What are some tips from you world traveling folks?

I am leaving for Ghana on Friday morning and will arrive there about 3am (CST) Saturday morning.

TIA

[This message has been edited by chrisfield (edited 8/5/2009 10:37p).]

Departing from where and changing planes where with a layover of how long?

My advice is to either shorten or lengthen your day on the day you're leaving. Sleep a little bit on the flight and try to start putting yourself mentally in the time zone your going to.

When you get where you're going, try to force yourself to stay awake as late in the day as possible. Or, stay out late the night before so that you're really tired when you get there. Again, it sort of depends if you're going East or West and from where you're leaving from, etc. Good Luck!

1. What time does you plane depart?

2. How long of a flight is it?

3. How long will it take to get from the airport to your place of lodging?

Based on your time of arrival, gettinig your luggage, going through customs and traveling to your place of lodging, I assume you won't get settled in until maybe 5am. So if I were you I would stay up as long as possible before departing or pop a pill and sleep the entire (or a great majority) of the flight.

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I have seen the enemy, and he is us.

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Losers make excuses while winners go home with the homecoming queen.

Aisle seat so you can easily get up and move around without having to disturb or crawl over others.

***I was Aggie, when Aggie wasn't cool***

- Stay hydrated during the flight. I will sometimes carry a couple of 1L bottles of water on board with me and sip those throughout the flight.
- Sleep if you're tired on the flight over, but try to put your body in the timezone of your destination. Chances are you're not going to get much 'quality' sleep on the plane anyway.
- If you arrive during daylight hours, get outside and see the sunlight. Your body's circadian rhythm will start to adjust naturally.
- On your first night there try to stay up until a normal bedtime hour, then take a couple of Tylenol PM (or benadryl or Nyquil) before bedtime to help knock you out.

If you are flying red eye... minimize sleep the night before. Don't be conserned with waiting till you get food on the plane. Get on the plane, take a sleeping pill or two, if you take that sleeping pill with a little alcohol it helps out a lot. Also, on those long flights it hurts like hell to sit in those seats. Bring a pillow to sit on, it will be much more comfortable that way!!Typically I fly lots of red eyes, and when I get off a plane at 8 am, I have to go straight to work for 12 hours and using that technique always helps.

^
Has using eyeshades no help you sleep during daytime?

____________________________________
I have seen the enemy, and he is us.

____________________________________
Losers make excuses while winners go home with the homecoming queen.

I travel to Asia a few times a year. I take a Lunesta or Ambien a few hours into the 12 - 16 hour flight. 8 - 10 hours of the trip goes bye bye fast. I arrive at 6:30AM - all is well, head to the Hotel unpack, then workout, finished off with Breakfast, then an easy workday. Perfect routine and no jet lag too.

I don't sleep on planes so my 25 hour trip from San Antonio to Singapore could have done me in. However, We got to Singapore at 1:00 am and I slept for 7 hours until 8. Then, at 1:00 PM I took a 45 minute nap. I set the alarm to sleep no more than that. I did this for the first two days and was fine the rest of the trip. I second the notion of getting out in the sun and moving around to get your body loosened up.

I have just found that a couple of days of mid-day naps will do wonders for my recoveries.

http://www.nojetlag.com/jetlag1a.html

Sit backwards in your seat.

I commute TATL / ME at least once a month. I beat jet lag all of the time and do the following:
• Always start the trip well rested…I have learned my lesson of staying out late on a Saturday night and start a trip with a hangover on a Sunday morning flight
• I might have a drink or two before or during the flight, but generally drink lots of water on the plane.
• I cant really sleep on planes, but a Tylenol PM will help me at least catch a cat nap which is very valuable. If you have never taken ambien, I would be very careful of taking it on a plane for the first time..it makes some people have crazy dreams!
• I disagree with the isle seat, I always get a window so I can lean my head and sleep. People are always disturbing you / bumping you on isle seats. Stay away from the restrooms! Seatguru.com
• Drink lots of water and exercise when you arrive and try to go get on the local time asap. I always plan to arrive in the early morning, work all day, and keep myself awake until bedtime.

