Jet lag

My approach is:

1. Try to nap on the plane (easier said than done, but turn off the entertainment, put in some earplugs and try). Even 30 minutes will help.

2. Check-in (ask the hotel for early check-in), unpack and shower. Do not go to bed!

3. Go out, walk a bit, have a light lunch

4. Walk some more -- no specific agenda, but maybe one of Rick Steves' self-guided walks if convenient to your place of lodging

5. 4:00PM - take a 90-minute nap. Set the alarm and make yourselves get up.

6. Take a stroll, maybe go in some shops, and have dinner at 7:00PM, which is early for Europeans, but your first night, allowable :-), and off to bed at 9:00PM. I can sleep through more-or-less to 5:00 or 6:00AM with this plan. Worst case is I need an hour's nap at 4:00PM the next day, then I am good-to-go!

I get myself acclimated to the time change when I am here in the states. For my trip to England last summer (a five hour time difference), I slowly changed my schedule here at home to where I was getting up at 3am and going to bed at 8pm. I was on this schedule for about a week. My 11 year old son was getting up at 4am and going to bed at 8pm as well. Our flight was from 7:30pm to 8:45am. After eating dinner on the plane, we slept for about 6 hours. I even was able to sleep through an argument between two passengers in front of me that had statements being taken from all the witnesses (I remember hearing shouting). The next day we were able to go last until 10pm that night. I would rather have the jet lag here at home than on vacation. Your time change is approximately 9 hours, correct?

Laurel has some great advice!

Traveling West to East has always been more difficult for me - when you check into the hotel it's so easy to simply say "I'll just take a little nap in the room and I'll be OK tomorrow." ... Don't do it. If you can sleep on the plane that helps - but the trick upon arrival is ...get out into the sunlight...sunlight resets your internal clock.

Paris makes it easy - there is typically something to see just by walking around the area near your hotel. Have a sit-down at a nearby café - sit outside of course. Or even get adventurous - get on the Metro and head over to the Arc de Triomphe - maybe browse the nearby Lamborghini dealership (or maybe America's contribution to Paris :-). Before you know it it's 9pm and you can head to the hotel, go to sleep and your body will be almost reset to the new time zone by the next morning.

You might look at the thread "Changing your body clock" under the Transportation category under Tips and Trip Reports; there are several recent posts that might be useful.

I no longer am able to sleep on the plane, but I try not to go to sleep until a normal time the evening I arrive. It can be difficult, and sometimes I'll nap for an hour or 2, but I find if I make it to a reasonable hour to get to bed, I'm pretty much fully adjusted the next morning. It does help that I live on the east coast. On the other hand, when I return, it takes me about a week to adjust. Of course, part of that may be the difference between beginning a vacation and ending one.

I live on the West Coast but have not had much of a problem in recent flights to London and Paris. I sleep in fits and spurts on the airplane (even if Premium Economy), but perhaps my enthusiasm carries me through without jetlag. On both flights we arrived in the afternoon. When flying to London we took the bus to Bath; my husband then took a nap but I walked around town before dinner. To Paris it was probably 6:00-7:00 or so upon arrival at our hotel. We walked a couple blocks to dinner and had no problem falling asleep that night. We were able to do everything we wanted starting the next day.

I follow Joci's approach, going to sleep earlier and getting up earlier, the moreso as the actual trip approaches. I sleep poorly on the plane, but I do try to. We generally arrive early in the morning and the rigamarole of customs, luggage and getting to our first night's lodging is wearying, so we usually take a short nap (not more than 2 hours) before going out. We usually go to bed around 9 on that first night, but we're not night owls at any rate.

My wife finds it more difficult to do the early-to-bed, early-to-rise approach for a couple of reasons, so she generally wants a nap on the first day. My body is not hard to convince that it's nap time, either. But I'd be more likely to follow RS advice and get in synch with your local time as quickly as possible - get out and walk around on your first day and go to bed at a reasonable (local) time. I think Bruce is right about the effect of sunlight in re-setting your body clock.

I can't really say my routine works but I think it does. There's no way for me to tell because I can't turn right around, do things differently, then take another trip for comparison purposes.

Whatever remedy you try, it's still exciting to be in Paris. I would caution against driving but you probably won't be doing that in Paris anyway.

