Dealing with jet lag, before and after

Yup, jet lag impacts people differently and for me, it's much easier going to Europe than returning and especially so for trips in recent years. Go figure.

On our last trip (May 2017 - RS Villages of South England tour) we stopped in Dublin for a couple of days before joining the tour. We stayed in Dun Laoghaire, a quiet town outside of Dublin. This allowed us to recover from the overnight flight in a low-stress way. For example, we didn't have to deal with language issues or the challenge of dealing with a major city. Coming home, it took almost a week to get back to a normal sleep cycle. We were getting tired in the early evening and waking up at 4 AM. This transition was easier to take since I am now retired.

It usually takes me a week or 2 to get back to normal when I return home. Being retired it doesn't really matter but this time I have had no jet lag. I got sick as a dog during my layover in SLC coming back from Paris - not sure if I got some bad food or picked up a Norovirus, just suffice it to say I was really glad I got sick in the airport and not in the airplane lavatory. Yikes! Anyway, late flight in to my home airport, got home about 10 PM, to bed right away. Up in the AM, still sick - felt so bad I went to bed about noon and kind of slept thru the day and night. Woke up Monday AM with no jet lag but still feeling yucky.

So...this time the GI symptoms but no jet lag!

All in all, I'll take the jet lag though.

In the many trips we've taken to Europe, we've pretty much adjusted by the first full day, regardless of whether we were able to sleep on the way over (I no longer can do that). On the other hand, coming home it seems to take 1-2 weeks to fully recover, no matter what I do. On this recent trip it took about a week.

I live on the west coast and always arrive home between 1 and 4 pm, and stay up doing things until I totally hit the wall, never later than 8 pm. I get up whenever the next day, again with the total crashing by 8 pm, and within another couple of days I'm back to my normal bedtime of 10:30-11.

The odd thing that always happens, though, is for at least 3 nights I have extremely vivid and persistent dreams that I am still in Europe and trying to take the metro or find some place, so much so that I have to get out of bed to reassure myself I am indeed at home and that the furry creatures on my bed are my own cats, not wild animals.

I find that after I come home I feel fine, but I wake up very early in the morning and fall asleep early in the evening. However, there is no pressure against that schedule, so it takes weeks to get out of it. OTOH, when I go to Europe, I'm forced to get up in the morning, which is about bed time back home. I feel ill for a day or two, but adapt to my new schedule quickly.

I am finding that as I get older the transit disorients me more --
I've told the story before about walking up to a ticket window in Gare Montparnasse to ask a human where the entrance to the Metro was, only to have them give me a funny look and point out that I had literally just walked by the Metro stairway to get to the ticket windows.

Well, that's because my body was fresh from the airport while my brains seemed to have stayed behind...

"I am finding that as I get older the transit disorients me more -"

I think I agree with this. Headed back thru security in SLC after Immigration and removed my belt, emptied my pockets, took off my shoes (this is NOT a line with Pre-check sez the lady marching around telling everyone to empty pockets) etc. I went thru the nude-o-scope and was asked to step aside. I looked at the picture and could see stuff around my waist. Didn't click til the very nice security lady on this side says - You've probably got a money belt on? Oh my word...of course I do. Apologized profusely and she just said it happens all the time. This is why I always want to have local currency when I land. Not sure I could function properly at an ATM!

I find that not only is jet lag getting worse with age, but it affects me differently on every trip. On my most recent one last month, I had bad problems not only on my first day in Europe, but also on my third (I spent much of the third day taking naps because I was feeling so wiped out).

So, you're not the only one who finds it unpredictable.

I am not a regular Ambien taker unless it is on the flight to Europe, the first night there and my first night back...does the trick for me. Consult your doctor. Whether you take a sleep aide or not try not to drink alcohol or caffeine on the day of the flight...stay hydrated and get a good nights sleep before you travel.

We had a similar experience on our 10 day trip to Italy--I did not sleep on the flight to Europe but managed to power through (we did Pompeii on arrival day!) until about 7/8 pm local time, at which point I crashed hard (I actually felt a little sick until I went to sleep). The next day we all did pretty well and other than normal tiredness from doing so much walking in the hot sun, we didn't have much jetlag that I noticed. We stayed up until 11 almost every night! And usually up by 7, if not earlier. I am surprised we didn't have more issues given our jam-packed itinerary.
But upon return, (a week ago), I felt really 'off' for about 4 days, waking every hour or so starting at 1 am. And I still wake at 3 am (and 4 am) every single night. But I'd do it again in a heartbeat to get to go back!! :)
ps. my kids (11/13) have done much better getting used to life back in the states, but they are still getting up earlier than usual.

Get in the sun as much as possible when back home, and after 3 days you'll be back to normal. I got a lot done when waking up at 5 AM.