Jet Lag strategies

[paborn]

Yes, and if my flight time were only 12 hours I would not even discuss it. My door to door is more like 30. There is Jetlag - call it what you like. 

[fedssocr]

what generally works for me is arriving late at night in BKK. Luckily the connections for me work out pretty well so a 1 stop in NRT or ICN gets me in to BKK around 22:00 or 23:00 after about 24 hours of travel time. Then it's right to the hotel, unpack, shower, and directly to bed. Then I wake up the next day on BKK time. For me the 12 hour difference is easier for me than going to Europe when you leave in the evening and fly a short-ish red eye arriving early in the morning. But after so many trips to Asia those 7 or 8 hour flights to Europe seem like almost nothing (it helps that I am always flying up front).

 

For me the worst has been when I connect in the ME on the way back. I flew through Dubai on Emirates after a trip to Sri Lanka a couple of years ago and was completely exhausted for a week.

[Guest]

Surely the main issue is getting your body clock adjusted to the time difference ?

 

I could sleep off hours of travelling, but without chemical assistance, adjusting to a bed time 8 hours early takes about 5 days.

[forky123]

Everyone is different but 5 days sounds excessive. I guess I’m lucky in that over the years I’ve done a lot of shift work and 24x7 on call work. Perhaps getting used to wierd sleep patterns helps with jet lag. I know that a single 3am call-out messes me up far more that 24 hours travelling to or from LoS.

[ggobkk]

I've been back from Thailand for a week.  It's was 25 hours from the time I left my hotel in Bangkok to the time I arrived at my front door.  The return included a BKK to Hong Kong flight, which I slept through from takeoff toe landing.  4 hour layover.  13 hours to home on a FULL 777.  I must have slept some but not much...

 

Strategy: none.  I sleep when I'm tired and eventually after several 2 am mornings, one morning I wake up at 6, then at 7.  I've been flying since early in the age of jets, crossing time zones.  I've tried everything suggested...what seems to work is patience and acceptance, willingness to be drowsy, and once I'm acclimated start planning the next trip.

 

Note: flying to Thailand is a full day affair, but since night there is day at home, it's easier to roll with night activities and sleeping in the mornings/afternoons.

[paulfort]

I am perhaps fortunate (in some respects!) living very close to Heathrow Airport, so for me now the EVA flight is ideal to avoid Jet Lag, the 21.30 departure means if as normal I have enjoyed quite a few drinks first, then a meal fairly soon after take off it is not that hard to then get circa 7 hours sleep and wake up for the second meal, relitivly adjusted to Thai time. I have always traveled in their Premium Economy so a fair bit more space or more recently in Business class on my outbound flight, which defiantly makes a good sleep easier! On my return the 13.00 departure means I try to stay awake for the flight, watch a load of films and enjoy the wine, meaning once home at about 22.00 GMT but circa 05.00 the following day much easier to crash out for the night!

[Guest]

The EVA flight premium economy is a good option. However, how much does business class on the eastbound leg cost ?

 

As for adjusting ro the time difference, I have to say going to Thailand on holiday is relatively easy to cope with, as I can get up 2 hours later for a while which reduces the time difference & some melatonin definitely helps. Going somewhere on business is much harder as I cannot soften the blow by lying in for a couple of hours.

[thaiophilus]

Coming from the West (Europe), jet lag is absolutely not a problem when I reach Thailand ; however I need four or five days to recover when coming back home.

 

I wonder if this has to do with the direction you come from, or with the excitement to be in Thailand again.

My experience too, though most people (anecdotally at least) report having more problems in the opposite direction.

[Londoner]

The EVA service from LHR is a good option. I've made nearly seventy return journeys and have only had  one seriously late arrival. Like paulfort, I pay about £450 extra for Premium Economy (return) .  Business class is double the cost of Premium. 

I travel three times a year and for one flight (I choose the return leg) i have a free-upgrade to Business due to air- miles accrued. Very nice it is, too. Sadly, I have to report that it makes no difference either to the amount of sleep I get on board, nor the severity of jet lag....which, by the way, worsens year by year as we age. Melatonin helps  West- East but not (in my experience) the journey home.

