Coffee strategy for international travel

When I worked at a Belgian startup, at least once every six months I’d fly to Europe for a “work week.” The name always bothered me—what were we supposed to call every other Monday through Friday? In any case, “work weeks” were great: they were a week of full of collaborating, ideating, strategizing. I got to bond (read: drink) with coworkers, and I traveled all over Europe for free.

Most of my adult life I have been fully addicted to coffee. My coffee preferences have matured over the years—and gotten more expensive—from Dunkin Donuts to Devoción, my current favorite. In college, the seasons created natural caffeine ebbs and flows: my coffee intake would slowly ramp up as the semester wore on, then spike drastically during finals week, and then drop to near zero during the breaks. And the cycle would repeat.

As an adult, there are no such guardrails. I remember one Saturday, after walking around SoHo all day, I couldn’t get energized to go out and meet my friends for dinner and drinks. At that point in the day, I realized I had consumed seven espressos, and I was feeling totally exhausted.

When you’re traveling to Europe, you know you’re going to want to fight the jet lag at some point. You’ll want to be prepared. Over the years, I’ve developed the following playbook: I present, a coffee strategy for international travel.

1. The first thing you’re going to want to do is to cut back. I’d recommend going cold turkey for the week leading up to your trip. Expect headaches, as your body grapples with the physical effects of your chemical dependency. I often find myself craving coffee at random times: someone buys a gas station coffee in a movie, and I start thinking about coffee, even late at night… More recently, I have become weak minded, so leading up to some trips I allow myself a single caffeinated beverage per day.
2. Hold out as long as possible. Layover? No need for a coffee yet.
3. Once you arrive, it’s time for The Trifecta. This is the most important part. Stop at a little cafe, ideally one with the chairs outside facing the street, and order one espresso, one beer, and one sparkling water. This effervescent trio is the most beautiful way to announce that you’ve arrived.
4. Do not take a nap. Embrace the brain drain. It might be hard for a day, but it pays dividends later in the week. I think there’s something beautiful about the strange delirium. I remember sitting at a fondue restaurant with my friend Michael in one of these moments. We just stared at each other, unable to form enough consecutive thoughts to carry a conversation, while a vat of cheese bubbled between us.