I've flown from California to Europe quite a few times. The trick to coping with jet lag going in that direction is no matter how tired you are on arrival, force yourself to stay up until bedtime local time. Then after a night's sleep, you usually feel pretty good. Not completely adjusted to the time change of course, but doing quite well.

I've haven't flown in the other direction in years. So Australia experts, please tell me if the basic strategy should be the same for arriving there. My flight leaves LA around 11 PM and arrives in Sydney around 6 AM local time. Is the trick to try to stay up all day in Sydney no matter how exhausted we are? Or is that basically impossible? Should we take a short nap on arrival and then force ourselves to get up? What if we just give in and sleep the day away --- is that a very bad thing? We are paying for an extra night at our hotel so we can check in immediately on arrival. Any advice is most welcome!

Hi Miranda
I have recently flown backwards also, Auckland to Frankfurt with a break in Bangkok. All very long flights.
No matter what, I completely forget about what time it is at home and go with the local time and try to fall in to a pattern of eating at local time. This is the hardest part to adjust to. Maybe after going out for breakfast and a bit of sightseeing you could have a rest in the afternoon and then get up at local time for dinner.
I think the tiredeness doesn't hit you until about the third day.

Hi Miranda--
What worked for me was running myself ragged the week before the trip (not on purpose), taking 10mg of Ambien as soon as I got on the LA flight and crashing like a dead woman for the majority of the flight...It was my first time w/a sleeping pill and let me tell ya, it was fantastic!

When I got to Sydney, I took a shower and kept moving; I did not allow myself to sit down. I was already excited to be there but just seeing the Opera House and Harbor Bridge made me giddy with excitement so I didn't feel the 15 hr. time difference. Late that first afternoon, I 'hit the wall' and thought I'd collapse but I drank a large, strong coffee and kept pushing. I was pretty amazed with myself but was able stay up til 11 or so and the next day and every day forward, I was on Sydney time.

I actually think coming back was harder because I left Oz in the AM and got to LA early morning--and still had to fly home to Atlanta...The Ambien worked but not nearly as well because I was already rested. Maybe I should have stayed out all night before flying home ;-) It took me days to get back on US EST--post vacation let down????

Good luck! You will love Australia and if you're like me, will think all that travelling was totally worth it.

Debbie

Hi Miranda:

I gather that all flights to Australia leave at 11 pm and arrive in early morning. We did nothing in preparation for the flight to the west. Left the DC area a day early and stayed over at LA - saw some sights and then left to Sydney. Qantas served about 3 meals going over and we were able to doze off but not fully sleep. When we arrived in OZ we must have had the adrenalin pumping cause we dropped luggage at the hotel (in the Rocks) and started out immediately!! We ate lunch about 2:30 pm near the Opera House and then headed back to the hotel for a short nap. That evening we headed back to the Opera House for a performance and later went and crashed at the hotel. Next day we were fine and stayed that way for the rest of our trip.

Generally if you take the day to your own speed you'll know what to do - just don't let yourself stay in bed all day!!

There's much to be seen and much to do so enjoy your time there.

I have tried everything from staying with the time on arrival to going to sleep for a short time and /or having a shower and nap and then getting up for the rest of the day - the latter seemed to work best I thought because a 2 hour sleep took the edge off the tiredness first and then I fell into the new time quite well.
The last time I flew east to west was to Paris from Singapore and I did get to sleep on the plane and had absolutely no problems in spending the first day out and about - however that night I slept for about 13 hours. I had no jet lag to speak of either. Also I ignore the suggestion that you shouldn't drink on the flight and had my usual sedative in the form of Champagne.

Hi Miranda, we've just flown back to Australia from the USA and have flown to Europe a few times. What we do if arriving very early, like you are, is have a couple of hours sleep, a shower and a decent meal for lunch, then have a light snack for dinner and an early night. By next morning you should be fine. If we arrive later in the day, we just force ourselves to keep going, often once you're in the fresh air, doing things, you soon freshen up a bit.
Also, the last couple of trips we've tried something called JetEase or No Jetlag (they have a website). Seemed to work reasonably well. Drinks lots of water during the flight too, this helps combat jetlag.
Have a wonderful trip! Kay

We too arrived in SYD about 8am, went to hotel, showered to get the "eau-de-boeing" off our bodies, into fresh clothings and out to the Quay. The Opera House, ferries to the acquarium and finally about 6pm as we felt ourselves fading, returned to hotel. Figured we'd nap for a few hours then go out for dinner at about 9pm.

Sure enough we awoke about 9pm, went to splash some water on my face and go for dinner - took onelook at myself in mirror and said "no way". Undressed and under the covers to sleep. Of course, we were both up about 3am, then slept on/off till about 6am.

Finally out of bed, dressed, breakfast and on our way for the days activities. We were fine for the remained of our 16 days trip.

I do the same flying East - if arriving in daylight stay up as close to dark/bedtime and finally sleep. If arriving late, just go to bed and wake next morning.

Luckily I've been able to sleep on just about every flight regardless which direction we're flying - often getting as much as 8-hrs sleep.

Stangely, while I try to do the same when returning home, it doesn't seem to work the same and our recent return from Thailand which got us to NY mid-afternoon, I had no energy to make it till dark and didn't arrive at the land of the living for about a week. That trip really kicked our butts.

I have flown the La-Sydney (starting from DC)route a couple of times and sleep very little on the flight which, at times, feels unbelieveably long. What seems to work best is the same thing I do when going to Europe---go with the local time. This time, I arrived in Sydney at 8:30am, showered and started walking around. When I drooped in the afternoon, I had some coffee, then kept going. By 9pm, I was tired and by 11 pm, sound asleep. That first day push seems to work for me whereever I go and also worked on the return part. If you are someone who does well with short naps, that may be beneficial but naps make me more tired, rather than less!

This was my experience. I dozed during the flight from LA to Sydney. Didn't seem to sleep for more than a few hours (no drugs, no alcohol). It might have helped!!! Arrived in Sydney around 7:30 am, by the time we got to our hotel (Old Sydney Holiday Inn in the Rocks, would highly recommend) it was around 10:30. We were able to check-in and shower. Had an early lunch, took a ferry around the harbor, explored the Rocks and hit the wall around 4:00 pm. We were asleep by 5:00 pm, slept through dinner and woke up at 7:00 am, rested and refreshed. We were acclimated to Sydney time from that day on. Of course, my experience may not be typical. I require a lot of sleep (at least 9 hours). Not everyone can sleep for 14 hours straight.

Perhaps if I had slept more on the flight over, I would have been able to stay up later.

Hi Miranda,

I've flown this route a number of times. I used to stick out the day and go to sleep at local time, but the last trip (as well as on recent trips to Europe, the other direction) I've napped for no more than a couple of hours local mid-morning and have found it really helpful. But as someone else commented, you have to be a person who feels refreshed after napping.

In addition to napping, though, I've found it really really helpful to *eat* at local time--even if I'm not that hungry, I make myself eat at regular local mealtimes and only lightly snack if I feel I'm starving at my "home" mealtimes (like around midnight!). If you nap, make sure it's not through local mealtimes!