Mostly same method for me, however I DO take a couple 30 minute snoozes on the plane during overnight flights. Sleeping upright is so uncomfortable that it's about all I can manage. The true key is staying awake through the daylight hours at your destination. You'll be good to go for the rest of your trip!
I generally follow this, and I think it's good advice. However, I don't find that I'm completely adjusted even after a few days. If I'm moving and busy I'm good. If I have to sit for an extended period the jet lag catches up with me.
I use the same method and it has always worked wonders for me. Caveat: works better if you are more of a night owl and can go to sleep very late even in normal situations. I noticed it doesn’t work as well for people that aren’t used to (or able to) just “stay awake”.
On a separate note, couldn’t help but notice “where is my flying car” in the pic - one of my favorite books ever!
I try to take daytime flights to India, which arrive in the daytime. Then I just stay awake until the evening and then sleep. My jetlag is so much less of a problem with those flights!
From Washington, Air India and Emirates both leave in the late morning. I don't think any of the European airlines operate on that timetable, unfortunately
Your method seems to unnecessarily maximize pain on arrival. I do something similar, but I am less strict. If I nod off on the plane, that's okay--a nap reduces grumpiness and fatigue while allowing me to be more alert when I land. One hour of airplane sleep is only worth about 20 minutes of terrestrial sleep, so a nap or two shouldn't interfere much with decent sleep that first night. Also, waking up to discover you are one or two hours closer to your destination than you had thought is a great joy on a 16-hour flight.
The big challenge is staying asleep that second night. Cardio, sunshine and melatonin help but are not foolproof.
No booze at altitude, unless you love dehydration and migraines.
A positive attitude helps. If I notice a bout of jetlag coming on, I remind myself that I don't have the flu, it just feels like I do, and that I'll cycle out of it in about five minutes--which I inevitably do.
Direction of flight has no impact, but flying out is always worse--I readjust to my home timezone almost immediately. For some reason, 5-7 hour adjustments are harder than 12-hour adjustments, maybe because longer journeys tire you out more, setting you up for a good rest that first night.
The CIA supposedly has a method involving gradually adjusting sleep and eating intervals before departure, but it always sounded like way too much work.
I doubt that would work for me. I'm a napper. I routinely take a cat nap coming home from work, usually 5-10 minutes in a rocking chair. If I get stuck on a problem, I like to refresh my memory of all its major points and take another 10 minute nap.
One catnap did last two hours. Another was zero seconds; I got back up as soon as I sat down and knew what my solution was.
If my body wants a nap, I indulge it. I figure it's the expert.
I do something similar, and I found it work pretty well. I regularly travel with +9 hour timezone difference, for one week, then travel back. However, it doesn't at all work at all for me when after a week I return home. I'm a wreck when I get back home, the first few days. But that might also just be pure exhaustion after working 12-14 hours a days for 5 days and then directly traveling home.
I was more or less forced to do this on a trip from the US West Coast to Ireland this last summer. I was up 30 straight hours, too uncomfortable to sleep on the plane (which also had a panicked late transfer in Toronto to add a little cortisol rush) and then I was responsible for navigating from Dublin to our County Waterford destination.
By the time all was settled, it was 9 PM local time, I was more irritable than I have ever been in my life, and crashed and slept 11 hours.
I've used exactly this system for over a half century. It is much easier when traveling east, say from California to Europe, for then you only have to stretch the day by around 8 hours, but harder the reverse direction, stretching 16 hours. But it still works. But I've convinced few people.
I suspect this method would work for me, but when traveling long enough distances to worry about jet lag the flight is more unpleasant than the jet lag. I’d generally rather sleep on the plane and have jet lag than the reverse. I do generally use the rest of the system (try to be active on arrival, sleep as close to local time as possible and get up on local time on day one. Being active and outdoors definitely helps.
Has not really worked for me. I often can't sleep on planes so I have done the staying awake things often I tried just powering through it on landing but I have never enjoyed it.
Instead when traveling to Europe I try to sleep on the plane but either way I get an early check in and a 3-4 nap. I then get up and tour around till local bed time. That system has always worked better for me.
I do something similar- that is not sleep at my destination until nightfall there, but i allow myself to sleep on a red eye flight, and only force myself awake when flying entirely in the day. Especially when flying eastward where a 10 hour flights becomes 17 hours or so once you include time changes I sleep on the plane because otherwise you end up being awake for 48 hours straight
usually this method works for the first couple of days while I'm still sleep deprived from travelling but I'll feel the jetlag kick in a couple days later and find myself wide awake at 2am.
For me, I find just taking melatonin at bedtime, making sure to get up in the morning, and making sure I'm in the light in the day and dark at night is enough for me.
Of course all of this is for eastward travel, but for westward travel no effort is necessary beyond just keeping yourself awake until bedtime upon landing
Mostly same method for me, however I DO take a couple 30 minute snoozes on the plane during overnight flights. Sleeping upright is so uncomfortable that it's about all I can manage. The true key is staying awake through the daylight hours at your destination. You'll be good to go for the rest of your trip!
Do you avoid caffeine during all, or part, of this process?
