About JetLagCal
Our mission, our method, and the lines we never cross.
JetLagCal is a free, independent resource built to help travellers flying to and from Australia recover from jet lag faster — using nothing but behaviour. No pills, no gadgets to buy, no vague "drink water and hope" advice. Just clear, science-backed suggestions for when to seek light, when to keep it dim, when to sleep, when to eat, and how to time it all around your specific trip.
Why we built it
Australia is one of the most jet-lag-prone destinations on Earth. A flight from London, Los Angeles or Dubai can cross nine, twelve or more time zones, and the return leg is often just as brutal. Most existing jet-lag calculators stop at a single number — "you'll need X days" — without telling you what to actually do with your mornings, evenings and flight.
We wanted something deeper and genuinely useful. Every result on JetLagCal answers three questions: what your options are, how well a plan may help (as a score), and your suggested next action. That structure turns circadian science into something you can follow on a Tuesday morning in a Sydney hotel room.
The science, briefly
Your body runs on an internal clock — a roughly 24-hour circadian rhythm governed by a small region of the brain and set primarily by light. When you cross time zones quickly, that clock is left pointing at the wrong time, which is what produces the fatigue, broken sleep, foggy thinking and off-kilter appetite of jet lag.
The single most powerful lever for re-setting the clock is correctly timed light. Morning light tends to shift the clock earlier; evening light tends to shift it later. Consistent sleep timing, regular meals, movement and hydration all support the shift. Our calculators translate these well-established principles into windows and schedules tailored to your route, direction and dates.
We deliberately keep the model conservative. Where a claim can't be stated safely and accurately, we leave it out rather than guess. Individual responses vary, so we present every output as an indicative guide to adapt to your own experience.
What we will never do
- We will never tell you to take a medication, supplement or substance — including melatonin, sleeping tablets or caffeine pills — or suggest any dose.
- We will never phrase guidance as a command. You'll always see "a common approach is…" or "many travellers find…", never "you must".
- We will never present our tools as a diagnosis or a substitute for professional advice.
Who it's for
Holidaymakers, expats and long-stay visitors, business travellers with a make-or-break first meeting, families managing kids across time zones, and anyone who has ever landed in Australia feeling like a ghost of themselves. If you fly long-haul, JetLagCal is built for you.
Independence and funding
JetLagCal is reader-supported through advertising, which lets us keep every calculator free. Ads never influence the guidance our tools produce — the circadian logic is the same whether or not an ad ever loads.