12 Signs You've Been Crossing the International Date Line Backwards

Introduction

If you’ve been crossing the international date line backwards, there’s a good chance that your family and friends have noticed. Here are some of the signs:

Last week you told your friend in Australia that you’d call them yesterday, only to realize that it was actually tomorrow.

You told your friend in Australia that you would call them yesterday, only to realize it was actually tomorrow.

You didn’t know the time difference.

You don’t know where the international date line is located or what it even means. (Hint: it’s not a date line.)

You’ve started telling people that you’re looking forward to the weekend, and when they tell you it’s Saturday morning, you have a mini panic attack inside.

Imagine this: You wake up on a Wednesday, in your own bed, after a solid eight hours’ sleep. You’re feeling refreshed and ready to start the day.

But when you look at your phone or computer calendar it reads: Saturday. And not just any Saturday—the day before that was also supposed to be Thursday! It’s like waking up in an alternate universe where everything is backward and confusing; even worse than the other day would be if one of those days were skipped completely (like what happened with my grandfather).

You have no idea how many days have passed since you last saw someone who knows what day it really is (or if they even exist), but there’s no doubt they’ll be shocked when they hear how far behind schedule things are here at home with us.

You keep trying to send yourself emails from yesterday.

You keep trying to send yourself an email from yesterday.

You are driving down the highway, thinking about what a great day it was yesterday and you can’t remember which password you used for your email address. You know it starts with “M” but that’s just not enough information! What if there were two passwords starting with M? Or three? Could be any one of them! And how long did we stay in our Airbnb place? Was it close to the beach or the mountains? Wait…there’s no beach in Indonesia. How did I get out of bed this morning without remembering what my password was?!

This is extremely common among international travelers who have crossed the Date Line backwords—especially those who do so repeatedly during their travels (I’ve crossed back 11 times thus far). It will always happen as long as we live on Earth, but at least now that you know what causes it, you’ll be able to avoid being late for work every time someone asks for your email address over coffee!

You’ve almost lost track of what day of the week it is because it feels like both Friday and Monday at the same time.

If you’re on a long international flight, it’s easy for time zones to get mixed up in your mind. In many cases, you’ll be flying westward where each hour you pass over corresponds to one less day that has passed since you left home. But if you’re flying eastward (say from New York City to London), every hour counts as one more day that has passed since starting your journey! This means that even though you may be in London for 10 hours, when it comes time to land there will have been 11 whole days since leaving NYC behind—a MASSIVE difference considering there were only 10 hours spent traveling by air!

You’re going through all your clothes and throwing out stuff from last year/next year depending on where you are.

One of the most common signs of crossing the International Date Line is that you’re going through your clothes and throwing out stuff from last year/next year, but only one at a time. If it’s the wrong day in your head, it feels like you should be doing this right now—so you might as well do it!

The reason for this behavior is that when traveling across the international date line, it’s good practice to bring new clothes so you’re prepared for both daytime and nighttime activities. The tricky part comes when trying to decide whether or not winter gear is appropriate for summertime travel (and vice versa).

When people ask how old you are, your answer is “27 or 29.”

This can be confusing for everyone involved. You’re 27 in the new time zone, but 29 in the old one. That’s why your answer needs to be “I’m 27 or 29.”

This is also a good time to explain the concept of time zones to your friends and family.

If you’re traveling eastward, you’ll be younger than you were when you left. If you’re traveling westward (like most trans-Pacific flights), then it’s possible that the number of your birthdays increases by one every day that passes!

When people ask where you’re from, your answer is “Both here and there.”

Sometimes, you’ve been living in one country for a long time, working and raising a family there. But you recognize that your nationality is also tied to another country—a place where you were born or have strong ties because of family history. As such, when people ask where you’re from, your answer is “Both here and there.” You have dual citizenship.

You may not know how many years it’s been since you returned home for good (or if this will ever happen). But wherever life takes you next, there’s always a place that feels like home—even when it no longer exists as such on paper or even in reality anymore. It’s an odd feeling: simultaneously being both here and there at once.

When people ask how old your kids are, your response depends on what time zone they’re asking in.

You have kids in different time zones. You’re in one time zone, but your kid is in another.

When people ask how old your children are, you have to figure out what time zone they’re asking about. “My son is two years younger than me,” you’ll say when talking to someone who’s on the same side of the international date line as you are—but “My son is three years older than me” if the other person lives on the other side of it.

Your dog has started to look at you like you’re crazy when you play fetch with her on days she’s already done it before. She’s getting sick of this game and she doesn’t know why this person (you) keeps changing the rules.

Your dog has started to look at you like you’re crazy when you play fetch with her on days she’s already done it before. She’s getting sick of this game and she doesn’t know why this person (you) keeps changing the rules.
Even though your dog isn’t old enough to understand what time zones are, she still knows that something is up and she isn’t happy about it. Dogs are smart, so don’t think they can only learn commands in one language: they also pick up on things like body language and tone of voice—and they can definitely tell when someone is trying to trick them into playing a game too many times in a day!
If this happens too often, it could mean trouble for your relationship. Dogs are not toys; treat them with respect or risk losing their love!

Conclusion

All in all, traveling the international date line backwards isn’t something that happens often. But if you find yourself doing it, remember: you’re not alone! There are others out there who have also experienced this strange phenomenon and we’ve all got stories to share. So keep calm (or try), stay focused on what’s most important (namely being able to tell time again), and hopefully everything will work itself out in the end.