[stevescoots]

18+ years of changing time zones every 3- 4 weeks (+/-8 hrs) were no problem, my miracle cures each time used to range from having 1 too many drinks after landing and sleeping 12 hours to the occasional swig of night nurse (now banned!) to just ploughing through as if I was 18 again.

Like baldness it gets worse with age and I have found it much harder to get over it in 2 or 3 days like I used to before covid, which coincided just before the shutdown of travel with my big 5 oh.

So, as many of us are now getting back to our old travel schedules are any of the senior statesmen and women here finding it harder to overcome and what are you doing to try and deal with it?

Or maybe its just the eye watering fares now keeping us awake?

[cwoodward]

If long-haul and a few countries these days I try to arrive on a Friday evening or Saturday morning and have a ‘light’ weekend in all respects.
If not possible I cut down the booze (a little) and sleep as much as possible – then no protracted suffering.

Previously I proceeded almost exactly as did Steve above but that approach now causes much more suffering than 40 years ago….

[Gold-2K]

I thought it was just me! Spent the last 10 days between US, Latin America and Asia, now back in UK and like a total zombie! Used to have one good night of sleep in my own bed and I was back on the correct time zone, now I’m like the walking dead for 3 days.

I Stay off the booze, drink loads of water and on the last flight back from SIN in First, I slept for nearly 8 hours and still body is saying ‘WTF’!

Definitely gets tougher with age. But not convinced the new generation of Aircraft reduce the effects of long haul travel, maybe just a marketing pitch ………. surely not 🥴🤷🏻‍♂️

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cwoodward

[FDOS]

Funnily enough, I have just completed two separate trips to the ME.

The effect of jet lag was not as bad as I remember pre-Covid and I slept well at night during both trips.

My only real explanation is that I was not fatigued from previous regular long haul travel.

At 66, I am not looking to travel with the same intensity and maybe this will help in the longer term.

We shall see.

[stevescoots]

[postquote quote=1353788]

I hear you on the suffering using the old tricks. I try not to indulge anymore, preferring the sanctitude of my apartment or hotel room. I ma dreading when the youngsters we hired during covid make their first trips to HK or SGN and i have to babysit. i night just find a corner in the white stag (is it even still there?) and tell them to go party and meet me in the morning!

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cwoodward

[MartynSinclair]

I generally never suffer from jet lag but on this last trip to Asia (Finnair) I slept so well – around 7 hours total to HKG – that it played havoc, adjusting to local time for the first 4 or 5 days. The only difference between this flight and the others, was there were no howling children in the same cabin. Perhaps it is the howling kids, disturbing sleep mid flight that are indeed the saviour from jet lag :)…

Whilst it is normal to try and sleep your way through a longhaul, I guess the skill is to ensure you do not sleep too well, especially for an evening arrival. I did have a meeting as usual on arrival & eat out afterwards, but I still suffered.

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BPP, stevescoots

[Inquisitive]

I used to do a lot of long hauls pre-Covid, mainly from Far East to North America and not much affected by jet lag.

My take is that jet lag is not only sleep issue, it is aggravated by the unplanned or mistimed no 2 toilet need.

So no matter whether I am hungry or not, I will eat a lot after arriving at destination hotel, so that next morning I am able to maintain the bathroom schedule.

And if I cannot sleep, instead of tossing up and down in the bed, I just get up and start making notes about the work that I do not like, and soon that becomes sleep inducing!

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stevescoots

[stevescoots]

As you know, i do sleep very easily even on short haul seats, hope my snoring didnt keep you awake!

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MartynSinclair

[DavidGrodentz]

It is still there Steve, as is Devils Advocate (my local and same owners) a few doors down

[stevescoots]

[postquote quote=1354085]

Canny man?

[DavidGrodentz]

The Canny Man is gone, replaced by Delaneys

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stevescoots

[Swissdiver]

Interesting experience sharing. Thank you Stevecoots & all.

As far as I am concerned, there are two categories: up to 6/7 hours jet lag and above that threshold. I deal rather well with the former, Eastbound and Westbound and get rid of it in 2/3 days. Simple rules: yes, the one too many glass of wine on the plane, and then straight into local schedule after landing.

Over 7 hours, the effect is exponential, and therefore longer than the usual “one day per two hours time difference” rule to adapt. Useless to say, 12 hours difference is rather challenging!

Finally I also try to get rid of the jet lag before flying back, as going back and forth to quickly is difficult to manage.

Of course I could do it dry, but, well, no way, as long as I can manage it!

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cwoodward

[cwoodward]

Purely from personal observation – I would suggest that those of us who have travelled by air frequently and for many years experience less onerous ‘jet lag’ than the many that travel by air long-haul infrequently i.e. perhaps once every couple of years. This despite them often taking the mitigation precautions and advise offered.

What brought this to mind was that we had a relative from the UK visit us recently ( women of middle years and decidedly sober habits)
who despite travelling business class was very seriously incapacitated for almost 3 days. This is but an example but seems to happen often with varying severity to those that travel less often.

The above leaves me wondering: do we build up any sort if immunity to the most severe symptoms or are we just used to and more able to cope with the ‘punishment’?

[Swissdiver]

I think, cwoodward, that there is indeed a sort of habituation, and one that stays. After a “long-haul Coved break”, I thought jet lag could be more difficult to manage. But it wasn’t. This could however also be the result of us knowing ourselves in these situations as we learned, possibly intuitively, what works with each of us to cope with jet lag.

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cwoodward

[K1ngston]

I have always suffered with Jetlag and I have been travelling long haul for too many years! I have tried everything without success and just get on with it, waking up at stupid o’clock or just hitting a wall at a silly hour during the day!

The worst for me was a few years ago I travelled from London to Sydney via Singapore literally off the plane in SIN and back on again landing in the morning in Sydney heading straight to the hotel and then out to a meeting. Well apparently ( my host still recounts to this day) all of a sudden I just glazed over and fell asleep in his office and he let me sleep for 10 minutes and then sent me back to the hotel to return the following day!

We are flying to SFO next week from SIN 15.5 hours in the air and 15 hour timezone difference, wish us luck 🙂

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stevescoots, cwoodward

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