Don’t fret the first night and nap if you need: how to sleep well, away from home

Key Highlights

• While not every family visit or post-Christmas getaway is going to be a trip to Rancho Relaxo, a few things can help us catch holiday kip.
• Pre-departure apps can be useful, so can pillow mists and thermoregulation, but when it comes to maximising rest on the road, some say less is more. Don’t fear the first nightOur sleeping-while-travelling woes often begin before we leave home.
• Between frantic last-minute packing, finishing up work and early departures “you’re [likely] already a bit sleep deprived”, says Dr Sutapa Mukherjee, a respiratory and sleep physician and professor at Flinders University in Adelaide. Compound that with the logistics of actually getting to your final destination and even a relatively short travel time can put sleep hygiene off kilter. Why do we yawn?
• It’s almost certainly not for the reason you thinkRead moreAs we lay our heads down that first night, Dr Moira Junge, a health psychologist and the chief executive of the Sleep Health Foundation, says not to freak out if we toss and turn.
• “In sleep science there is a well known phenomenon called ‘the first night effect’.