Jet Lag to Dublin

It is unpredictable as to your exact effect. We have developed an approach that works very well for us but others will absolutely disagree with it. We live in Denver so the jump is about the same. When we land in the morning we tried to fresh up in the restroom and hit the street trying to keep moving and in the sun light. Avoid sitting in or on anything. Around 2 to 3 pm when we start to run out of gas, we take a nap - max two hours and set an alarm. Normally we wake after an 1.45 or so. That seems to recharge our batteries enough to last through a normal dinner time and bed time around 10pm. There were many years when we tried the "stay awake all day" without a lot of success. We discovered taking a nap one day by accident and looked back.

The other thing we try to do is a little time shift prior to leaving. Simply moving our schedule forward a couple, three hours. And the other we now do a decent meal in the airport prior to the flight and avoid all activities on the plane after take off. Ear plugs in and eye shapes on.

You just have to stay awake til sun down. It affects everyone differently. It may not hit you til the 2nd day.
But culture shock is enough to keep you awake.

I find it I can sleep a couple hours on the plane I am OK. I also agree that sunlight helps. The easiest time I ever had was flying to Copenhagen in summer when it was light all day,

I find I can move but not think that well. So don't plan anything too intellectually demanding.

I also find a nap makes a big difference. I take one in the late afternoon for about an hour. Then I go for dinner and stay up until 10 or 11 pm. But a colleague of mine who I have traveled with a number of times never takes a nap. So it is somewhat an individual thing I think.

I always set an alarm for 8 am the next day. You have to force yourself to get on the right time zone. And sunlight the second day helps too.

Beth

We fly from the east coast and usually arrive at 5:30 or 6:30am. If I sleep for an hour on the plane, I am lucky, and I think I keep my hubby awake with my fidgeting. (We flew biz class once and I had dinner and went to sleep until they served breakfast. That was great!). We just keep plugging through the day and I crash by 8pm, but am good to go the next day. He can go longer so puts me to bed and heads out for a pint.

It really is different for everyone.

Many suggested solutions pop up from the regulars posting on the forum. I try to get some exercise and sunshine after arrival and generally take a short nap late afternoon and then venture forth again until as late as possible, then sleep.

There's jetlag, and there's sleep deprivation. It's the combination that absolutely destroys me. Anything you can do to make it easier to sleep on the plane is a good idea: earplugs (or noise-cancelling headphones), sleepmask, comfortable clothing. Some sort of medication may help you sleep, but always test anything like that (even if over-the-counter) at home before your departure day, and be cautious about adding a sleep aid if you are on other medication; talk to your doctor if in doubt.

While many can power thru the day I'm not one so I use Frank's method. I travel solo so if I get to Europe in the AM I do try to get out in the sun and as someone said above don't do anything that requires much brain power. I don't usually go to the ATM the first day (but I have Euro left over from the time before) because I want to be sharp for that transaction. I walk around, eat lunch and then crash about 1-2 PM (which is usually when I can get in my room) and sleep for an hour and a half or so. Then head outside again until dinner. I also try not to get too far away from the hotel that first day - in that I don't try to do an activity across town where it might take me an hour to get back.

I have had times where I had to power thru - the last time was last Fall when I did SLC to AMS, then AMS to Paris. The plane to Paris was delayed so I did have to stay awake altho I nodded off as soon as the plane took off.

You may be able to sleep on the plane or you may be so excited you are wakeful! Have fun, don't plan much for the first day. The problem with a 4AM wake up time is that no one seems to do coffee, tea or breakfast that early! Do have some snacks to hold you until breakfast.

I am another who use Frank's method.

I find it very difficult to sleep on the plane. I strive for "active resting" as I call it. Eyes closed, listen to music or have ear plugs, that type of thing. Wear comfy clothes, for sure. Avoid caffeine after your morning cup of coffee. Also, change the time on your watch/phone as soon as you get on the plane that's taking you to Europe and don't look back. Don't try to figure out what time it is back home. You're on European time now! I usually take a xanax in order to relax a bit, it doesn't really put me to sleep.
I'm also an advocate of the afternoon nap as soon as you can get in your hotel. Limit it to about 1.5 hours, then go out for dinner and make it an early night. Enjoy Dublin, it's a fun city!

Wow --- the nappers are winning -- for a change. Six so far.

Thanks for all the great replies! A friend of mine had suggested something similar to Franks reply. So maybe it makes sense to leave our luggage at the hotel when we arrive and take the walk to the Guinness Storehouse. (20 min from the hotel). By then our room should be ready for a nap. After that there are several pubs within walking distance, Brazenhead for one. Or maybe just take the tram to city center.

