How to ease fatigue from a long drive

It is now autumn in Japan. It still gets to 25 degree Centigrade in daytime and you can get sweaty but in the morning and evening it is getting chiller. Some of our employees have caught cold because of the big difference in the temperature.

Autumn is considered the best season of the year in Japan. You can do anything from reading books, enjoying sport and food. You can spend some time outdoors, and see the colour of tree leaves turning from summery green to crimson, “autumn colour”. To enjoy that, because I live in the middle of Tokyo, I have to drive out to the mountain areas. So do most people in the area, anywhere famous for autumn leaves get busy. Cars, cars and more cars… All the roads get jammed on the weekend.

The most popular spot from Tokyo is “Nikko”. You can normally get there with a 3 hour drive each way. But this place is also famous for incredible traffic jams. I say, give it at least twice as much time. That means at least 6 hours to get there, so 12 hours return. I bet, now some of you are wondering if it is possible to enjoy the “autumn colour”.

Whatever the situation is, you have to be more careful with your driving than usual. A long time driving and big traffic jams are a dangerous combination to induce fatigue and sleepiness. So I would like to tell you what I normally do to reduce them.

Firstly, how to drive: Always check the speed limit and keep the engine revolutions steady to stop your eyes getting tired. You can also relax while driving and can guess other drivers’ speed, which reduces sore shoulders. This is also effective to get good gas mileage.

Secondly, when your eyes get “too tired” and you start feeling “drowsy”: Even if you try relaxing while driving as above, when you drive at night or to a new destination, you feel nervous. This causes your cardiac rate and blood pressure to get higher and makes you more tired as a result. It is because a substance called tryptophan causes some mental fatigue such as stress and nervous imbalance, which eventually causes your body to produce active oxygen. When this happens, the point is to reduce the tension of sympathetic nerves and easing the amount of active oxygen. This is what you can do:

(When your eyes are tired) … you will feel your eyes getting sore and your vision gets blurry as if your eye sight got worse. In this case, using your fingers, lightly press some acupressure points around your eyes. Do not press your eyeballs though.

(When your shoulders or other body parts are getting stiff) … stop at the next parking area if you are driving on a motorway. Park your car, get out and do some stretches. Stretch your Achilles' tendons, stretch higher with your arms up and bend & stretch your knees. Especially doing some exercises on the lower half of your body is good to get blood to circulate better which is also good to reduce your back pain.

(When you start feeling sleepy) … I am not really good with this one to be honest. About 20 years ago, I was working till 10 o’clock at night and went on a motorway. I had to drive in the middle of night and had two other senior employees from the same company as passengers. It was just when the sun light came up and I felt the brightness, I also felt drowsy; I hit the rail and scratched the side of the car badly. I was lucky it was just that but there was a possibility that it could have been worse. Since then, I have made it a rule that if I feel sleepy I will stop and have a rest; then go back on the road. To fight with sleepiness, I take some caffeine drinks to wake up my brain and vitamin B to ease fatigue. I normally take nutritious “Energy” drinks and canned coffee. Canned coffee contains both caffeine to keep you awake and sugar to boost your energy level and I think it works quite well. (It cannot be non-sugar black coffee. It has to have sugar to be effective.) When I go back behind the steering wheel, I chew gum to stimulate saliva production and the brain. I sometimes eat some snacks for a change. But you have to be careful with this one because a full stomach can also make you sleepy. I occasionally have a bath if I find a public one.

However the most effective solution is to ask my wife to drive. A few hours nap is usually all I need to get back into driving.

Please listen to your body and drive safely without getting overtired.


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(Editor)
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