Whether you’ve been using Apple Watch since day one or are just getting started with it, closing the activity rings daily can become a fun and addictive goal. However, traveling can present some challenges, particularly when traversing through timezones. Follow along for some tips and tricks to make sure those rings get closed while you’re on the go.

The stand goal may be the most difficult activity ring to close on travel days. If you’re losing hours as you cross time zones, and depending on how long you’re on a flight or in a vehicle, sometimes it can feel impossible to hit the twelve hour goal.

Luckily, there’s a simple trick to make it easier to earn your stand credit.

How to fill your Apple Watch activity rings while traveling through timezones

  • Before you lose hours during travel, turn on Airplane Mode
  • From your watch face, swipe up from the bottom of the display
  • Tap the airplane icon to turn on Airplane Mode

This will lock in your current timezone and you’ll have a much better shot at closing your rings. Keep in mind that turning on Airplane Mode on Apple Watch will automatically turn on the feature on your connected iPhone by default.

You can toggle it off quickly on iPhone and it will remain on for Watch. When traveling via plane, there isn’t much downside. When driving or traveling via train etc. you will trade off Watch connectivity for retaining a full 24 hour day, but it may be worth it 😄.

Some other tricks I use to make sure I fill my rings are popping my Watch on if I wake up in the middle of the night to get a drink of water or go to the bathroom, getting a head start on the day, and also making sure to take a few walking/stretch breaks when in flight.

One other tip is to keep a portable Apple Watch charger on hand for long travel days. My Ugreen Apple Watch Charger with Lightning cable has been a life saver multiple times over.

For more help getting the most out of your Apple devices, check out our how to guide as well as the following articles:

  • How to stream Apple Music on Apple Watch Series 3 without iPhone
  • How to check battery health and disable iPhone battery performance throttling in iOS 11.3
  • How to protect your iPhone data with privacy controls built in to iOS 11
  • How to wirelessly charge your AirPods case for about $10 in 3 easy steps
  • How to find a lost iPhone even when it’s set to vibrate/silent
  • How to check your iPhone’s warranty & repair coverage