Managing Jet Lag
None of the pills I've tried really work for me. What I've found does work is:
- Once you get on the plane, think of yourself as being on your destination time. Don't deviate from this.
- If you're going to nap on the flight, try to do so during night hours for your destination (like 8pm to 8am).
- Try to arrive sometime between 6pm and 11pm at your destination. That way you can just get to your hotel and collapse.
- Don't nap once you are there. If you do during the first couple of days, it just messes you up.
Arming for the Flight
Here are the items I like to have to make the flight easier:
- Water-bottle clip. Having a water bottle is much handier than the glass they give you, and you won't end up accidentally spilling. While you now have to buy the bottle once through passport control, the clip goes around the neck of the bottle, and lets you clip to your belt or to the seat back in front of you.
- Kindle (amazon). I read pretty quickly (about 100 pp/hr), so I would save up a stack of books to last the flight there and back. A friend lent me a Kindle, and I'm completely sold on it. You can store 200 books with about the same weight as a single paperback; the screen is far better than a computer; no PC needed for buying new books; and once you buy the book, you own it -- you can delete from your Kindle and just download it again from Amazon if you ever want it. A winner!
- IPod.
- Good earphones. I recommend the SE530 Sound Isolating Earphones. Then go to a hearing-aid store and get the adapters used for hearing aids (there are instructions with the earphones). The sound is tremendous, and the adapters cut out all the flight noise.
- Fleece scarf. Multi-purpose -- lets you wrap up if there is a draft on your neck, bunch together to augment a pillow,... Like the Hitchhikers Guide towel, but more fashionable.
- Fleece travel slippers.
Other thoughts?
