So what's a lagging traveler to do? Experts agree that everyone can benefit from the following:

In-flight tips Don't depart exhausted — or hungover — then plan to"catch up on the plane." Bring water on the plane and drink it (WATER — not tea, juice, coffee, soda, or alcohol). Onboard, set your watch to destination time. Remove your shoes; get your feet up if you can. To maximize rest time, go to sleep immediately — as soon as the plane pulls away from the terminal and cuts off fresh air until takeoff (a natural sleep-inducer). Don't wait for the in-flight drinks or meal — that could take hours; eat lightly if you do eat at all. Use earplugs, a blindfold, blanket, neck rest — whatever it takes. Don't use sleeping pills: A report in England's Lancet medical journal blames 18 percent of long-haul deaths on blood clots to the lungs — and sleeping pills induce a comatose state with little natural body movement (thus reducing circulation, thus increasing the chance of clotting). Exercise and stretch — in your seat, in the aisles, and during stopovers (pilots swear by stopover showers, for circulation). Ask the flight attendant to turn up the fresh air — seriously. (Vernon Ansdell, of the University of Hawaii, pointed out at a recent Wilderness Medical Society meeting that newer aircraft circulate more air.)

On the Ground
Upon landing, start eating and sleeping on the new schedule. Studies prove that circadian rhythms can also be shifted with exposure to bright light; Dr. Martin Moore-Ede, professor at Harvard Medical School, recommends you expose yourself to bright daylight, without sunglasses, for at least fifteen minutes as soon as you can. Meanwhile, the Mayo Clinic recommends early-morning and late-afternoon exercise to help resynchronize your clock. Melatonin has also been proven in studies to reset the internal clock to nighttime, though it makes some people groggy upon waking and its long-term effects are unknown. Consult your physician.

Besides taking good care of yourself, other harmless ideas abound: walk barefoot on the ground at your destination; swim in the ocean; or take an Epsom-salt bath (all reportedly to ground your electromagnetic system). Another idea is having a massage; another, to begin living on the schedule of your destination days before you get there. Does it work? A friend who tried it said,"I was so exhausted when I got to Europe I couldn't tell."

My humble, unscientific opinion? Jet lag is a hangover (look again at the symptoms), so I sleep every spare minute I can — on the plane and the day I arrive. That way I'm fresh for my true objective while others who killed time exploring in town are fading — or bailing — at the trailhead. To knock me out on the plane, I take nothing more serious than generic diphenhydramine (the active ingredient in Benadryl, Tylenol Nighttime, and Dramamine — but be forewarned: it dries your sinuses). And I use eye drops en route, and pound Emer'gen-C vitamin packets (found at health food stores) to rehydrate and replenish electrolytes.

Because, after all, I can always be tired and cranky when I get home.

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