Despite the cost of Paris hotels, staying there first is the simpler solution than trying to move on to your next destination, which I think is Normandy. It requires a couple of connections and causes stress for other travelers enquiring here.

Julie,

I use a similar method to that suggested by Laurel, but it varies a bit depending on what time I arrive in Europe. I've tried the "sunshine and fresh air" approach that Rick suggests, but find that it only works to a limited extent with me. I will not use pharmaceutical helpers, so prefer to deal with the problem using other means. I've found that an afternoon "power nap" is almost essential to keep me going to a normal bedtime in the new time zone.

In my case, the trip to Europe is easier to adjust to than the trip coming home. Not sure why that is? I'm usually up to full touring speed within a day or two of arriving in Europe. It sometimes takes me a week to get back to normal after returning home.

Good luck!

For me (and I suspect many), this would be an absolute recipe for disaster ..

4:00PM - take a 90-minute nap. Set the alarm and make yourselves get up.

If possible, time your flight so you get into Paris itself late afternoon/early evening, unpack, walk a bit, have a dinner, go to sleep. And make sure the alarm clock in your room hasn't already been set by someone getting up at 4 AM to catch a flight!

I do a caffeine fast for a few days before a trip. That way when I start chugging coffee after I land, it seems to have an extra kick.

I find myself following a similar strategy to Laurel also.
Avoid excessive alcohol and caffeine on the flight, but make sure you drink lots of water.
More water on your arrival day, and caffeine in the morning will get you through to the afternoon.
The 4pm nap can be dangerous, but I find it resets the clock.
A few beers or wine with dinner on the first evening helps to send me off to sleep later.

I like to set my watch to the time at my destination once the plane is in the air. That helps me mentally adjust to the time change. If there is an intermediate stop, I change my watch for each stop-over. I cannot usually sleep on a plane, but I stay up until at least 9:00 the first night. One time I picked up the car right away and drove a 100+ miles after an overseas flight and will not do that again - it took three days to get over the jetlag. If you do need to pick up a car upon arrival, choose a place nearby to spend the first night.

David,

"Avoid alcohol and caffeine on the flight, but lots of water. "

I know all the experts suggest that as a way to minimize jet lag, but I don't follow that advice. I figure I'm finally on holidays after working hard all year to get there so, if I want a glass of wine or a cup of coffee with dinner on the flight, I'm not going to deprive myself of that. I don't overdo it, and I've found that the booze and coffee has a minimal effect on me. I do follow the advice to drink lots of water and always make sure I have a full bottle in my carry-on when I board the flight.

I'm with FastEddie. I do a caffeine fast a couple weeks before the trip. Also, I try to be rested before the flight and drink lots of water. I break the caffeine fast the first morning in Paris. The new routine is supplemented by a kick of caffeine. I also like to arrive in the early evening. This allows me to find my hotel, shower, walk around, have dinner and then back to the room to collapse until the first morning in Paris.

Hi,

More often than not I stay the first night, at least, if not two or more in the city I landed. If I landed at London LHR, then I stayed a few days in London , likewise with Paris if I arrived at CDG or Frankfurt. Recently I took a different approach, fly from SFO to FRA, lands ca 10 am, get to Frankfurt Hbf for a hot lunch, leave for Berlin on the iCE direct ca 1400. It worked out just fine since I can count on sleeping on the flight and well as on the six hours train ride. I'm not that keen on flying, something to be put up with as a big bore for 10 plus hours. I psyche myself up to relax, get to the airport (ie, SFO) in plenty of time, even 4hrs prior to departure. Once airborne my aim is to fall asleep or at least some heavy dozing. Taking an afternoon flight over also helps (1400-1600 departure) since it's close to normal dinner time when the hot meal is served. I take one cup of coffee and a few ounces of red wine with the meal...no negative effects from either. After that, avoid the movies, relax and sleep with the result that I am not jetlagged upon arrival.

I have tried taking a nap at the Pension or hostel in the afternoon after landing, couldn't fall asleep, so after lying down for 30 mins or so, I got up. I don't do that any more. The first day I usually take it easy unless I decide to leave by train in the afternoon.

