theory on jetlag-to nap or not to nap

I just returned from my first European trip. We were not going to nap but just about the time we got to our hotel room it started pouring rain--not a little rain you would walk around in with an umbrella. Well hey, seemed like a great time for a nap. I believe it really helped us. We were able to get up and get going and stayed up until their bedtime. We never felt bad after that.

BTW, my daughter lived in Ft Wayne for three years and I found it to be a wonderful town.

I think your theory might be sound. We don't nap at home, and find that the few times we tried to after a flight, that we were grumpy and couldn't sleep that night. We "power through" the day and turn in early the first night and feel 'adjusted'. To each his own! That seems to be Rick's philosophy- do what works for YOU!

search on "jet lag" in search box upper right and you'll be linked to 190 prior comments on how to best deal with jet lag, including naps yes or no.

I usually find that if I go to sleep a little earlier and wake a little later the next day, my internal clock is efficiently reset. I have used short naps during winter trips to northern Europe, though. Although I am not a sun-worshiper (far from it!), I have found the first day of indirect sunlight at the higher latitudes very draining... or rather, I don't get the usual automatic recharge at morning light.

You might be right, Karen. I never nap at home even if I'm tired because I find it leaves me groggy and then unable to go to bed at the regular time. At home or abroad I just get on with my day, and things are fine the next day.

We always travel as a family with the kids and I try to get flights so that we don't get to Europe real early but instead prefer flights that get us to the hotel by 1. This makes checking in easier. We also prefer to take a nap for an hour or two. I find it much better than walking around like a zombie trying to keep awake.

If traveling for work, it is a different tale. I shower at the airport and head straight to the office. The fact that I have to work makes it easier since there isn't an option for sleeping. In this case I try to make it to bed by 9 or 10 but still find I wake up after about 4 or 5 hours of sleep.

My wife and I are in Britain at the moment and she just read me an article from OK Magazine (I know...consider the source) that said NASA scientists have released a report saying that it takes about a day per time zone crossed (when traveling East) for your body to sufficiently reset itself to the rhythms of the new time. Looking back at our month here, that seems about right. Even though physically we were fine after one night here, we were a bit crabby the first 5 days or so.

I think most people feel the effects longer than they realize, but "power through". As far as sleeping goes, it doesn't take that long, but as far as your whole mental focus and "unseen rhythms" it took us about a week to fully adjust.

You've obviously found something that works for you. I used to take nap of only one hour, and only in the afternoon, of my first day, mostly because I HAD to.

Since then I have gotten more aggressive with fighting jet lag with things like diet and melatonin, and no longer nap. I have significantly less jet lag than when I did.

So I think people should do what works for them, but I also strongly suspect that napping prolongs jet lag.

We just got back from two weeks in Italy and we hit the ground running the first day. (I am not a napper at home, my hubby is)

What we DID do was sleep in a bit on day 2. It was inadvertent(hubby shut off alarm) but we slept until 11:00am! No big deal, we decided a few lost hours was worth the energy to get through the following 13 days. We adjusted quickly from there.

This is something that everyone just has to find out what works for them. I do not tend to take a nap when we get in. For me I just try to make it through the day so that I am able to fall asleep that night. Otherwise I have a hard time falling asleep. In any case, I think that the biggest problem with napping when you get in is that it is easy to keep sleeping and not get up. If you nap for half an hour or 1 hour and actually get up, you may just be rejuvenated enough to make it through the rest of the day. However, if you are like me and are very good at convincing yourself not to get up, then you sleep for several hours and really screw yourself up. :)

Kent, yes I KNOW there are a thousand replies on jet lag. I was hoping to get a definitive answer to it. IF you do nap at home, take a short nap when you get there. IF you do NOT nap at home, don't nap abroad. Just a little semi0-scientific research. Then we could move on to other topics. Like wearing shorts or using travelers checks.

Maybe if we can convince people that wearing moneybelts prevents jet lag we can see the end to both questions!

Karen, there is no definitive answer to your question. It really is individual.

Will you sleep on the plane or not. HOw rested will you be before your trip? How long is your total flight time? All these questions affect jet lag.

These things are for sure....jet lag hates sunlight and activity.

As I get older, I like taking naps. So, the idea of taking a nap upon arrival is something I would consider. I decide what to do when I get there.

