Many years ago, my son Andy got a particularly bad case of jet lag — and ended up asleep in his spaghetti.
Jet lag hates bright light, exercise, and fresh air. To beat it, I sleep on the flight and then, once I arrive in Europe, I make it a point to be active, staying out and about until an early bedtime. Psychologically, it’s important to shift your mindset to European time when you shift the hour hand on your wristwatch. I admit, I love my Ambien. I take half a tablet to get 3 hours of sleep on the plane. At my hotel, I conk out easy at bedtime. But I wake up wired at about 4 a.m., so I take the rest of the tablet. That way I can sleep until breakfast, as I muscle myself onto a European schedule.
What are your best tips for minimizing jet lag?
While many of us follow this guideline with success moving West to East, does anyone have a successful approach flying East to West as this does not seem work as well in the other direction.
Thanks
When I fly US to Europe, my flights always seem to land in the morning, and i’m terrible at sleeping on planes. So, i stay up, out and about, until we can get into our room (usually 3pm) and then i sleep for 3 hours. I get up, go to dinner, do an evening activity, and go to bed about midnight. I usually wake up about 8-9am the next day and am good to go!
When I return to the US, i usually arrive mid-afternoon. I always come home, shower, go grocery shopping, and just power through. I force myself to stay up until 7:30pm, and then i’ll let myself go to bed. I can usually sleep until at least 4:30. The following night, i force myself to stay up until 8:30, and then after that, i’m usually back to my normal schedule.
Melatonin has been a huge help for me on either side of the flight.
For whatever reason, jet leg just doesn’t seem to bother me when traveling east to west. I tried melatonin for the first time last month to deal with west to east jet lag, which is always a HUGE problem for me. It worked great!! I took it at 9pm Dutch time, which was I believe 3pm on the flight. I caught 3 hours of sleep (vs never being able to sleep on planes) and felt surprisingly alert during my 1st day overseas. I took 1 pill every night before bed and slept great! I’ll never travel without it.
I’m with Serena….Arrive AMS at 0900, go to Citizen M hotel at the airport…take a shower and nap until dinner time. Melatonin at bedtime and up to take the train. East to west longhaul, sometimes can sleep. Get home and crash. Next day back to normal.
Nothing Yet
It is the one thing I dread about travel. I usually do well going, by staying up and going to bed around my normal time, I am usually so wiped out that I sleep 8 hours the first night. Now coming home is the biggest problem. I have come to the conclusion that light is the secret. My husband has all kinds of outside things to immediately get to when we get home and he seems to do so much better than me, me on the other hand is stuck inside with laundry and mail and bills. So I try to at least sit outside and read the mail and try to get sunlight. It works better than nothing at all and it seems like I just wake up from about 2 AM and then every night it gets later and later. It makes sense because when you get to Europe you usually spend the first day out in the light walking around.
I typically begin an adjustment to Europe time a week prior. For example, 7 days prior to departure I’ll get up at 5 am for two days, then 4am for two, then 3am for the last 2-3 days. Then, as with Rick, I’ll take an Ambien and sleep on the plane. Once I land I do as others said. I’ll hit the ground running and typically get to bed about 9p local time. Up as normal the next day and all is good. Really no lasting effects.
It’s easier for us on the East Coast than for people like Rick who live on the West Coast. Here’s what works for us going east:
Take an evening flight, arrive in Europe in the morning. Do not drink alcohol or coffee on the plane except at breakfast. Find your way to the hotel (easier when it’s daytime), check the bags. Walk around, do some sightseeing. Eat lunch on Europe time, walk around some more. When the room becomes available, nap for a couple of hours. Eat dinner on Europe time, go to bed a little early. Sleep may be weird but try to stay on a Europe schedule the second day. By the third day, jet lag is gone. We’ve never used Ambien.
Going east to west, no problem, just stay up until East Coast bedtime.
I am wondering about the dosage of Ambien that Rick takes for the 1/2 tablet for the flight over the Atlantic west to east. Thanks!
After I board the plane, I take half a dose of Nyquil (I put it into a small Scope travel size bottle so it is my dose). By the time we have finished dinner, I am ready to doze off. Half a dose of Nyquil is perfect for me as it helps me get to sleep and then I sleep for several hours. Since I get into the deep sleep I can hit the ground running upon landing. With Nyquil I am not groggy and am fully alert when I land. This has worked for me for years and years.
My wife used to train flight attendants for a major airline. They emphasized hydration. Humidity levels on board and airplane are very low…often drier than a desert. According to their training materials, many of the symptoms that people attribute to jet lag are actually caused by dehydration from spending 7-8 hours in a desert-like environment without drinking enough fluids.
My husband and I usually travel to Europe by cruise ship, nice way to start and end a vacation and virtually never any jet lag.