The photo to the right is an honest assessment of my mental state during the first few travel days each of the last several times I have traveled to Europe. The 8-9 hour time shift destroys the body’s internal clock and leaves both of us absolutely wrecked.
To combat the effects of Jet Lag, there are countless ideas (specially tinted sunglasses), pills (melatonin, no jet-lag, etc.), and just to grin and bear it (this option always seems to take the longest and hurts the most).
This time around, Natalie and I are trying something new… As I type this blog posting, it is 1:15am local and 9:15am in the UK… Late yesterday afternoon about 5:00pm (1:00am UK), we both crashed to attempt a pass at a few hours of sleep. I pulled off about 5 hours, and made it to about 10pm (6am UK) before my body clock figured out that I was pulling a fast one. Now, after eating “breakfast” at 11:30pm (7:30am UK), we are attempting to acclimate to the new schedule in advance of our trip.
I expect that we will probably have to have some strategic naps and keep up the process for the next 4 nights to have any impact, but we’ll see how it works. Here are the goals…
1) Sleep 6-7 hours from 4/5pm – 10/11pm local time
2) Breakfast at 11:30pm, Lunch at 4/5am, and Dinner at 12noon.
3) Remain Functional During This Period and Sleep on the Plane…
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