IN NOVEMBER THIS YEAR MY HUSBAND AND I ARE FLYING FROM ST. LOUIS TO HONOLULU (DIRECT FLIGHT-8 HRS.) THEN IMMEDIATELY ON TO KAUAI FOR 3 DAYS, THEN TO MAUI FOR 6 DAYS THEN BACK TO HONOLULU AND HOME TO ST. LOUIS. WITH THE 8 HR. FLIGHT, THE 1 HR FLT TO KAUI, COMBINED WITH THE ADDITIONAL 4-5 HR. TIME DIFFERENCE (?) WE ARE WORRIED WE MAY BE EXHAUSTED THE FIRST FEW DAYS. ANY ADVICE ON HOW TO COPE WITH THIS JET LAG? SHOULD WE TAKE SLEEPING PILLS BEFORE THE FLIGHT AND SLEEP THE WHOLE WAY THERE? THANKS FOR ANY ADVICE. CATHY

Dear Cathy, We have been to Hawaii 7 times in the last 8 years and have always flown out of New York. We have never really had a problem with the lag going because you are going west. Even if you don't land on Kauai until 7 or 8 p.m local time it like midnight or 1 Am your time. So you go to bed within an hour or two upon arrival, sleep all night, which would be the equivalent to sleeping to 11 or so central time and you are redy to go. Just force yourself to get 8 or 9 hours of sleep and you should be fine. Now going home is another story as you will probably fly over night. Try to sleep on the plane and when you arrive home try to stay up all day. Have a great trip you wil love it.

Cathy, Go to "Frommers.com", and this past June, I think, their hot topic of the month was "jet lag." There's a zillion remedies, and I'm sure it's archived. I say, after going to Hawaii from the East Coast four times, "only water & juice on the flight over, at least 8 oz. of water per hour, walk plane once per hour. No caffeine or carbonated beverages, loose clothes, leave as early in morning as possible, and get in water as soon as you can, at your destination, and for the next couple of days."

Going TO Hawaii should be no problem because once you get there, Hawaii is so relaxing and you can just veg out your first day, on the beach or at the pool and have a nice tropical drink. Take a lovely stroll on the beach in the evening, have a nice dinner. Get a massage on arrival too, that helps us. Coming back to the mainland (and reality) isn't that big of a deal either. Your mood will depend on the time of day too. I'm always tired, but usually can't sleep much so I just do laundry, sort/answer mail etc. and get caught up on things.

It is very, very simple:
1. No caffeine on the flight
2. Drink plenty of water
3. Take Melatonin and drift off to sleep
4. When you arrive stay awake and carry on as normal.
5. That night turn in earlier than normal and get a good night's sleep.

It's true, you will have more jet lag flying east, so plan to take a day off to recuperate (sp?). But our problem was getting there. We left Cincinnati at 7am, arrived in Chicago at 710a on Easter Sunday. We boarded the plane and waited about 30 minutes. They announced it would only be a little longer. Thirty more minutes...we had to deboard the plane due to hydraulic problems. Thank God we never took off! Then we had to wait around in O'Hare for them to fly in a part...then the crew's time expired. They had to fly in a new crew....
T H I R T E E N H O U R S later we took off!!! Straight trough to Honolulu, missing our flight to Kauai.
All in all it was a fantastic vacation and now I can look back and laugh.
Ha. Ha.
Have a great time, Kauai is more beautiful than you can imagine.