If I do these, I usually have no jet lag. I still think the most important thing is to start the trip well rested and drink lots of water. I guess it does make a difference if you are going for business or pleasure, ie I know I must keep myself going until 6pm and the night is for me to rest.

I spend about 8-10 days a month in the ME, even done a day trip there and I am still able to overcome jet leg, granted I have no biological clock anymore. Been doing it for just under a year and I am sure it will catch up to me. Good luck!

Or just do what Niteside says

[This message has been edited by matthopp (edited 8/12/2009 3:24p).]

1. drink
2. heavily
3. much

Has anyone tried the No Jet Lag product?

before responding, posters should note this thread is from Aug 2009. Jet lag advice for going to Ghana is not needed at this time.

However, I too would be curious if anyone has tried this product.

quote:

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Contains: Leopard's bane, daisy, wild chamomile, ipecac and clubmoss

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I just looked up ipecac...

quote:

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The commercial preparation of ipecac consists of 1/14th of fluedextractum of ipecac root. The rest is composed of glycerin and sugar syrup. Ipecac root itself is a poison but due to the normal strengths used and the inability of the patient to keep the solution ingested it is seldom fatal.

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Why the heck would this be in No Jet Lag?

If you're hurling all over the place, you'll forget about being tired.

Reviews on Magellan and REI would indicate that most users (who left reviews) seem to think the product works.

I fly to SIN in a few weeks so I may spend the $10 to see.

[This message has been edited by ada8356 (edited 6/2/2010 12:28p).]

Just drink as much as you can on the flight. Pass out. Wake up when you get there and stay up all day. Go to sleep at 10 - 11 that night. Done. You will be set. I've only had trouble once and that was on a 36 hour flight that upon arrival worked 4 days, 4 nights, 4 days and then 24 hour flight back. Other than something crazy like that you should be fine.

36 hour flight!?!?! Where did you go?

Did you go to Europe flying West instead of East?

Or is that total travel time with layovers?

quote:

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Just drink as much as you can on the flight. Pass out. Wake up when you get there and stay up all day. Go to sleep at 10 - 11 that night. Done.

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I tried that last time and didn't have much luck. Of course, that's mainly because I never really got any good sleep on the flight. I had a 6 hr layover in Narita so it was 30 hours there and then 36 hrs on the return trip (12 hr layover in Narita).

I didn't feel normal until the 3rd day. 1st day was just a haze (basically worked after being up for most of 48+ hours), 2nd day was better.

I'm taking sing air through Moscow this time so it's only a 24 hour flight each way (1.5 hr layover each way). Hopefully things will go better this time.

[This message has been edited by ada8356 (edited 6/4/2010 10:40a).]

I got delayed by 6 hours leaving Houston on the way to singapore. Missed my connection in narita. had to catch a different flight the next morning to singapore.

Did you get a transit room in Narita?

If you ever get stuck there again, you should pick one up. It's like a small dorm room: single bed, private bath, no windows so it's nice and dark. Really good deal. You can get a good nap and a shower for cheap w/o leaving the airport.

It was worse than that. We got there after the airport closed had to clear customs/immigration and wait around to get processed. I was changed to flying out the next morning at 6 am out of haneda down to Fu kuoka. After an hour bus ride and the dinner in the hotel they got for us, it was after 1 am. I was terrified to fall asleep because I would not wake up. So I went to the vending machine bought a 6 pack of sapporo tallboys and drank beer and watched the daily show. The worst part was when I walked up to my flight from Fu kuoka to singapore I found out the entire coach section was chartered by 8th grade japanese school girls... I was unamused.

edit: sorry, texags doesn't do well with japanese city names.

[This message has been edited by FHKChE07 (edited 6/5/2010 6:20a).]

not really, but still

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The worst part was when I walked up to my flight from Fu kuoka to singapore I found out the entire coach section was chartered by 8th grade japanese school girls... I was unamused.

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Dude, every time I hear that story I crack up again.

Luckily I was about 1 beer from unconscious.

My family is so great at self medicating with alcohol.