lt1GM

My wife and I are going PHL-LAX-SYD-CHC-AKL-LAX-PHL in April 2003 on Qantas in J. I've done transatlantic US east coast to Europe dozens of times and know how to fend off jet lag for that route. Do you have any advice on how to best ensure we adjust quickly from EST to Australian time? TIA!

honu

Well, the typical advice you get is that you should try to adjust to destination time a.s.a.p., so sleep on the plane and try to stay awake until nighttime when you first arrive (flights from the U.S. arrive in the a.m., so you've got a loooong day ahead).

IME, it's also very important that you don't make yourself too sleep-deprived, however. Personally, if I can get at least a few hours of sleep on the flight over, I try and stay up when I arrive at my destination. If, for whatever reason, I was up all night on the way there, I end up taking a long nap on the first day. While this practice probably slows down the body clock's adjustment to the new time zone, being too sleep-deprived can be dangerous too. Think of all the bugs circulating in the 50% (or so) recycled air on your long flight: being totally exhausted will not help your immune system fight off a possible infection. In other words, a bit of sleep on your arrival day, and consequent slower adjustment to local time, might be a worthwile trade off to avoid getting sick after arrival...

[This message has been edited by honu (edited 11-08-2002).]

Skylink USA

If you are flying in J, enjoy dinner. The flight is also long enough so that you can eat and sleep (unlike US-Europe flights where you cut a lot of sleep time if you want a free meal).

Once you arrive, try to stay awake during the day. However, don't get so sleepy that you get hit by a car (while looking the wrong way!). I read about an FAA study where short naps of 20-90 minutes were helpful yet didn't ruin adaptation to the new time. I think 45 minutes was the optimal length.

Some people report the Australia to US trip is more tiring. I've heard of travellers flying to Honolulu. The flight arrives around midnight so you can stay there until the mainland US flights leave the next day.

NM

The hardest thing for most Americans coming to Australia is not the jet-lag, but getting used to our metric time system. The best way to prepare for the difference is to get a dual time system watch or travel clock to bring with you. Trying to convert between the imperial and metric time systems does take some practice.

AshleyF

One of my favourite experiences in Aust/ American conversation.

In Jan this year we were speaking to a US based colleague and we were discussing the weather.
We mentioned how hot it was and she indicated surprise since it was snowing in her home state.
She said 'Was it summertime' . We said 'yes it was'.

She then said " It is June there already".

A true story. I kid you not...

AshleyF

Sorry. Back to topic.

The best way is to fly first class and enjoy a flat seat. ;-)

In all classes tho, I think it best if you set your watch (metric or imperial) to the time in Sydney , or even Nuu Zealund .
Setting your mindset is as much a requirement.
Eat the dinner at served at around 11.30 Pm LAX time since it is effectively 6.30 PM in Sydney or 8.30 pm in Auckland.
Then stay awake for a few more hours , have a couple of glasses of champagne (or Australian sparkling wine ) and sleep till woken.
I also use a sleeping tablet, Temazepane is the generic ingredient . It works well for me. Ambien is a U.S drug that also seems to have little side effect.

Kremmen

Skewing your sleep hours onward is easier than backward, so coming here is the easy part. Stay up late (4am?) the night before. Have a nice meal on flight out of LAX, watch a couple of movies, and go to sleep around 4am (LAX time) and you'll be on track to wake up for brekky in SYD.

oldpenny16

I know this sounds like small details, but it really helps for us. I pack several days ahead of time and get all the house chores out of the way. I try to reduce last minute stress as much as possible. If you spend your last hours at home running around trying to get everything done....you are tired already.

I have flown so much and so far that my body has surrendered. I now sleep very well on airplanes. I carry along my own sleep shades, neck pillow and a large shawl that I use as a blanket. Flight attendants have even commented on my ability to sleep. Evidenly most women don't.

I promise that reducing the last minute packing and running around will help you all along the way. I know, I used to be a midnight packer.

shillard

I often end a working day in Chicago, fly to LAX, then get the midnight LAX-SYD flight that arrives Saturday AM. I set my watch for AEST/AEDT as soon as I board the aircraft at LAX.

As I usually get 1-3 hours sleep on the actual flight, I find it best to stay awake when I arrive in SYD and connect to NTL, getting home about 10-11am.

