Touché, Jetlag

For the first time in my life, which has included plenty of long flights and time changes, I have jetlag. And let me tell you, I utterly underestimated it. I always thought that all you needed to do was stay up until bedtime in your new time zone, get a good night’s sleep, and you’d be fine. Well, I did that, and the next morning, I was pretty much on track. I remained on track until about 6:00 that night, at which point I got overly emotional, weepy, shaky, horribly headachy, achy, and felt like there was a real potential that I would pass out. I gave up and collapsed into bed at 7:00, and slept for almost 13 hours, but woke up just as tired as ever today. I proved to not be up to the challenge of dealing with life when J asked me what kind of cell phone I wanted and my response was to burst into tears. Soon after, my vision started blurring, I couldn’t stop trembling, and I was willing to believe that my head had actually split open. The waves of nausea were just icing on the cake at that point, especially when added to my fury at spending my second full day in NZ laying in a motel room watching stupid TV. All in all, I was utterly miserable. Which, of course, meant more crying, which does nothing to alleviate trembling, headaches, or misery. Great coping skills – not.

J, while being tired and stressed as well, did not end up jetlagged, and was helpful and supportive, although a bit at a loss as to how to handle my overwhelming hopelessness. He did go out and buy me a very nice Huawei Google phone, which is clearly the prescribed treatment for jetlag. He is a doctor, after all.

I pulled myself together enough to walk to a nearby restaurant and get some good food in my tummy, before coming back and resuming my position in the easy chair in our room. I am determined to sleep wonderfully tonight and feel all better tomorrow. I can do it.

So… first major life lesson learned in NZ: Do not scoff at jetlag.