Beating Jetlag

This question may be best answered by visitors rather than the NY experts but it doesn%26#39;t hurt to ask and some of you may have had the same problem flying to and fro to OZ!

This will be my first trip flying east rather than west so having some trouble working out how to tackle the time differences. We leave Sydney at 1015 and arrive JFK via LA at 1730 the same day - but in reality 23 hours later. Returning is pretty much the same but of course we lose a day somewhere!

What tricks do people have that will help us quickly get into the NY timezone?

Beating Jetlag

While I haven%26#39;t flown to and from Australia, I do go back and forth with a 7 hour difference. Usually I fly at night and try to mitigate the difference by sleeping. Last year I was forced to fly a day flight which had me arriving early in the local morning and about to go to sleep NY time. What I did was begin to live Israel time while in NY--It was a weekend and I went to bed very early--and had an alarm set to get up at 2Am - which was 9AM in Israel. I did this both Friday and Sat. night. ( I flew Sunday afternoon) I packed Sat. eve at 2AM--into Sunday. I got on the flight exhausted and even though it was only early afternoon I managed to more or less sleep an Israeli night.

Moral: Try to get your body awake and sleeping on NY time as soon as possible. Definitely early in those 23 hours of travel!

Beating Jetlag

I%26#39;ve flown to L.A twice, the first time I got severe jetlag but the second time I tried a different approach.

The first time I watched all the inflight entertainment, waited eagerly for airline food and keep awake the whole trip with excitement. Needless to say that not sleeping for around 40 hours contributes a lot to your jetlag.

My idea for the second trip, if you%26#39;re able to do the same, was to research the differences in time zones and sleep at times you would be sleeping if you were in the U.S. I flew out on a monday luckily so I had the weekend to deprive myself.

And it paid off, no jetlag whatsoever. Arrived noon in L.A. and went to be at 9.00pm that night. easy!

Hi Demon22,

I%26#39;ve flown long-haul (Syd-Ldn, Syd-Egypt, etc.) for a few times and amazingly haven%26#39;t experienced any jet-lag. As soon as I get on the plane, I adjust my watch to the time in the country I am visiting. I stay awake and keep myself busy if it is daytime and sleep on the plane if it is bedtime at my destination.

Very personal thing. Everyone has different ideas.

Last year when taking the same flight you are taking I made sure I stayed awake the whole flight. Since it arrives late afternoon in JFK, it was simply dinner and straight to bed when we got there. That way I was getting my nights sleep at the appropriate time for New York. My wife takes the opposite view and goes straight to sleep as soon as we board.

The only effects on me were that I had a really good nights sleep that first night in New York, and got up feeling good.

Also on last trip heading east back from Europe which arrived home early morning, I made sure I didn%26#39;t sleep on the flight or at home until the normal time for bed. Totally exhausted when getting to bed eventually but fitted straight into a normal routine. On that trip my wife tried to sleep all the way home, but her sleep was so lousy that she was still exhausted when we got home.

We are heading back to New York in a couple of weeks and we%26#39;ll both use our opposing methods again.

The most common view is that you try to stay up and go to bed at ';bed time'; for wherever you end up. I would try to sleep for a few hours approaching LA and then stay awake. By the time you get through the airport, and to wherever you are staying, wont be too difficult.

I find the hard ones are the 6.00am arrivals after a 24 hour flight (common in Sydney with the curfew)

I hate the time about 8 hours through a 14 hour leg where you feel you%26#39;ve been on the plane forever and it still so long to arrival.

As I have a knee injury, we now will always have a stopover. But still have to cope with the 14 hour segments.

I have never had a problem when flying into JFK from australia.The reason being whether you go direct via Qantas or via Japan(as JAL usually has cheaper fares than QF)the flights arrive about the same time-early evening.By the time you get a cab to the hotel,have a bite of dinner it is time for an early bed.In the morning I wake ready to go.

Coming back and those early morning arrivals into Australia is an entirely different matter.There are literally thousands of ideas out there which means none work for everyone.I just make sure I have nothing on for the day of arrival and the next day.

I agree with most others - flying into JFK you should be fine, we do this exact flight on Friday - obviously sleep a little on the plane if you can. But if you get to NY and you%26#39;re exhausted, thats not a bad thing - have dinner and go straight to bed, and you%26#39;ll be straight on track.

Now coming back - completely different, that is the worst (from experience) try to stay awake all day.

Its also harder if you%26#39;re only going as far as LA or SF as you have a whole day to contend with!

Pretty much everyone seems to feel that the way to do it is to get your body on destination time ASAP--even before you leave for your vacation.

When I return to the US from Israel I arrive at 6AM and go straight to work. I do this by sleeping on the plane on the way over. ( It is a 11.5 hour flight--not as bad as 14, but almost)

Hi fellow Territorian!

I%26#39;m sure you won%26#39;t have a problem on the way into NYC. As already mentioned, you arrive at a great time of the evening. You will be sooooo excited, that you won%26#39;t want to go to bed and will probably go out exploring for a few hours. (In fact, the biggest problem will be forcing yourself to go home to bed!)

I have found both times I%26#39;m there that no matter what time I get to bed, I%26#39;m bouncing out quite early to start exploring again. Maybe an early-ish night that second night, and then you won%26#39;t even think about it.

On the way back, I agree with previous comments that you should not go to bed until your normal bedtime at home. You probably arrive early morning - if you don%26#39;t have a direct connect to Drw, then go exploring Sydney and tire yourself out for a good nights sleep.

Re sleeping on the plane - I sleep if I%26#39;m weary, and if I%26#39;m excited and can%26#39;t sleep, I don%26#39;t fight it. Just run with how you feel...

I think sometimes we focus too much on the time differences, and talk ourselves into jetlag. Forget the fact that you lose/gain a day. Don%26#39;t give it a 2nd thought - it%26#39;s only in your mind!

Have a great trip - I am soooo jealous!!

Ditto, ditto. Go to bed early the night before you leave OZ. Honour your body clock, drink lots of water,take vitamin C before you leave and during your holiday. Despite long journey, you arrive at night and a good nights sleep will have you jumping out of your skin the next day. Hopefully! Good luck. CJ