On my first trip to Athens a few years ago, I crashed the second I arrived to my hotel room. It was the middle of the day. Instead of my planned walking tour of the Acropolis, shopping around for handmade leather sandals, and eating some delicious Greek salad, I groggily woke up in the dead of night confused where the time went. With restaurants long closed, I scavenged through the complimentary mini-fridge snacks to satiate my rumbling stomach, feeling guilty about having missed a full day of my trip.

Those few days there, I couldn’t stop thinking about how much long-haul travel scrambles your body’s natural rhythm. Rather than accept my jet-lagged fate, I made it my mission to find a solution to all the typical symptoms: Whether it’s dehydration and fatigue or irritability and digestive issues, I figured there had to be some way to help my body adjust quicker after flying halfway across the world.

Vogue’s Favorite Travel Remedies:

But first: What even is jet lag? Simply put, it’s a mismatch between your internal clock and your destination’s local time. “When those cues shift suddenly, your physiology cannot adjust immediately, resulting in fatigue, trouble focusing, digestive changes, appetite swings, and irritability,” Taylor Fazio, a New York–based registered dietitian and wellness advisor for The Lanby tells Vogue. “Most of your body’s essential processes run on a circadian system, a 24-hour cycle which sets the rhythm for sleep and wake cycles, hormone release, body temperature, appetite, and digestion,” she adds. “Light is the strongest signal for this system, but meal timing, movement, and when you sleep also play a role.” By finding ways to counter these shifts, you can prepare your body ahead of time.

After many trials and tribulations, here’s the expert-backed routine that’s more or less cured my jet lag plus the essentials that ensure I always have more energy, better sleep, and smooth digestion once I land. And after over 50 flight this year so far, I can confirm I’ve gotten it down to a science.

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Before The Flight: Get Ahead of Time Zone Changes

I first discovered the Timeshifter app a few years ago at a wellness retreat at the Six Senses Ibiza and it’s a godsend for switching time zones. After inputting your flight details plus, sleep, caffeine, and supplement habits, it customizes a plan to help adjust your circadian rhythm to a new time zone—essential for combatting jet lag. The plan typically starts a few days before travel. “The science in the app is incredible,” says clinical psychologist and sleep medicine doctor Michael J. Breus, PhD, who is a regular user. “It tells you when to get natural light, take a nap, have caffeine, use melatonin, and more in a very particular order to help your adjustment.”

Before The Flight: Hydrate, Reinforce Your Gut, and Reinforce Immunity

“I actually recommend that you start hydrating the day before you fly, making sure that your body is nice and hydrated by the time you get on the plane, and continue to hydrate during your whole flight,” says Erica Casavecchia, MS, a New York–based integrative nutritionist and founder of Casawell Health.. “For extra hydration on a deep cellular level, I would also recommend drinking coconut water or adding electrolytes into your water.” To take this up a notch, I also eat foods with high water content—think hydrating fruits or vegetables like oranges, apples, cucumbers, broccoli, or zucchini—to keep my body hydrated.

If you don’t already take a probiotic regularly, incorporating one before traveling to other countries can help. “Doubling up on probiotics or probiotic-rich foods like yogurt or fermented foods can also be extra effective,” says Cassavecchia. “Other countries can have different rules and regulations when it comes to food and water which means it could contain bacteria foreign to our gut microbiome. It’s a common response for new bacteria or viruses to affect our bodies if we ingest them.” Diet aside, a probiotic supplement can come in handy, too. Before a trip to Zambia, my general practitioner recommended doubling my regular dose of probiotics to help reinforce my gut bacteria.

Trace Minerals

Staying hydrated is one of the easiest and most powerful things to help your body. And electrolytes are the first place to start. While I absolutely love Be Love’s refreshing electrolyte drink at home, when I travel, I use Trace Mineral’s dissolvable packets for my dose of hydration. “This powder provides electrolytes and coconut water, plus trace minerals, which helps correct the dehydration of flying and supports adrenal and metabolic processes that can become taxed during travel,” says Fazio. “Restoring fluid and mineral balance is one of the fastest ways to feel more stable, energized, and get things moving in a new environment.”