[paborn]

Londoner, that is my experience exactly. Over the years I've flown every way possible. Several times I used the now defunct Thai New York express polar route - nonstop to Bangkok and back. Nothing ever made any difference to my jet lag. Even when I think I'm fine I find that I've paid some bills twice and skipped others. I've learned to lay things out like a child with special needs and just assume I'm screwed for a couple of weeks on my return.

[reader]

This topic comes up on all the boards from time to time. Although this article contains nothing particularly new, it does illustrate some of the drawbacks (and potential remedies) related to long-haul travel. I really liked the advice in the closing paragraph.

Excerpted from South China Morning Post

Frequent fliers at higher risk of diseases that lead to ageing – what they can do to lower the risk

Frequent fliers may like to brag about having so many air miles they do not know what to do with them, but all that time in the air comes at a cost to their health. While many are business travellers and have the luxury of being up at the front of the plane, that does not negate the health impacts of regularly zipping between time zones.

Shipping executive Tim Huxley flies from Hong Kong to Europe on business at least one a month.

“As you get older you feel more tired for longer. It takes about five days for me to recover from jet lag now,” says Huxley, 58.

Research has shown that jet lag can switch off genes linked to the immune system, thus raising the risk of having a heart attack or stroke. And long-term chronic jet lag among airline cabin crew has been associated with cognitive deficits including memory impairment.

While there have been no studies looking specifically at whether frequent fliers age faster, Dr Nichola Salmond, a general practitioner and owner of Optimal Family Health in Hong Kong, says that frequent fliers face jet lag and chronic sleep loss, which increase the risks for diseases that lead to ageing.

“One of the big effects is sleep disruption on a regular basis, which is linked to a lot of health problems. It definitely affects metabolism and there is an increases risk of diabetes, heart disease, blood pressure issues,” says Salmond.

Sleep issues aside, there are other risks of zipping about in a sealed metal tube. Researchers at the City University of New York say travellers who fly 85,000 miles a year or more should be classified as radiation workers. They show that flying that number of miles a year goes beyond the regulatory limit for public exposure to radiation facilities, and show that radiation exposure among commercial aircrew even exceeds that of nuclear power workers.

He may not be able to mitigate his exposure to radiation, but there are some things he can do to limit the health risks associated with frequent flying.

Airline meals are packed with salt and sugar. This is because the combination of dry air and low pressure in the cabin reduces the sensitivity of your taste buds to sweet and salty foods by about 30 per cent. All that additional salt and sugar in your diet will be bad for your body over the long term. Eating a meal just before you get on the plane and skipping the cabin meals will address that issue.

“I always go for a long walk when I land,” says Huxley. “If I’m in Central London I walk around Hyde Park and if I’m in the city I’ll walk over Tower Bridge.”

Other strategies he has incorporated to better manage long-haul travel include keeping trips short – flying in for a meeting, staying overnight and returning the following day. The jet lag impact is far less than that of five-day trips. He also tries to get a morning flight to the UK that arrives midafternoon, allowing time for a stroll and dinner before bed. And he chooses his plane wisely.

“The newer planes are better for reducing jet lag. The Airbus A350s have bigger windows than the old 777s and the air system is better,” says Huxley.

Before we get carried away with the possible horrors of too much time in the sky, let’s not forget that travel can be liberating. Long-haul travel, when done in moderation and with fun in mind, can serve to keep us youthful rather than prematurely age us.

Salmond says: “Anything that makes you happy is good. I recently saw a study of ageing which showed that happier people live longer. Keeping your brain active helps prevent Alzheimer’s and going to new places is always going to be better than sitting at home watching TV.”

Continues with other suggestions

https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3024097/frequent-fliers-higher-risk-diseases-lead-ageing-what-they

 

[vinapu]

Having arrived in BKK on Sunday  and jet lag surprisingly being very user friendly I must say that in process I find confirmation  on my two theories, in the back of the plane in middle section there's bigger chance if nobody sitting in the middle seat allowing for more elbow  room and that additional comfort greatly mitigates severity if jet lag even if I have several hours time difference to deal with.

[ggobkk]

I'm departing on Wednesday for a long weekend in Bangkok.  I'm flying via Hong Kong and checked the seating map for my flights.  Lots of vacant seats in both directions.  It's due, I suspect, to going through Hong Kong during this time of concern/confrontation/demonstrations.  

Hopefully, I'll arrive rested and can check out Vinapu's rejects...lol.