坐經(jīng)濟艙如何倒時差？

I was flying home to London from Australia last weekend when a nice man from Qantas asked me to put a name tag on my suitcase during a stopover in Dubai. “This pen of yours is fantastic,” I gushed as I scrawled my name on the tag with one of my favourite types of pen. “Thanks,” he said. “But it’s actually yours.” Disturbingly, it was. In my jet-lagged stupor, I had somehow managed to forget I had fished it out of my bag only minutes earlier.

最近，我從澳大利亞飛回倫敦。經(jīng)停迪拜期間，澳洲航空(Qantas)一位和善的男士讓我在行李箱上掛上姓名標簽。“您的這只筆真是棒極了。”看到這是我最喜歡的一種筆，我一邊在標簽上潦草地寫上自己的大名一邊夸贊對方。“謝謝，”他說，“不過這其實是您的筆。”尷尬的是，這還真是我的筆。時差搞得我心神恍惚，以至于忘記了自己幾分鐘前把這只筆從包里掏出來。

In my defence I had just flown overnight from Melbourne for 14 sleepless hours, strapped upright in a seat beside a row of sobbing infants. But it was a worrying moment considering that this week, in an awful case of bad timing, I am due to make another day-long flight, to the bottom tip of Chile for work. Even for someone from Australia, a nation of long-haul specialists, these back-to-back treks looked daunting. So I decided to take stock of all the jet lag tips that truly work, as opposed to the vast load of twaddle on the topic.

為我自己辯白一下，當時我剛從墨爾本出發(fā)的夜間航班下來，在飛機上度過了無眠的14個小時——安全帶讓我只能直挺挺地坐著，旁邊還有一排哭哭啼啼的嬰兒。但那一刻我還是心生憂慮，因為特別不湊巧的是，那周我還得飛行一整天，到智利最南端的一個地方出差。即便是對一個澳大利亞人來說——澳大利亞是長途旅行專家之國——這種緊挨著的長途飛行也令人生畏。因此我決定梳理一下真正有效的倒時差竅門，而不是有關這個話題的大量胡扯。

Starting with the latter, it is astonishing how often people are still advised to prepare for a big flight as if they were Olympic athletes or jobless. The UK’s National Health Service is a typical offender. Its jet lag page blithely suggests flyers “start going to bed and getting up an hour or two earlier or later than usual, in line with the time of your destination”.

先從后者開始，令人吃驚的是，現(xiàn)在人們得到的建議依然常常是像奧運選手或者沒工作的人那樣準備迎接長途飛行。英國國家醫(yī)療服務體系(NHS)就是一個典型。NHS有關時差的頁面寫著一條漫不經(jīng)心的建議，要搭乘航班的人應該“開始提前或延后一、兩個小時就寢或起床，盡量向目的地時間靠攏”。

This assumes phenomenal levels of willpower and more importantly, a boss who lets you skip work to stay in bed. It is as practical as British Airways’ ultimate jet lag adviser, an online calculator that tells you when to shun or seek out light.

這條建議假定人們都擁有極大的意志力，而且更重要的是，你還需要有一個讓你翹班睡覺的老板。這條建議就和英國航空(British Airways)的終極時差顧問一樣“實用”——后者是一個在線計算器，告訴你何時避開光照，何時接觸光照。

As a former Financial Times aerospace correspondent, I do not doubt all the research suggesting a dose of light at the right times can help shift one’s body clock to curb jet lag. But good luck making it work in real life. When I tried BA’s calculator after returning from Australia, I received the bewildering advice to “seek light between 0:00am and 2:30am”.

作為英國《金融時報》前航空航天記者，我并不懷疑大量研究的結論，即在正確時間接觸光照能夠調整生物鐘，從而抑制時差反應。但在現(xiàn)實生活中沒什么機會用上這樣的建議。從澳大利亞返回之后，我嘗試了一下英國航空的計算器，得到一條令人困惑的建議，“在凌晨0點到2點30分之間接觸光照”。

It gets worse once airborne. There, one is frequently told to engage in two mutually exclusive activities: glug water constantly and sleep as much as possible. Maybe this works for people with an iron bladder and sleeping superpowers. Ordinary mortals can forget it, especially those in steerage.