Unpack, do the usual Saturday stuff, stay awake until 11pm or so (by this time I have gone about 48 hours with 1-3 hours sleep. I crash on Saturday night, wake up fully adjusted on Sunday. It's not for everyone, but it works for me.

BTW: I would not recommend driving, operating heavy machinery, using firearms or attempting to type important commercial documents during the adjustment period.

prspad

Imperial VS Metric time systems!!! Gotta love that great Aussie sense of humor!

NM

Just wait till you hear my theory of darkness (darkness being the natural state and light really being the absence of darkness, so a bulb is really a dark sucker and not a light souce) or my theory of gravity, especially developed for those in the southern hemisphere. These theories (like that of metric time) are best shared over a few beers in a Qantas Club lounge.

shillard

Easy to prove - when a lightbulb "blows", there is a dark stain left on in, that's the last bit of dark that didn't make it back to the power company to be converted into electricity, and sold to us so we can power more dark suckers.

Matches absorb dark too - that's why they go black after they "provide light".

Don't even get me started on the shape of the Earth - you know in your heart that it's flat.

willyroo

The imbalances in the southern hemisphere were of great interest to Dick Smith as well, apparently. He started Australian Geographic because of the weight of millions of volumes of National Geographics (which no-one ever throws away) building up in the northern hemisphere. The imbalance has not been restored, but at least stabilised. It doesn't take too long in a QC lounge, after too many ales, to really understand these important theories.

What this has to do with adjusting to Sydney time I don't know, but I do endorse the sentiments posted here, and add my own - stay off the booze.

(Edited to fix the effects of 2 Crownies)

[This message has been edited by willyroo (edited 11-10-2002).]

NM

And don't forget those flourescent tubes that go black on the ends when they have been absorbing darkness for a few years.

Quote:

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Don't even get me started on the shape of the Earth - you know in your heart that it's flat.

Naah, everyone knows its not flat. Just look out the window and you can see there are lots of bumps all over the place - just ask Dave who lives among the bumps! But the bit that most people find difficult to explain is the huge lazy suzie turn-table underneath that rotates the earth so that when an plane takes off and flies above the Earth, the ground is rotated so that the longer the plane stays in the sky, the more the rotation and hence the different landing point. It is this 2-dimentional rotation that creats the wind and the illusion of the sun/moon and other dark suckers moving through the sky.

Now, back to the original topic. You should not experience any jet-lag problems flying towards the East over the Pacific. You takeoff on Monday night, have a sleep and wake up on Wednesday morning. Surely a while day's sleep (all of Tuesday) is enough to allow you arrive nicely refreshed.

Now, going the other way is a different matter, when you land before you take off.

But seriously (and who ever said the only thing serious about me is my condition??), try to get as much sleep as you can on the flight (use eye masks, sleeping tablets, moderate amount of alcoho, avoid caffine - whatever works best for you at home), and the get into the local timezone routine as soon as possible. Avoid the temptation for an afternoon catnap the day you arrive. Stay up until a reasonable bed-time, then get one good night's sleep, using whatever assistance works for you (see suggestions above).

NM

I am sure my father helped to minimise the affect. He still has stashes of NG issues going back to issue 1 (well, it always used to seem like that many when I ploughed through them looking for info for school assignments).

I once had a similar theory that was dubbed the HP theory - it was derived following copious consumption of Hahn Premium.

Quote:

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">What this has to do with adjusting to Sydney time I don't know, but I do endorse the sentiments posted here, and add my own - stay off the booze.

Actually, some people find a small to moderate amount of booze helps to relax them and encourage sleep. For others, it impairs sleep. A nice port or Bailey's after dinner tells the body it is time for sleepy-bobos.

I also use the theory that scotch helps to thin the blood so might help ward off DVT . But don't take my word for it as I have no medical proof for that theory at all.(unlike the darkness and gravity theories which have plenty of physical evidence).

Another suggestion that seems to have some merit is to take a long walk in the sunshine when you arrive at your destination. This is supposed to help your body to generate melatonin (sp?) which is what tells the brain the difference between night and day. You can buy Melatonin tablets in US supermarkets, but do your research first as there is lots of debate about the affectiveness and sideaffects. But a walk in the sun can't hurt - unless mid summer and you forget to slip-slop-slap.