Will be traveling to Italy from Philadelphia this November. Any suggestions for dealing with the jet lag and time difference? I'm guessing the first day will be tough. Thanks for any tips.

Search this and the "Smart Travel Tips" forum--everyone's a expert! (But no one agrees.)

I agree with Martha. My two cents worth, however, are as follows: <BR> <BR>- sleep as much as you can on the way there (get a window seat, get a neck pillow, wear the eye mask, take some pills or melatonin, wear something comfortable that doesn't bind at the waist, stay away from alcohol, avoid the coffe/tea/coke, and either skip dinner/snacks so that you get more sleep or get to sleep right after dinner -- and don't eat very much.) <BR> <BR>- when you get there, spend as much time as possible outside in the sun. It helps your body readjust. Walk a bit, relax on a bench for a bit. Walk some more, relax some more. Have an early dinner. <BR> <BR>- If you must nap, make it short. <BR> <BR>- Try to stay up until 9pm or so. If you can do that, you should be fine. <BR> <BR>I've flown from the US to Europe often, and I've found the sleep on the plane to be invaluable. But, I'm no expert. I'm one of those people that get great results from classic sleeping pills, and I've never, ever experienced any effect from Melatonin (sorry to all who like it... don't know why it doesn't work on me...) <BR> <BR>The first day, you're right, is a looooooong day, no matter what you do.

Carolyn: I've traveled to Europe only about 10 times (a novice with many in this forum!) but also do way too much domestic travel for business, including a yearly trek from east coast to Saipan for a 2 hr meeting (14 time zones, 4 planes, and literally the other side of the world from home). I either don't have the luxury of sitting idly the first day of arrival, or I won't give up the sightseeing and fun on arrival day, and I swear by the following: <BR>for overnight trips, even when I'm in first class (all of my business trips, some Europe) the food is simply not worth losing sleep over, and I can see the movies at home. I usually have time to eat whatever at the airport, and then I reset my watch to arrival time frame, then try my best to SLEEP. (I also use neck pillows, eye shades, etc.) It's never easy (noise level, lights, etc) but every bit helps, and I can usually hit the ground at a run. <BR>Also, I drink so much water on planes (even my one hour business hops) that I am frequently congratulated by flight crews! (According to them, the minimum requirement in the air is 8oz per hour, and I usually beat that!) So, I save the wine sampling for meals on land, and guzzle bottled water. Of course, one then walks the aisle frequently hitting the lavatory -- I just know this helped my circulatory system during my recent Tokyo to Dulles non-stop coming home from Saipan <BR>Extra note: don't know where you live, but we used Philly to get to France this summer on US Air (frequent flyer miles) and found the airport to be quite good in the international terminal. <BR>Have fun! <BR>

Hi! I've been reading everyones respnse and they are all good. We have even taken sleeping pills on the flight and can;'t maange more than a couple of hour. Avoiding alcohol etc. What we do is walk for a while after we get to the hotel. We don't eat, when we fell very rtired we go to the room and nap 2-3 hours, Get up and sightsee etc, eat an early supper and go back to bed. Next day we are back into our regular routine. <BR> alan

Medical research done at Cornell University indicates that light on the skin helps to reset the body's internal clock. So if you can get out in the sunlight. There is some evidence that light on thin places of the skin, e.g. the back of your knees, will help if sun light is not avilable. The other suggestions help too, but most tourist class planes have such abominable seating that sleep is difficult because you are so uncomfortable. <BR>

There are tips everywhere ad nausem about this. Once you arrive, do what you feel like doing. You'll adjust in a day or two. Coming back is worse than going over...