When I arrive I shower, change clothes and get out in the sun. If I skip the nap, I do this upon arrival--even at the airport. If I nap, I wait until after that to start my routine.

But then, I don't sleep well at home, why should I sleep any better in Europe.

And here's another key...if on any day I feel as if I need a nap, I take it. Anywhere in the world.

I do nap at home sometimes,depending on my day, but when I travel, I seldom take a nap. I want to get a goodnight sleep at a decent time, so I can wake up early the next morning. I'm so excited on the way to Europe, I don't get jet lag, but I do on the way home.
Two days before my big trip to Europe, I try to rest as much as possible. I fall asleep on the plane, but just on and off I doze off. If my hotel room is ready early, I just stay in my room long enough to unpack and shower, and off I go with my adventure! But I do feel ready for bed early in the evening.

Happy Travels!

I've always thought a big part of the answer is to think only in the European local time from the time you arrive at your US airport until you are home. Asking yourself, "What time is it at home?", only makes it worse.

I like to arrive first thing in the morning after getting as much sleep as possible on the plane. I plan an active day the first day to help me stay awake, go to bed at a respectable hour (maybe 9pm)and sleep in as much as I want the next morning. After that I'm usually okay.

I do try to adjust my sleep pattern a little in the week or so before the trip by going to bed an hour or so earlier and getting up earlier.

I don't nap but I aslo don't nap at home. My wife naps at home. On vacation she naps when we're driving/training or at the beach or pool, she doesn't get nap times at the hotel.

Last year we tried to sleep on the plane without success and were really jetlagged when we arrived. This year we each took about 1/4 of an Ambien and each of us slept about 4 hours during the trip -- felt great and refreshed when we arrived. It seemed to make all the difference to us.

I just got back from 5 weeks in Sicily. On the way over (the long flight to Gatwick), I didn't watch the offered video and tried my best to sleep (I got a few hours). Once I hit Sicily, I walked for 15 minutes outside, and was fine for the rest of the day (including taking a strenuous hike up to the site). I slept pretty well that night, and by the next day was fully adjusted.

Coming back, I also got a little nap time, and was fine on my sleep schedule.

Another thing that I found VERY helpful- I set my watch for London time when we took to the air, and regularly (and deliberately) thought of that actually being the local time. On the flight from England to Italy, I reset it for Italian time. I found that this also helped in adjusting for jet lag.

I repeated the process on the way back, and was hungry for dinner when we landed, but not sleepy.

First let me say that I like to nap, but don't get to do it often. I put myself on European time when we started our journey. Some Tylenol PM helped me sleep "over night." When we landed around 10 a.m. we just hit the ground running. We were actually up until midnight. No jet lag at all. I was more fatigued when I arrived home, but after almost a month of travel, and the last 10 days I was sick, I probably just let myself go. Unfortunately I had to go to work the day after I got home...:(

We got no sleep on the way over, and were pretty washed out by afternoon. We did stay up until around 9:00 p.m. though. Unless you get a lot of sleep, I could never understand anyone taking a bus or boat ride on the first day. I had trouble keeping my eyes opened when we were having lunch at a pub that afternoon.

I have to confess that my first trip, with a lot of jet lag both in Scotland and on our return, may have been affected by our activities. We were 24, and a good bit of the scenery we saw was the interior of pubs and nightclubs. That does tend to take its toll.

I am always so jazzed to be in Europe after the long plane ride, I can't possibly nap. I just want to get out there and see, smell, and hear what's happening in the city/country I'm visiting. Maybe it will become routine for me one day, but it hasn't yet.

I also find I'm more tired when I come back. I chalk that up to having nothing but going back to work to be excited about.

On my first trip, I was in business class and got about 5hrs of sleep. When I got to Paris, I kept going until about 4pm and then took a 45 min nap. Enough to be refreshed, not enough to get groggy, then did a night tour. I was fine with no real jetlag.

This time... I just got to Germany Tuesday, we were in coach, only slept 2 hours on the plane and had to lay down for a nap. We slept for about 2 hours and were very groggy when we got up and had a hard time sleeping Tuesday night. The effects of jetlag were much more this time. I think it was a mix of things 1- not sleeping enough on the plane and 2- maybe we should not have napped as much.