jet lag......all nite travel.....
 

Hello, i’ve never been jet lagged, nor have i ever traveled through timezones.

my wife and i will be in Antwerp after an all nite traveling. What to do from 10am til 3pm (checkin time).

I’d like to prepare some activity idea’s ahead of time, like eateries ect. Low level wandering :0)

i dont want to go to bed as my body and mind want to at 3pm in the afternoon.

what would you do ?

Is 10am when your flight lands, or when you anticipate being in town?

What I do in similar situations is take my luggage to the hotel. The hotel will hold it for you, and it may turn out that you can check in early. Never hurts to ask. Then I have coffee, in the hotel if there is a cafe/restaurant. Then you need lunch and some outdoors activity.

Everyone has their own jet lag rituals. Mine, going west to east, is to get two to four hours sleep the first afternoon, then get up and eat dinner and go to bed at what would be my normal time if I lived there. However, I live on the US east coast, and am dealing with a five hour time difference.

we fly out of Toronto at 5pm, we live in Roch NY. We end up in Antwerp around 10am, their time.

so grab some eats, coffee, and a 3pm nap and dinner when we wake, my wife will welcome that nap, yeah the nap was my big question :0)

When we have an early morning arrival (and there is a late check-in time) we usually just book our hotel room beginning the previous evening. That we we can go straight to our hotel room, unpack, take a shower, put on fresh clothes and afterwards we grab a bite to eat and then take in some of the sights or activities for the rest of the day. We usually plan an early dinner then retire for the night. The following morning we are "back to normal". Yes, we understand we have to pay for an additional night's stay at the hotel even though we don't actually sleep there but for us the convenience is well worth the additional cost.

I never thought of that, nice.......

We usually don’t sleep until evening and we don’t have problems. We are usually pumped up and excited. We don’t do anything like museums or tours, but stay outdoors for sunshine which I believe helps the body adjust to a new time zone. Definitely go to your hotel and drop luggage and at times we have been lucky enough to be able to check in.

Everyone is different on the nap-upon-arrival question. I have to do it. If I don't I am a zombie for days. If I give into what my body is telling me, I get onto the local time more quickly. Besides that lots of fresh air, walking around, a good hot meal, and wine... is what works for me.

The main thing I would avoid is sleeping too long the first morning/afternoon once you check into your accommodations. That can be hard to do when you're sleep deprived, so we set an alarm to make sure we only sleep an hour or two. My family hates me when I wake them (sometimes having to force the issue) but they thank me the next day.

Boots

ps I've also had success with a jet lag reset supplement, which I think it has melatonin. I've gotten mine on Amazon. It may just have a placebo effect but it seems to really help reset my body clock in a new time zone.

Going east I never take a nap. I just consider it a long day and sleep at normal hour.

I also take melatonin to get in sleep. helps.

IF you can sleep on the plane you'll be in a lot better shape even with the time change. Because I can't (sleep on a plane) it is brutal for me the first few days. Just part of the experience. I've learned to build in a couple days at the start of any Europe trip, on my own, in a city, where I can do my own thing to get accustomed (before meeting friends, etc.).

If you book a room for the night before make sure the hotel knows you're arriving late. If they're full and you don't show up by normal check in they might consider you a no show. Ranging from a cancelation to giving away your room. Just tell them when you're likely to arrive.

I've done mixed things but not the booking the room the day before. Sometimes I am so tired on early arrival but others times not. I have no idea why and I can't sleep on planes. It's hard to know what to do if your room isn't ready when you get there. When it's not, it can be rough. I've done everything from hanging out in cafe, riding a hop on and off bus as I figured dozing on one would be ok to trying to walk around then crashing in the hotel lobby. I am going to try a day room for my next trip as I am booking a flat so no place to go until they let me in.

You will have a six hour time difference. We have a nine hour time change going to Europe and power through the first day, spending time outside walking, taking a boat ride. We go to bed after dinner. The next day, we are totally over jet lag. Sometimes we fly to east coast and take a daytime flight around 7:30am to London out of Boston or NYC. We arrive around dinner time there, eat and go to bed, no jet lag. No jet lag at all the following day either.

Contrary to what most travelers advise, we have always taken a nap when our family arrives in Europe from the States.
Only one family member is able to sleep on a plane, so the rest of us are zombies when we arrive after an overnight flight.
It has never created a problem for us.
Instead, we find that we feel refreshed and energized after a nap, and can enjoy the rest of the day/night.
Otherwise, we'd be miserable that first day.
The key, of course, is securing an early check-in, or reserving the room that extra night.

If I didn't nap upon arrival it's not only the "first day" I'd be miserable. It lasts for about 3 days before I'm back to normal. Giving in to a nap and going to bed when I feel like it really helps shorten the adjustment period. As does wine.

I just try to get hydrated and sleep as much as possible leading up to the flight so not to arrive already sleep deprived and dehydrated. I definitely don't take a nap the first day, just try to get on a regular schedule using alarms and perhaps melatonin. If you have trouble falling asleep take it a few hours before bedtime.

On the plane I don't count on getting much sleep, usually just watch seat back movies and hope I nod off for a few catnaps. I try as much as possible to arrive in the evening, though.

This October I was forced due to family pressure to go to Europe. I chose an itinerary with a connection in Stockholm so I could arrive in BCN around dinner time, rather than in the morning. And definitely prefer the 787s, maybe it's all mental but I do feel more rested when flying those long haul.

It seems to take a week or more each way for me from the west coast to Europe to really feel normal but I build in several rest days so not too draggy. That's why I prefer to travel to South America! Or going to Asia where the jetlag effect is to make you want to get up early in the morning, works out better for sightseeing.

PS I have just as hard a time flying a redeye to the East Coast, which is probably more similar to your flight.

The impact of Jet lag is very individual. Some people have more or less no problems, other feel it for a couple of days.

There are likely as many ways to fight jet lag as there are travelers. Some things work for one person and don't for another.

My way to adapt is very easy. I just force myself to go to bed at my normal time (+/-) in the new time zone and try to manage the arrival time / schedule (if possible) in a way that I am positive that I can do that.

Thanks for letting us know that you found a good solution!

I almost didn't have it. I flew from Europe to Australia. Landed in the morning and didn't sleep untli night. I was tired but next day woke up in quite a good form.