that up with:

1. Weather apps like the Met Office Weather App to keep track of sunrise & sunset times.
2. Use Smartwatch features (if available) including Apple Watch, Garmin, Samsung Galaxy, and Fitbit to see sunrise and sunset times on the watch face.
3. Web sites such as Time and Date, BBC Weather to see sunrise and sunset times and other useful local information.

Wear an eyepatch to block unexpected light while sleeping

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Wearing a blindfold is a great way to help you fall asleep faster and not worry about being woken up by the dawn light or the device in the room when you haven't had enough sleep. In addition, this accessory helps protect and moisturize the eyes (ideal if you are in an air-conditioned environment).

On the other hand, if you use a smart sleep mask, you can also enjoy the following functions:

1. Support bluetooth to listen to music, listen to read books while sleeping.
2. Enjoy soothing light therapy to trigger a natural wake-up response—just like the light of dawn.
3. Some smart sleep masks act like weighted blankets for your eyes, providing extra massage.

Block unwanted noise with headphones and sound

From late-night hikers to early morning commuters, a lot of noise can disrupt your sleep on vacation. If you are in a hot climate, turning on the air conditioner can also cause a noise that lasts all night.

If you want to sleep well on vacation, using a soothing white noise app, listening to a soothing sleep playlist or playing an audiobook can help you sleep deeply and soundly.

Choosing the right headphones is also important. Use sleep-specific ones because they often feature environmental soundproofing, bed-comfort designs, and easy touch controls.

If you want to find the perfect lullaby, Spotify, Mp3 by Zing or YouTube are the perfect channels for you.

Soothe holiday anxiety with meditation

Anxiety is also a factor that prevents you from sleeping well. This is unavoidable when traveling. Meditation is a great way to reduce feelings of anxiety or tension in your mind. If you don't know how to meditate, you can watch tutorials on YouTube or download an app like Headspace for Android and iOS.

Here are some tips to help you sleep well while traveling. Hope the article is useful to you.

Marvin Fry

Update 24 July 2023