Seed

“A pre- and probiotic supports the gut barrier and helps maintain a stable microbial environment which is helpful for reducing the constipation, bloating, or loose stools that often come with disrupted schedules, different foods, and travel stress,” explains Fazio. “When traveling, stick with a probiotic you already know works for you.” While I try to get my essential probiotics and prebiotics through whole foods, Ritual’s capsule offers an easy, multi-strain synbiotic formula for full-spectrum, comprehensive support to fill any nutritional gaps. It helps keep my gut in check with probiotics—the live bacteria that support your microbiome—help maintain balance in your gut, crowd out harmful bacteria, and support immunity, mood, and digestion, as well as prebiotics, which act as fuel and nourishment for the good bacteria.

Bio.me

Daily Prebiotic Fiber Packets

“Fiber can help maintain regularity when your meal timing and routine are inconsistent, which is one of the most common issues during travel,” says Fazio. “Look for a well-tolerated soluble fiber that supports microbial diversity, short chain fatty acid production, and gut motility.” Bio.me’s is made with two types of slow-fermenting soluble fiber, partially hydrolyzed guar gum, and resistant potato starch (the latter is being studied as one of the best dietary fiber options to support longevity of the gut), to help reinforce and nourish the good bacteria in the gut, support microbial diversity, improve GI discomfort, and maximize nutrient absorption. I love that it has a lower dose (7 grams of soluble fiber to help me reach the recommended daily fiber intake of 25-35 grams), dissolves instantly in any hot or cold beverage, and is incredibly gentle on my system.

Armra

It’s easy to get sick on a plane when you’re in close quarters and your defenses are naturally down. “The cabin air is extremely dry, which weakens the mucosal barrier in the nose and throat,” says Fazio. “That barrier is one of the first lines of defense against pathogens and when it dries out, it is easier for viruses to get in.” One easy way I’ve supercharged my immune system (and gut) is through nature’s “liquid gold” aka, colostrum. It contains a few super-ingredients studied for their ability to potentially help prevent infections—oligosaccharides, IgA and IgG antibodies, white blood cells, and a protein called lactoferrin. “Colostrum delivers immunoglobulins that support both the gut and respiratory mucosal barrier,” says Fazio. “This is valuable during travel when exposure risk is higher and the mucosal lining is compromised by dry cabin air.” Since taking it regularly, I’ve noticed I haven’t gotten sick as easily as I have in the past.

On The Plane: Soothe Inflammation, Sleep, and Keep Hydrating

“Bringing your own sleep kit is essential,” Breus says. “Mine usually includes an eye mask, earplugs, and my favorite meditation or light music on my iPhone, some lip balm, a pair of socks, and a pair of sweatpants.” My personal sleep kit consists of the Drowsy eye mask (it feels like a personal blackout curtain, perfect for blocking out any possible light), VIO2 mouth tape (helps me do more deep breathing which I find instantly to be more calming), ideally noise-cancelling earplugs (comfortable for side-sleeping), and an aromatherapy oil made with immune boosting, antiviral, decongestive essential oils like lavender, pine, peppermint, lemon myrtle, and other herbs.

The First Day: Combat the First-Night Effect

Breus recommends choosing flights where you land earlier in the morning at your destination. “If I can, I like to go on a walking tour of wherever I am to get some sunlight and vitamin D, both of which help retrain my circadian rhythm,” he says. Upon arrival, I try to shower quickly (which wakes me up) and opt for a less intense sight-seeing moment (do not do a museum that you really care about, or you may glaze over, like me, and have to go twice), and jump right back into my routine with probiotics, omega-3s, and more to stay consistent and reinforce my inflammation response as well as immunity defense.