Colombia Jet Lag Calculator

London departures face 5 hours, New York 0, Tokyo 14 and Sydney 15 — each figure feeds the recovery estimate for Bogotá at UTC-5. A gap this size is a weekend problem, not a week problem: Bogotá mornings feel early at first. By day three or four in Colombia, your body has caught up.

The size of your Colombia jet lag is the absolute gap between your home offset and Bogotá's UTC-5. Reference frame for Colombia: Bogotá keeps UTC-5 and sits 2,640 m above sea level in South America, with that same offset in every season.

Three levers run the Colombia recovery: light, sleep timing and hydration. Start with pre-flight drift for Colombia — 30–60 minutes per day toward Bogotá time. Hold the line in the air for Colombia: water instead of wine.

Caffeine before noon only, and set the watch to Bogotá time, UTC-5. Each eastbound zone costs about one recovery day, each westbound zone about two-thirds of a day — so the London–Bogotá leg (westbound, 5 hours) bills you about 3.3 days, while flying the opposite direction would cost only 5. Dry cabin air quietly drains you on the way to Colombia; an extra 500 ml of water per 3 hours in the air keeps the Bogotá arrival day survivable.

Applied to this South America trip: 5 hours west from London to Bogotá maps to about 3.3 reset days, so a Colombia itinerary should front-load outdoor time on days one to 4.

Cool, dark and quiet wins in Colombia: 16–20°C in the Bogotá room, a proper mask against street glow, and no screens in the last hour before bed. A 10-minute warm shower an hour before bed speeds the core-temperature drop that starts sleep — a real head-start on the first jangled Colombia nights in Bogotá.

Cap naps at 20–30 minutes and finish them by 3pm Bogotá time (UTC-5); anything longer steals the night that actually resets your clock to Colombia. Practical baseline: lights out in a dark 16–20°C Bogotá room (2,640 m, UTC-5), and no evening alcohol for the first two nights while the Colombia clock settles.