Last week, my family I went to the Philippines to visit extended family. We’ve made it a habit for the the four of us to visit every year, assuming there’s not a global pandemic going on.

The day before the trip, I took lots of naps. I listened to my body, yet stayed awake when necessary prior to the trip and while on the long flight. To my amazement, the first night with a 12-hour time difference, I managed to be asleep during the 10 o’clock hour and awake as the sun hit my ‘lids at 5:20. Perfect!

Unfortunately, that next day was set up under the presumption there’d be a lot of naps going on, and not a thing on the itinerary. My body, used to a fitness-filled day, plus the medication I take, had me a tired, anxious mess. I was sleepy and wanted to be back in bed at 9 pm that night, but our Air Bnb was still full of family, laughing loudly with the lights on.

By the time I could settle in, I was frustrated at my husband’s several interruptions as I tried to meditate myself to sleep amidst the noise, and restless due to the inactivity. I couldn’t sleep—I didn’t sleep! All night long, and we were scheduled to leave the Air BnB at 4:30 a.m. the following day to fly to another Philippine Island.

We landed back in the U.S. this morning, after the typical several delays we’ve come to expect from Philippine Airlines (“They’re on island time!”) and I didn’t do so well at readjusting at all this time around—I napped from noon to 5:30 p.m. today. My son came down with a fever, surely a viral infection as my sister-in-law and her two children came down with something before we left, so I couldn’t follow through with a busy day to keep us awake until bedtime.

Ce la vie! Though I’m awake now, when I don’t want to be, tomorrow will allow for more opportunities to recommit to my routines. Maybe I’ll squeeze in a post about one of our trip’s destinations. For now, I’ll leave you with a drawing I completed today of our cousins that live in the Philippines. They’re young adults now, but I met them when they were preteens and I love them so, so much. Family is everything, but we’re not all lucky enough to be born into a functional one. I’m so grateful for having more family—more people to love—since I married Mark.

Lesson from the fail: always include fitness in the plan to shift sleep schedules around jet lag.