針對飛行期間的建議更糟糕。人們常常被建議在客艙內做兩件相互抵觸的事情：持續(xù)喝水，盡可能地多睡。也許這對那些有個鐵膀胱和超強入睡能力的人管用。普通人就算了吧，尤其是坐經(jīng)濟艙的人。

Speaking of which, there is a special brand of unhelpful advice from chief executives such as Yang Yuanqing, chief of the personal tech group Lenovo.

說到經(jīng)濟艙，一些企業(yè)掌門人提出一類特別的無用建議，比如科技集團聯(lián)想(Lenovo)的首席執(zhí)行官楊元慶。

“Choose a midnight flight and take a good nap on the plane,” he told China Daily. This makes sense if you have a bottomless supply of business class tickets. Sadly I do not, which is a shame because I have reluctantly concluded that by far the best weapon against jet lag is a seat in business.

“選擇午夜航班，然后在飛機上好好小睡一下，”他告訴《中國日報》(China Daily)。如果你有無限的商務艙機票，那么這條建議有點道理。遺憾的是我沒有，這很可惜，因為我不情愿地得出結論，對抗時差的遙遙領先的最有效武器是坐商務艙出行。

In its absence, I have three other tips. Breaking up the flight with a stopover is by far the best. I had never tried this until an Australian friend based in the Middle East said he swore by it, normally stopping at an airport hotel for long enough to get eight hours’ sleep before hopping back on the plane. It obviously takes more time and money, but rarely as much as an upgrade. It won’t work for my flight to Chile, sadly, because I have to fit in with other people’s travel schedules. But having just done it in Dubai, after which there has been no repeat of the pen embarrassment, I am a convert.

在沒法坐商務艙的情況下，我有另外3個小訣竅。把飛行旅程分成兩半，中途停留一下是遙遙領先的最佳辦法。我以前從來沒有這樣嘗試過，直到一個落戶中東的澳大利亞朋友表示，他對這種做法推崇備至。通常他會在飛行旅途中在機場酒店停留足夠長的時間，以便睡上8小時，再登機進行下一段飛行。顯然這需要更多時間和金錢，但額外的花銷很少超過升艙費用。可惜的是，這一趟我飛往智利沒法用這個竅門，因為我得和其他人的行程保持一致。但我剛剛在迪拜嘗試了一下，之后就沒有再重復認不出自己的筆的尷尬事件，這讓我成為這種方法的忠實信徒。

My second tip is from another road warrior friend: act like a new mother. Snatch sleep whenever and wherever possible, regardless of the time in your destination. It does not work as well as a stopover but still helps.

我的第二個訣竅來自另外一個常常旅行的朋友，那就是向新手媽媽學習。隨時隨地抓緊一切機會睡覺，無論你的目的地現(xiàn)在是幾點幾分。這個訣竅的效果不如中途停留，但還是有幫助的。

Finally, forget all the guff about resetting your body clock with light, melatonin or whatnot and concentrate on doing it with food. Eat as little as possible at the airport and on the plane, then tuck in at the first meal time in your destination, preferably breakfast at least 14 or so hours later.

最后，忘掉一切讓你用光照調整生物鐘、褪黑激素或者其它什么東西的胡扯吧，把注意力放在食物上。在機場和飛機上盡可能地少吃東西，然后在目的地的首個進餐時間大快朵頤，這一餐最好是早餐，在你出發(fā)至少約14個小時后。

I came across this ploy fairly late in life from a chef and wish I had discovered it sooner because it is far easier than it sounds and curbs the worst of jet lag. There is even research to back it up, though admittedly it was done on mice.

我在人生中相當晚的時候才從一位大廚那里得知這個策略。我真希望能早點得知，因為這個訣竅做起來遠比聽上去簡單，而且能抑制最嚴重的時差反應。甚至還有研究支持這種做法，盡管應該承認那些研究是在老鼠身上進行的。

I do not claim to be the last word on all this. Suggestions on other useful remedies will be gratefully received, as long as they work in economy and preferably if they come this week.

我不會說我在調時差方面已經(jīng)是一個權威。讀者對于其他有用解決方法的建議，只要在經(jīng)濟艙管用，我都會懷著感激之情收下，而且最好能早點發(fā)給我。