Julie,

There's a glimmer of light on the horizon (pun intended) that might help you deal with jet lag! According to THIS report in today's news, flashes of light administered during sleep may reset the body clock and allow one to adjust more quickly to a new time zone. Research is still ongoing but this looks promising. There are no devices on the market yet that can deliver the necessary sequence of light flashes, but I'm sure some enterprising manufacturer will provide those shortly.

more info on that wacky new suggestion of flashing lights

http://www.wsj.com/articles/study-points-to-a-way-to-prevent-jet-lag-while-you-sleep-1454966199

And:

JET LAG BASICS

Our internal circadian clocks cycle roughly every 24 hours, affecting everything from sleep to mood, immune system and metabolism.

It’s harder to fly west to east than east to west because it’s harder for the body to shift its circadian clock earlier than later.

The body naturally adjusts to a new time zone at a rate of about one hour a day.

Current strategies for minimizing jet lag include taking melatonin pills, intentionally exposing oneself to continuous light (or withholding exposure), and sticking to specific sleep schedules before and after a trip.

Adjusting the body’s circadian rhythm could improve the health of shift workers, those with seasonal affective disorder and even teenagers whose school start-time doesn’t align with their natural circadian tendency to go to bed late and wake up late.

phred,

Unfortunately the link that you provided is of minimal value, as the story is apparently only accessible to subscribers of the WSJ.

it's so weird how that works, sometimes if you sneak up on the article using Google it will open. I used to post articles but folks got upset (with or without attribution).

Here's what we did last year (after many trips to Europe) and we found that it worked the best:

The day we leave we need to be up at 3am so the 5 days before that we wake up each day an hour earlier than the previous day so our travel day wake-up time will not leave us zombie-like for our very long day (we live on the west coast and our upcoming trip gives us a 4 hour layover in ORD). We also take Pycnogenol for 7 days (50mg capsules; can buy at a GNC or health food store) 3 times a day, starting 2 days before we leave on our trip. We enjoy our wine with dinner on the flight that takes us to Europe (leaves ORD at about 4pm). My husband does much better sleeping on planes; I'm lucky to get 2 to 3 hours. But this formula seemed to work well for us, especially putting us on a new schedule where we weren't waking up at 4am for several mornings after arriving at our destination. And if I can't possibly fall asleep on that final flight, I take a small dose of Xanax but I've also heard that Ambien (which I think that Rick Steves has mentioned) or Benadryl also helps.

I don't tend to sleep on planes unless we can score business seats using miles. Even then, I'm careful to not get too much sleep. The west coast flights we take typically land in Europe mid morning, then depending where our destination is, we are checking into hotel in the afternoon. If room is ready, we'll drop our bags, maybe take a quick shower, depending on how grungy we feel, then get out side and explore for the rest of the afternoon. No museums, just gold old fresh air and maybe an outdoor cafe or two for coffee or a glass of wine. We'll go back to the hotel to regroup before dinner, go out for dinner, and do our best to fight to stay awake until at least 9 pm. At that point we'll sleep really sound due to exhaustion for about 6 hours, but likely that I'll wake up some point and stay away for a few hours. But since there is no schedule for the morning, just sleep until you are ready to get out of bed.

If you are really exhausted upon arrival at your hotel, and can't function, take a 45-1 hour power nap, set your alarm, and get back outside and don't go to bed before 9 pm.

Hi Julie,

We're from the Seattle area, too. If you haven't booked your flight, yet, try to take one of the non-stops to Paris, such as Delta. We try to land before noon. Then force yourself to do anything outdoors as long as possible - not a day for museums. Walk, walk, walk. : ) My hubby takes an hour nap, but I keep walking outside. We aim for a dinner around 7pm and go to sleep afterwards. Usually the next day, we're functioning at 80-90%.

We fly out of LAX and aren't able to sleep on planes. I try and arrive after 3 PM if at all possible. By the time we get through customs and immigration and to our hotel, it is after 5. We go out for dinner after 6 and are in bed by 9:30. This works for us. If I arrive in Europe at 7:30 AM, I am doomed for 4-5 days.
I am not dedicated enough to change my body clock before I leave home. I also arrive a few days ahead of my tour start date and usually travel for 3-4 weeks at a time.

Maybe flying out of LAX is different from SFO since the arrival time in London, Paris CDG or FRA is always 0945 to 11:30 in the morning. Air France departs from SFO 1530 to 1545 and arrives at CDG before noon.