1. Let’s start with the basics. If you’re jet-lagged, you’ve probably consumed your own weight in coffee, and to no effect.

2. Your watch, phone, and computer all show different times, and you don’t know who to believe. Your body clock, of course, is of no help.

3. You’ve canceled multiple social plans because you suddenly got too sleepy to leave home.

4. If you do make it out of the house, everyone thinks you’re rude because you keep yawning…

5. And eventually, no matter where you are or what you’re doing, you straight-up fall asleep.

6. Once you’re asleep, alarms have literally no effect on you. Neither do well-meaning loved ones.

7. On the other hand, when you’re up and trying to fall asleep, no pill is strong enough to do the job.

8. And you end up spending several hours mastering the art of tossing and turning.

9. You never have any idea whether you’re hungry or not, and you have no idea what meal you want.

It’s 4 a.m., so…time for lunch?

10. You get unpredictable bouts of productivity at odd hours…generally when you should be asleep.

11. And you have a strong urge to rage at bizarre times too.

12. You keep greeting people with the wrong phrase.

13. And you look like shit 100% of the time.

14. So the only place you feel at home is at major airports where EVERYONE is disheveled and loopy.

15. You’ve seen more sunrises than anyone needs to, and you hated each one.

16. Since you can’t sleep through the night, you’ve improvised strange ways to stay entertained while the rest of the house sleeps.

17. Or you’re online all night, chatting with people on the other side of the globe.

18. And you’ve caught up on every episode of every TV show you could possibly get access to.

19. At some point, your sleep-deprived brain starts asking stupid questions, like: “Why do we need time zones anyway?”

“I mean, what is time, really?”

20. Everyone you meet has their own expert opinion on jet lag and how to alleviate it.

21. But any attempt to will your body into submission just makes it a thousand times worse.

22. After too many days of this struggle, if you’re lucky, it’ll go away on its own and the world will finally start to make sense again…

23. And then you always have your return trip to look forward to, when you’ll get to do it all again.