When people talk about severe jet lag, as I’ve learned over time flying in premium as well as economy cabins, the jet lag is always the worst when you are flying in coach. When you can sleep flat when you’d like, move around, stretch, and have endless drinks, chocolates, snacks, and meals whenever you want them, time not only passes by quicker, but your body also more quickly adapts to the different time zones. It’s kind of a sad reality to admit when I have the privilege of flying business or first class, and not everyone does, but it’s really the truth. I’ve always had the hardest time flying back from Asia or Australia when I flew in economy seats. It’s just nowhere as easy to sleep comfortably and when you want in an upright cramped seat (the recliner in economy should NOT even be called a real recliner!), and this is coming from someone who is quite petite.

When we got back, we did what we usually do, which is unpack everything, put as much as we can away, and try to reorganize things in the apartment to get our lives in order for reality again. And by the time “bedtime” rolls around at around 10:30-11, I already feel like it’s time to sleep, even though we’d previously been in the air, in a timeless and dateness zone, for about 20 hours.

It’s always hard to adjust being back, not because of jet lag, but because of the boring realities of the day-to-day. Going to work, which is pretty predictable; the mundane and un-thought-provoking conversations heard from other colleagues; the usual rat race as it always is. Sometimes, I come back and tell my colleagues I’ve missed them… okay, to be fair, maybe once. Most of the time, I never miss them because I always know that in the zone of whatever I am doing when I am away, it’s always better than what I was doing at work.