teadrinker

Hi - I was hoping there are some people on this forum who have taken the 18-hour direct flight from Singapore to Newark which takes off at noontime.
Any advice on how I might be able to avoid a bit of jet lag?
Should I try not to sleep that much tonight so that I'm tired tomorrow and can sleep as much as I can the day before our flight?
Or should I just have a normal night's sleep, avoid caffeine, and sleep... when?
Thank you very much for your expert advice.
Coming here was easier because our flight left at midnight, and I slept a lot of the way here, but the return is the opposite, so I'm a little unsure as to how to proceed.
Thank you for your help!

doug_stallings

I've never take this particular flight, but I did a nonstop to Hong Kong last year, and it's almost as far (but only 14 instead of 18 hours, I think). I always find it harder to fly back to the U.S. rather than to fly to Asia. Since you are flying to EWR, I'm assjming you're going to be on the all-business-class flight, so you should be comfortable and should be able to sleep. Do that. But don't change your sleep habits before the flight. You don't want to get on the plane already fatigued with lack of sleep. It won't help and might make things worse.

There are some things you can do. 1) Don't drink caffeine or alcohol at all. Just drink water and fruit juice. 2) Eat lightly. 3) Consider taking a sleeping aid if you have problems sleeping on planes (but don't take something over the counter with Benadryl in it; that will just make you more groggy when you wake up). They do sell cough medicine with codeine over the counter in Singapore; if codeine helps you sleep (it actually does the opposite to me), that might be an option.

Believe me, in 18 hours, you'll get sleepy, but don't fight it. You're going to be jet-lagged when you arrive one way or another with that dramatic a shift in time zones.

doug_stallings

Oh ... and re-post this in the Asia forum. There are lots of frequent travelers who frequent that forum and may be able to give you better advice than mine.

teadrinker

Thank you, Doug! I did post it on the Asia forum, and that was a kind gesture of yours to suggest it.
I did very well on the flight - You were right, it was comfortable, and I was able to sleep very well. I'm not tired today, don't know if it'll 'kick in' later or not, but I am not going to think about it and pretend that I never was on a long flight, that I've been home the whole time, and maybe I'll get through it with no problems! Once home, I slept my normal sleeping pattern, which was around 11PM until 6:30AM, and I feel just fine right now. Thank you!

doug_stallings

I'm glad you had a good flight. Chances are if you are sleeping well already, you'll do fine. But I've found that the first night goes ok because I'm so tired, and then the jet-lag kicks in on the second day. I hope that's not the case for you. But putting your watch on NYC time as some suggested in the Asia forum is a very wise thing. And I do think that helps, even though jet-lag is more about the timing and amount of sun.