This is a crossover between a how-to about avoiding jet-lag, and a request for your own tips on the subject. I’m leaving for Chiang Rai, Thailand next Tuesday evening. I’ve been to Thailand before, and my idea for avoiding jet-lag on that trip was to sleep the whole way, or at least most of the way. That didn’t work at all! I remember leaving Los Angeles at a little after Midnight local time and going straight to sleep on the plane, sleeping as much as I could while everyone around me stayed awake and chatted or read or ate. Those fools. I woke up numerous times, and forced myself back to sleep. After what seemed like hours of sleep, I woke up just as refreshed as I could be. I hadn’t slept that long in a while! So I glanced at the screen to see how we were making it; I though for sure we’d be nearing Taiwan by now. We were over Midway. That revelation left a terrible, sinking feeling in my gut. What would I do for the next 7 hours?! :o) This time around I’m going with a different plan.
When I woke up on that flight, every other passenger on the plane was fast asleep. Perhaps they weren’t so foolish after all. They didn’t wake up until right before we landed in Taipei. Herein lies my plan for this trip. Chiang Rai is exactly twelve hours ahead of Central Daylight Time. So when I leave at 5:30 next Tuesday evening, it will be 5:30 Wednesday morning where I’m headed. My plan is to get on Chiang Rai time as quickly as possible. I’m going to do that with a threefold battle plan. First, I’m going to stay awake as late as possible Monday night and sleep in as long as possible Tuesday morning. Remember, even if I wake up at Noon, that’s really Midnight for me. Then on the flights I’m going to stay awake as much as I can that night; maybe take a cat nap or two on the way to California to help. When we’re nearing Hawaii I’ll go to sleep, hopefully sleeping the rest of the way. We’ll land about 5:30 AM local time in Taipei, which is 4:30 AM in Bangkok. That’s still pretty early in the morning, but not that far off of my normal schedule. And lastly, I’m going to stay awake as long as possible that first day in Chiang Rai, and then go to bed on Patti’s schedule that evening. Voila! I’m on Chiang Rai time. Suggestions?
~Jonathan
Update
Just to let you know, the plan worked flawlessly. I didn’t have one ounce of weariness when I arrived in Chiang Rai. I hit the ground running, and had a wonderful trip. However, while getting ready to return home I didn’t have the advantage of two days’ preparation for the flight. I basically did the exact same thing coming back as I did seven years earlier: I slept most of the way across the ocean, and when I landed in Los Angeles the next evening I was still sleepy. Unfortunately, neither of the next two flights afforded any sleeping time. I’m still trying to recover, and I landed four days ago! Lesson learned.
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On January 23rd, 2007, at 6:05 am
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