How do you best deal with "JET LAG"?

From Florida to Barcelona in May, looking forward to a 12 day Mediterranean Venice cruise. Our Previous cruise was in April 2013 a Transatlantic, so no jet lag there. Any tips on catching up to the current time?

Whenever I travel abroad, I refuse to "nap" when I get there. I stay up and about until AT LEAST 7pm (preferably 8), and then I will go to bed. That has me tired enough I pretty much always sleep until morning and resets my body clock.

I carry melatonin with me just in case I have trouble, but in trips to London, Dublin, and Florence I have yet to have to use it as long as I don't nap. The one time I did nap was hellacious - hence my no nap rule.

Also, if possible I try and gradually push my to-bed and wake-up times earlier to start resetting in advance, but that is not always possible.

Go a day early and just relax on your arrival day.

We go by the no nap rule as well even though it's usually very hard. The first time we flew into Barcelona we ended up napping the entire afternoon away - bad mistake. We learned our lesson and have never done that again!

Thanks everyone. The "no nap" rule makes sense to me. I can usually sleep some on the flight over, so I/we should be good staying up until a reasonable lights out. Thanks again!

Don't normally get jet lag going east bound, Barcelona is 6 hours ahead of Florida, so if you can nap on the plane and then go to bed at normal time, Barcelona Time, I am normally good.

As a 3m mile flier with 99 percent of that international, I second the no nap rule. Also you may not feel hungry but it is also key to get your digestive system on European time too.

We go by the no nap rule as well even though it's usually very hard. The first time we flew into Barcelona we ended up napping the entire afternoon away - bad mistake. We learned our lesson and have never done that again!

If we arrive early in the morning, and we can get into the hotel room that early, then we take no more than a 1 hour nap. Take a shower and we're ready to stay up at least until 9pm. Next day we are fine.

Go in a few days early to get over the jet lag.

Drink a lot of water.

Keith

as I have never been able to sleep on a plane. After a couple of hours sleep, a light lunch, and lots of water, the exposure to sunlight during the day will usually put me right in a couple of days.

Drink lots of coffee. :o

First off try to take a later departure from the United States to Europe. If you can get a departure after 8pm, your body clock will allow you to sleep on the plane. Try to get a longer transatlantic flight. It is more pleasant to arrive around 10am or noon since you more likely can check in fo your hotel and have an easy afternoon.

The departures between 4 and 7pm are too early. After they do the meal service you will struggle to sleep for a few hours before the lights are back on for breakfast. You then arrive at 7am or earlier and have to force yourself to stay up all day after barely sleeping.

Some other tips are melatonin or Ambien. Even though your body is tired it may be hard to fall asleep at 8 or 9pm since it is he middle of the afternoon back home. Melatonin helps you fall asleep but wears off fast. Ambien is prescription and can keep you asleep longer. It is a strong drug for some so make sure you try it out at home before you go to make sure you don't have side effects.

My last tip is fly business class. If you combine a nice flat business class seat and a sleeping pill you will arrive feeling great. I understand that probably is not in the budget but if you can afford it the eastbound business class and westbound economy can help with jet lag.

Just want to second the later flight time suggestion. DD and I did this when we flew to London last fall. We had a 10 pm departure time and were able to sleep on the plane. so much nicer!!!!

We go a day or two early, always sleep on the plane, and don't drink the free alcohol that's available,

When we wake up on arrival, we're pretty much in sync with it's being morning.

We hit the ground running and go to bed that night by 9pm. Next day we have adjusted.

I'll say it sure is easier east to west, though.

I have tried the NO nap but I prefer a little sleep time if the hotel will let me in early. I will say this seems to be more associate with the arrival time than the need to adjust.

We are flying 24+ hours with two stops to Capetown this spring :eek: I wonder how well we will handle it. I did up grade the seats but could not afford business class.

We also try to get a late flight, don't drink, because we're taking ambien(well- maybe one glass of wine-lol) and try to sleep for 8 hrs. We always try to get a row with only 2 seats, so we can make our little "nest".

No naps upon arrival. The first time to Paris, we missed a whole day napping

Also, we AlWAYS put our watches ahead to the local time of where we are going.

I know some people say they can't sleep on a plane, but the ambien really works(at least for us.....)

Helaine

I forgot to say we change our watches. Anything to fool the brain.

I have my cabin pack in my purse. It's a Ziplock bag with earplugs, eye mask and a blow up pillow. If I remember, I ask my doctor for a prescription, but don't know myself out. I don't want to be groggy in the morning.

It sounds like a lot of trouble, but it beats losing the first couple of days.

Has anyone taken the early am flight to Europe from the East Coast? I always take the red eye and that first day is brutal.

The other piece of advice I have on top of all the other great suggestions is to pay the extra for the long leg over the Atlantic. I am fine in economy generally but splurge for the overnight segment.

... The other piece of advice I have on top of all the other great suggestions is to pay the extra for the long leg over the Atlantic. I am fine in economy generally but splurge for the overnight segment.

Agree 100% with this. We've been fortunate to be able to get the Delta Comfort seating on the transatlantic flight, and that extra 4 inches of legroom makes a huge difference in comfort.

Delta is determined to "help" me with my flight to Barcelona. It started at 7 something, then went to 9:05, and is now at 9:38pm arriving at 11:35am.

I am completely spoiling myself with Delta One Business Class, which has the 180-degree lie flat seats, so hopefully I can crash pretty early into the flight. :)

Thanks again everyone for all the great tips.

Has anyone taken the early am flight to Europe from the East Coast? I always take the red eye and that first day is brutal.

 

 

 

The other piece of advice I have on top of all the other great suggestions is to pay the extra for the long leg over the Atlantic. I am fine in economy generally but splurge for the overnight segment.

I did it my last trip to NYC left early morning and arrived in Dublin at 23:20 was home and in my bed by 00:45 worked out OK jet leg not as bad as other trips though I work shifts so my body clock has no set rythum I also agree with the no nap rule have something nice to eat and head to bed early at around 7 I also bring water and a snack to bed in case I wake with my body out of sync it helps me go back to sleep

Must agree that forcing your body to the new time zone is the quickest way to adjust.

When I fly from Australia to Dublin it's about a 10 hour time shift. To get there it's usually a trip of 27 to 30 hours plus the two hour drive to the airport and getting there three before the flight, then the arrival time and drive in Dublin. I really don't sleep on planes so it's often about 36 to 40 hours between sleeps. I then force myself to stay awake until bedtime in Dublin and try to wake up in the morning there.

Have tried Melatonin drops but did not notice much difference. Some say it helps, maybe it does or it's a placebo. I have to be careful as I was once addicted to placebo's but I kicked the habit and it made no difference.

A 1-2 hour nap in the afternoon of the day we arrive in the UK works well for us--we set an alarm. Then we go out for dinner and stay up as long as we can.

Keeping hydrated and eating on schedule helps considerably.

I have used Ambien on flights to/from Australia and it worked well.

I did it my last trip to NYC left early morning and arrived in Dublin at 23:20 was home and in my bed by 00:45 worked out OK jet leg not as bad as other trips though I work shifts so my body clock has no set rythum I also agree with the no nap rule have something nice to eat and head to bed early at around 7 I also bring water and a snack to bed in case I wake with my body out of sync it helps me go back to sleep

Thanks for the feedback. I am hoping to try this on my next flight to the UK.

I do shift work as well, but I often get some long naps on the overnights, so it us not as bad as it could be.