Many have shared good tips, I'll just add a few. <BR> <BR>Drink water, skip alcohol. <BR> <BR>Most importantly, when your flight takes off, set you watch for the current time at your destination. Allow yourself to think on that schedule already. EX: when leaving Miami at 5:30pm we set our watches ahead for Paris time of (I think 5 hours)11:30pm and tell ourselves "It's night time, and time to go to sleep." That way, when you arrive, you can convince yourself that its 7:30am and time to begin your day. DON'T go to sleep when you arrive,eat breakfast and begin a day as you would at home. Go out and sightsee, turn in early if you need to but stay up until that bedtime. We had no problem.

I would agree completely with Helena and Kristin. I can see on our last trip how sunlight did help too. One last thought. Make sure you have a hotel reservation and plan ahead the activities you want to see and do. If you have an itinerary it will help keep you focused. We scheduled a night watchmans tour in Rottenburg for 8pm and by 9:15 were all in bed and it worked just fine.

There is always lots of advise on this subject -- if you fly first class or business I would imagine jet lag is less bothersome simply because you may have a seat big enough (or reclines enough) to sleep in, otherwise back in "steerage" it's not so easy unless you are the kind who can sleep anyplace/anytime. If you take a window seat watch your water consumption (even tho you should drink lots) because you have to climb over 2 other people to get out in most cases. Then of course if you drink lots you walk the aisles lots and the flight crews don't like passengers "in the way" so it's a no-win situation I've found. If you take an aisle seat you can hope the person by the window does not drink too much and need to get out all the time too. Best to pray for a half empty flight and lots of empty seats <BR> <BR>Wear comfortable clothes, elastic type waistband is good and a no-wrinkle material (or if wrinkles, looks OK that way). I find dressing nicely (but comfortably) helps because you do look decent when you land. Also an hr. or so before landing go to the lav and tidy up, it helps to feel clean I think. <BR> <BR>Upon getting to your hotel don't go to sleep, or if you must take a nap take a 1 hr. one. Get outside and stay outside. Walk around, don't plan on any heavy duty sightseeing tho. Eat an early dinner and go to bed about 8:30, you will be fine the next day. <BR> <BR>You can also take a good book to pass the time on the flight if you can't sleep and perhaps crossword puzzles (if they are your thing). <BR> <BR>If all else fails a Tylenol PM might do the trick and allow you to catch a few winks -- you may feel groggy from them tho.

The Loons, who've been known to go to London or Paris for a long weekend, beat jet lag by: <BR>1) sleeping on the plane. Wear comfy clothes, take off your shoes and put on booties, be sure you have a pillow and blanket, eat a light meal (you can order fruit plates or vegetable plates ahead), avoid drinking anything that can keep you awake (a glass of wine with dinner makes me sleepy; a cup of tea wires me for sound - just the opposite of other people); Excedrin or Tylenol PM; a cup of melatonin tea (no caffeine, tastes good, seems to relax us); drink more water than you normally do; earplugs and eyemask. <BR>2) upon landing, drop bags at hotel and hit the streets; nothing too strenuous or brain-taxing (wander through Hyde Park vs taking the guided tour of Chartres); eat meals at local time (tea time is a great invention for the overseas traveler; nice snack to carry you through til supper); go to bed around 8:30 or 9:00 (great evening to do a boat cruise of the local waterway, or a bus tour if you're waterless), with an Excedrin PM or Tylenol PM and a cup of melatonin tea. <BR>3) eat well and take vitamins. It's tempting the first day or so to dive into squid fritters for breakfast, but stick with bread-like substances and your favorite morning beverage. A multivitamin, even if you don't usually take them, seems to help boost energy and get you over the jetlag hump.

Buy melatonin - it really works, resets your body clock.Try to take it in reduced light, 24 hrs before the time you expect to be going to bed in Italy. You can buy it at most airports in the US (blister packs)but not in Europe.Jetlag is worse flying from west to east. <BR>I use it & so do many business colleagues.Don't confuse it with no-jet-lag & suchlike - these are herbal products which make you a bit sleepy, nothong more. <BR>

Bring back the ocean liner..all the advice is very good indeed, but sometimes you just have to accept the lag and let your bdoy adjust at its own rate. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>