I generally follow this, and I think it's good advice. However, I don't find that I'm completely adjusted even after a few days. If I'm moving and busy I'm good. If I have to sit for an extended period the jet lag catches up with me.
I use the same method and it has always worked wonders for me. Caveat: works better if you are more of a night owl and can go to sleep very late even in normal situations. I noticed it doesn’t work as well for people that aren’t used to (or able to) just “stay awake”.
On a separate note, couldn’t help but notice “where is my flying car” in the pic - one of my favorite books ever!
Traveling from America to India, arrival is around 2 am. And the flight you've been on (2 legs) is 22 hours.
How do you deal with this?
You're probably speaking of the 10 hour travel from America to Europe.
Worked fine for DC-India via Abu Dhabi.
I try to take daytime flights to India, which arrive in the daytime. Then I just stay awake until the evening and then sleep. My jetlag is so much less of a problem with those flights!
Which airline arrives in the day time? The ones I am familiar with across the Atlantic via European cities arrive in Chennai at like 2 am.
From Washington, Air India and Emirates both leave in the late morning. I don't think any of the European airlines operate on that timetable, unfortunately
Yes as a ten year commercial flight attendant flying between the US and Europe this is the best way to minimize sleep loss.
Your method seems to unnecessarily maximize pain on arrival. I do something similar, but I am less strict. If I nod off on the plane, that's okay--a nap reduces grumpiness and fatigue while allowing me to be more alert when I land. One hour of airplane sleep is only worth about 20 minutes of terrestrial sleep, so a nap or two shouldn't interfere much with decent sleep that first night. Also, waking up to discover you are one or two hours closer to your destination than you had thought is a great joy on a 16-hour flight.
The big challenge is staying asleep that second night. Cardio, sunshine and melatonin help but are not foolproof.
No booze at altitude, unless you love dehydration and migraines.
A positive attitude helps. If I notice a bout of jetlag coming on, I remind myself that I don't have the flu, it just feels like I do, and that I'll cycle out of it in about five minutes--which I inevitably do.
Direction of flight has no impact, but flying out is always worse--I readjust to my home timezone almost immediately. For some reason, 5-7 hour adjustments are harder than 12-hour adjustments, maybe because longer journeys tire you out more, setting you up for a good rest that first night.
The CIA supposedly has a method involving gradually adjusting sleep and eating intervals before departure, but it always sounded like way too much work.
I doubt that would work for me. I'm a napper. I routinely take a cat nap coming home from work, usually 5-10 minutes in a rocking chair. If I get stuck on a problem, I like to refresh my memory of all its major points and take another 10 minute nap.
One catnap did last two hours. Another was zero seconds; I got back up as soon as I sat down and knew what my solution was.
If my body wants a nap, I indulge it. I figure it's the expert.
I do something similar, and I found it work pretty well. I regularly travel with +9 hour timezone difference, for one week, then travel back. However, it doesn't at all work at all for me when after a week I return home. I'm a wreck when I get back home, the first few days. But that might also just be pure exhaustion after working 12-14 hours a days for 5 days and then directly traveling home.
I was more or less forced to do this on a trip from the US West Coast to Ireland this last summer. I was up 30 straight hours, too uncomfortable to sleep on the plane (which also had a panicked late transfer in Toronto to add a little cortisol rush) and then I was responsible for navigating from Dublin to our County Waterford destination.
By the time all was settled, it was 9 PM local time, I was more irritable than I have ever been in my life, and crashed and slept 11 hours.
All set the next day.
I'm going on a world tour next year with my 1-yo, 4-yo and 7-yo. Do you have child-friendly tips before I infuse them with melatonin?
I've used exactly this system for over a half century. It is much easier when traveling east, say from California to Europe, for then you only have to stretch the day by around 8 hours, but harder the reverse direction, stretching 16 hours. But it still works. But I've convinced few people.
Where is that cryptid museum? Is it cool?
I suspect this method would work for me, but when traveling long enough distances to worry about jet lag the flight is more unpleasant than the jet lag. I’d generally rather sleep on the plane and have jet lag than the reverse. I do generally use the rest of the system (try to be active on arrival, sleep as close to local time as possible and get up on local time on day one. Being active and outdoors definitely helps.
Has not really worked for me. I often can't sleep on planes so I have done the staying awake things often I tried just powering through it on landing but I have never enjoyed it.
Instead when traveling to Europe I try to sleep on the plane but either way I get an early check in and a 3-4 nap. I then get up and tour around till local bed time. That system has always worked better for me.
I do something similar- that is not sleep at my destination until nightfall there, but i allow myself to sleep on a red eye flight, and only force myself awake when flying entirely in the day. Especially when flying eastward where a 10 hour flights becomes 17 hours or so once you include time changes I sleep on the plane because otherwise you end up being awake for 48 hours straight
usually this method works for the first couple of days while I'm still sleep deprived from travelling but I'll feel the jetlag kick in a couple days later and find myself wide awake at 2am.
For me, I find just taking melatonin at bedtime, making sure to get up in the morning, and making sure I'm in the light in the day and dark at night is enough for me.
Of course all of this is for eastward travel, but for westward travel no effort is necessary beyond just keeping yourself awake until bedtime upon landing