Dealing with Jet Lag on Transatlantic Flightsby Fatherofeight | More from this Blogger 25 Dec 2006 08:50 PM I became somewhat of an expert on this subject because I traveled back and forth to Europe from Houston quite a bit. One year, I was in Europe every other week. Because I was working on these trips, my mind had to be sharp. By trial and error, I learned how I could best cope with jet lag. The flights from Houston left for London or Paris in the late afternoon or early evening. The main object for me when going that way was to fall asleep as quickly as possible. For that reason, the evening flight was easier. I always set my watch to the destination time and started acting as if it was the true time. For instance, if the flight left at 6:30 in the evening, I would set my watch ahead six hours when I got on the plane. When it took off, in my mind it was 12:30 in the morning. Having a busy day ahead, I would go about eating and getting to sleep quickly. I tried to let nothing deter me from this goal. I was always allowed to fly in Business Class, where an elegant four or five course meal was served. Instead, I would ask for the entree and salad at once, missing the rest of the meal. I would not drink anything with alcohol or caffeine the day of the trip, including the flight. This helped me to get on the plane tired. At this point, some people take an over-the-counter sleep aid like Melatonin. The plane from Houston usually flew over the New York City area three hours into the flight. The goal was to be asleep by that time in order to get four to five hours sleep on the flight. I would use an eye mask and ear plugs. I found that if I reclined for a long enough time and ignored every sound and smell, I would go to sleep. If all else failed, I would pray until I fell asleep. Nothing can put me to sleep as sure as trying to pray for an hour. Once you land in Europe, you need to do the things that you always do to wake up. In addition, if you can get in a hotel room that morning, a sit-down bath helps immensely. Throughout the day, walking in the sun helps. Doing this makes your body alert to the fact that it is daytime. I tried to never schedule a meeting for the first day that involved financial negotiations, for obvious reasons. Going back is easy. Take a nap when you get on the plane and stay awake afterwards. Then, do not go to sleep at home until the usual time. Try not to be too grumpy with your family; it will be hard to do. I arrived at this system by trial and error, but it worked for me. Good luck. Related Blog: Travel Tidbits-News You Can Use Regarding Jet Lag, Long Security Lines and Frequent Flier Miles Ed is a Families.com Adoption Blogger. Read his blogs here. Relevanttravel tags User Comments PATTI (580) 26 Dec 2006 08:23 AMGood information, Ed. Patti  Jeff Bogle (1022) 26 Dec 2006 09:11 AMI traveled to Paris with my 2.5 year old this Fall and as soon as we landed (at 8am local time) we, luckily, checked into our hotel and took a 2-3 hour nap. When we woke up we walked and walked and walked. Got outdoors and saw some sights and tired ourselves out so we were tired at bedtime, locally, around 9am. Worked like a charm. The next day and from then on we were adjusted to local time. So yeah, get outdoors and walk! Community Tags Europe, flight, jet, lag, sleep, travel tips Discuss this article
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