I think its 7 hours, unless it happens to be after Ireland goes on summer time (spring forward), when it will be 8 hours. Arizona does not believe on that "summer time" thing, so it stays on the same time.

Flying east is always harder, since you land at your bedtime (if you stay out late on New Years Eve), and every body in your new destination is rolling out of bed ready to start the day.

Tough it out, that's all I can say.

The actual time zone difference is seven hours right now according to timeanddate.com, is this for travel this coming weekend? A lot depends on how easily you sleep on a plane. For me I used to sleep sometimes fairly well on a plane, not so much in recent years. Being on a plane has gotten even less pleasant and it's even harder to sleep.

You could end up with a crying baby behind you the whole way, or many other scenarios that make sleep on the plane near impossible. Sounds like you have good sleep habits. That could mean you are well rested and don't suffer from sleep deprivation leading up to your trip as an issue... or it could mean you are intolerant to any sort of sleep deprivation. Jet lag is an individual thing.

I am always a little sleep deprived, especially heading into an overseas trip. What works for me and my wife is check into the hotel, take a shower, sleep for an hour or two. Get up and walk around, have dinner. Go to bed. This has worked for us on over a dozen trips.

I cannot understand how anyone can just stay up until bed time on the day of arrival without sleep. I guess if you have a big sleep surplus stored up, or sleep exceptionally well on a plane it might work.

I have a terrible time sleeping on a plane, so in addition to jet lag I am sleep deprived when I do an overnight flight.

What helps me tremendously is to have planned ahead of time how I will travel from the airport to my first hotel. It's one less thing you have to think about when you arrive, and that means one less chance of going round and round while your head catches up with your thoughts...or vice versa.

The time difference will be 8 hours in May. I originally calculated the hours in the wrong direction...

I would venture to bet that I’ve made more trans-Atlantic journeys than anyone else commenting. You absolutely should not nap. It will set you so far back in your first days. Stay awake, get sunlight and go to bed early. Trust me, or else your first three days will be a waste. Rule of thumb is that it takes one day for every hour difference to adjust. You’ll be on schedule in 8 days.

Altho my transatlantic flights are fewer than others, I have not found that having a nap causes jet lag for 3 days. My experience with my body is that after a nap and an early bed time, I wake up at around 6 the next morning and am good to go. I can't power thru if I am literally nodding my head like a 3 year old trying to stay awake.

One time on the first day in London it was pouring rain in the afternoon and I wound up taking a nap, then could not make myself go out in the downpour so just slept thru until the next morning. Even that did not disrupt the rest of my days. I don't recommend that but it was a time that I had gotten up at 3A PDT and arrived in London the next day mid-morning with little sleep on the plane so I had a lot of sleep deprivation as well as jet lag. I've also traveled to London a lot and was on a month trip so didn't feel I was taking away much by sleeping the first half day.

As much as we all have our own methods/rituals, no one's way is better than anyone else's. We are all physically different and you'll have to discover what works for you by trial and error.

I’m kind of in both camps — it depends on what tome of day my flight leaves California and arrives at my destination in Europe.
It’s actually easier now with more good direct flights. If I have a morning or early afternoon flight out of SFO or Oakland, I will try for a brief nap at my hotel or apartment.
If I can take a later flight I will usually power through the afternoon on arrival and go to bed after an early-ish dinner. I will wake up at a decent time the next morning and I’ll be great until about 6 or 7pm, when I absolutely hit a wall! But on the next day I am back to normal and never look back!
Returning to California is a different story. No matter what I do, it takes me most of the following week to actually feel like myself again.
My best to you!

“I would venture to bet that I’ve made more trans-Atlantic journeys than anyone else commenting. You absolutely should not nap. It will set you so far back in your first days. Stay awake, get sunlight and go to bed early. Trust me, or else your first three days will be a waste. Rule of thumb is that it takes one day for every hour difference to adjust. You’ll be on schedule in 8 days.”

Not knowing how many trans-Atlantic flights you’ve taken and having literally lost count of my international flights, many 10-12 time zones away, with “easy” time zone differences of eight hours, I have some experience as well. Oh, if you travel from Vienna to New York, that’s a difference of six hours. I’ve tried staying awake the entire arrival day, then collapse very early that night with a very early morning wake-up. Hmm. Based on trial and error, my successful routine is to walk outside and until mid-afternoon or so, take a short nap, then get out and about again and stay awake as late as possible. The next day, I feel good and the following day fully in the groove, much less than eight days. Each person is different...deal with time zones that’s effective for you.