Sonnie

Our flight leaves next Friday at 5:30 EST from Detroit and when the plane lands in Rome, it will be 8:15 am there on Saturday. We only have two days in Rome, Saturday and Sunday. How do we prevent being exhausted when we land? We will have that whole day ahead of us and I don't want to waste it sleeping. Plus, aren't a bunch of things closed in Rome on Sunday? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. <BR>Thanks!

frank

You need both sleep & a reset to local time. <BR>If you take melatonin during your journey at bedtime Italian time (head in the dark as far as poss) your body clock will reset to local time. <BR>You then have a chance to get some sleep-chamomile ect may help. <BR>

Sonnie

Thanks Frank! What is melatonin? Where would I get it?

s.fowler

There have been a number of good threads on this topic. Try a search for jetlag using the text search box at the top of the page.

Rex

I think that most "tourists" from North America rely a lot on the excitement of going to Europe to simply "push through" their fatigue (normal, from only sleeping a few hours on the plane). They go to exhaustion that first day, eat an early dinner, and go to bed early. Sometimes the problem is that you will awaken at 3 or 4 in the morning, having gone to bed at 8 pm when you are quite unaccustomed to doing so. In a way, you can enjoy some aspects of Rome even at that hour; if you are staying in the historic center, you can walk around and have things all to yourself. Seeing the Pantheon in the moonlight all to yourself can be awesome, even though you can't get in in the pre-dawn hours. <BR> <BR>But then you can fall into the trap of needing a mid-day nap from that early rising, and it can take days to get over this. <BR> <BR>If you are really serious about wanting to take measure to get "on" Europe time as soon as possible, I recommend starting 2 to 4 days in advance - - MAKE yourself go to bed earlier, an hour or two each day, and get up earlier, so that you are getting up at 2 or 3 am (Detroit time) on your day of departure. This will help you be so tired come flight time that you will just want to sleep - - the whole flight. <BR> <BR>There are also advocates of fasting as an aid to adjusting better and more quickly. On departure day, eat as big a breakfast as you can (at 2 or 3 am) of largely or entirely fruit; then drink plenty of water, but do not eat again until you see the sun coming up over Europe. The flight attendant can be asked (ask nicely, and pin a reminder to the seat back in front of you) to serve your dinner at the same time as the light breakfast they provide (yes, it will be cold; they won't reheat it for you, but that's okay, it isnt gourmet food anyhow!) - - drink NO caffeine, and no alcohol, use the eyeshades they provide, and dont even think about listening to (let alone watching) any movie. The key is, do nothing but sleep - - and you still may only get 4 or 5 hours, but that's 2 or 3 times what you might get if you didnt make the effort. <BR> <BR>Many people say this is too austere - - ruins the fun of the air travel. To which I respond - - okay, then dont do it - - it's just a suggestion. <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR>

Surlok

You can buy melatonin at any drugstore, that I know. I found the liquid to be more efficient than pills. <BR> <BR>Don't drink any alcohol during your flight, don't over eat, set your watch to the Italian time as soon as you get into the plane, and walk all over the aisle a few times if you can. Some stretching will work fine, too. <BR> <BR>There will be some stores open in the Piazza di Spagna area, also at Via del Corso (close by), and around the Trevi Fountain on Sunday. Most of them will be closed, though. There's a market, Porta Portese, that happens only on Sundays in the morning. It closes down at approximately 2 PM. <BR> <BR>The museums will be likely open too, but I'd expect them to be crowded.

Jane

During the flight to Paris, we took sleeping pills about an hour after take off. Although I didn't sleep through the entire flight, I did get enough rest to be up and about the entire next day.

B.J.

Have made many trips to Europe and have always had trouble with jet lag. A fellow tourist we met last year (retired guy) said that what works best for him was a two hour nap upon arrival at his hotel. <BR> <BR>Decided to try it this time (I'm also closing in on retirement) and it worked like a charm!! <BR> <BR>We woke up refreshed, took a shower, walked around town and went to bed at 11 pm. Woke up next morning at 7:30 and continued on. <BR> <BR>It's just another possibility. <BR> <BR>Happy travels! <BR> <BR>

Marlena

I'm with BJ, a couple hours sleep and then a nice shower on arrival day allows me to enjoy my first evening. I have never been able to stay up until locals go to bed without being cranky and well, just dog tired. <BR> <BR>Marlena

m&m

I'm from australia, so we can't afford the luxury of a 5-8hr plane trip to get ANYWHERE on the planet, except NZ which doesn't really count, so after a 24hr flight (1hr stop over just to peave you off waiting at bangkok airport to unsettle you) the only solution is either take a heck of a lot of sleeping pills and hope you sleep through the entire ordeal of screaming kids and bad turbulance or stay wake and experience europe through the eyes of a bloodshot creature of the night!! either way I think the end result is you feel invigorated and refreshed at the end of this journey, and the shower and 2hr nap really make the difference...

Bennett Schneir

I do this every time I go -- it requires a little effort, but it works perfectly. The key, as others have mentioned, is to sleep the entire flight (or as much as you can). Either stay up all night the night before you leave (waiting until 12am to pack helps this enormously), get yourself through the day without sleeping, eat a full meal (dinner) before you get on the plane, bring a blindfold, earplugs, and a sleeping pill -- you will drop off and sleep the entire flight. When you arrive, be sure to stay up your entire first day (should be fine since you got a good night's sleep on the plane, though a few espresso's help!), get to bed at a reasonable hour--done. You will wake up on day2 completely adjusted to the new time zone. <BR> <BR>Bennett

Sonnie

Wow! Thank you all very much! I think I will try to stay up as late as possible on Thursday night so that I can sleep for most of the flight. I will have to make sure my husband tries to do the same so that one of us isn't more tired than the other when we get to Rome. <BR> <BR>Thanks again for the suggestions!

Kandy

Sonnie: <BR> <BR>Ambien 5mg one hour after you take off and your problem is solved.

Rex

At the risk of harping on what I said in my earlier message, I do not think that TWO sleep-deprived nights (one the night before departure, one on the plane) is what you need. Better to sleep a reasonable duration - - (7 or) 8 pm to 2 (or 3) am the night before departure, rather than "staying up late", and getting inadequate sleep - - i.e., (3 or) 4 am to (7 or) 8 am. <BR>