Travel Like a Healthy Rock Star: Savor Your Rest...No Matter What

I would love to give you all kinds of great tips on how to get 8-9 hours of perfectly uninterrupted sleep while you travel.  While I do have some tricks...my best one is simply NOT to obsess about how much sleep you get.  The reality is you are faced with time zone changes, new bed, hotel noises, change in diet, etc.  On top of that, you might be a little anxious about your meeting the next day or, more important, what you are missing at home.  Minimizing alcohol, drinking some hot tea, and light yoga prior to sleep will help.  I have done all of these...and been settled in my "not too bad" hotel room bed by 9pm to get a good night's rest and wake up by 5am for an early morning meeting.   What results is that I toss and turn (my internal clock still thinks it is 8pm).  Because it is earlier, my husband calls so I can talk to the kids before bed - which usually morphs into a longer conversation on our day after we do our good night gratitude prayers with the kids.  Of course, I am so happy to connect with my family, but by this point I am now considering what I am missing so am more awake than ever.  By the time I finally drift off, it is 11pm (if I'm lucky)  and if I want a good workout in the am...I am down to 6 hours sleep. Over the years, I have come to accept that I may get on average 1-2 hours less sleep per night while I travel.  I make up for that by simply ENJOYING the adventure of the travel.  I try to see the sites or enjoying seeing work colleagues I don't see very often.  I appreciate that I live in a time when I can talk to (and see) my family ever day (thanks to FACETIME and SKYPE).  So I have to accept that when I travel a good 5-6 hours is "good enough".