I have a little trick I play with Father Time and that horrible condition known as Jet Lag.
This little bag of magic is contained in a little zippered pouch that is my Official Sleep Kit (OSK). This is not to be confused with SS&C (Soy Sauce & Chopstick operating principle).
It contains:
– a headlamp for reading one last chapter before bed. This helps counter the generally lousy reading lights in most hotels.
– a small ziplocked baggie with melatonin in 3 mg doses.
– ear plugs
– eye mask
– lip balm
Sometimes it also includes lavender-scented lotion for a little aromatherapy-induced relaxation but I skipped that step on this trip.
Colleen’s Cure for Jet Lag works thusly…
– Adopt the local time immediately.
– Do not look at anything that reminds you of the time back home. If someone (like if your husband named Kevin) wants to tell you what time it is back home, just stick your fingers in your ears, and very maturely yell, “La la la la!”
– Be here now. Do not engage with anything that tells you about another time zone. That world has ceased to exist.
– Upon arrival, walk around and get as much natural light as possible (even if that light happens to come in the form of a monsoon-like deluge; like it was in Paris yesterday).
– Keep moving until 3 pm, and then (because one must have a coffee at 3 pm, and it is now 3 pm, right here, where you now live), stop at the nearest brasserie and have a cappuccino. Might be good to add a tarte aux pommes to keep the energy up. (Note from the photo below that not everyone (can we say Kevin?) subscribes to my coffee idea).
Keep moving after the coffee. This is not the time to try and take in a museum or a major site. First days are merely meant to adapt the body. There are other days for touristic endeavours.
Get back to your hotel around 5ish. Have a lovely soak in the tub. Catch up on email or other WiFi-necessary stuff (love that WiFi is included here).
If you happen to be staying at the lovely Hotel Cervantes, go for dinner at the nearby Le Clou de Fourchette. 7:30 pm is a little early to be going out for dinner in Paris, but you’re forgiven for this indiscretion on your first night.
Weep over the delightful food and wine. Indulge in the chocolate dessert.
Walk back to the hotel. Say Bon Soir to the night reception and then use the headlamp to read one last chapter, take the melatonin, adjust the eye mask, ear plugs and tuck into bed.
Sleep like the dead and wake up to fresh croissants & cafe.
You’re welcome.
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You’re too funny. Love the post—especially the all important predictable and creative ‘coffee’ inclusion. Hard to top that!
Hey Judy, you knew the coffee moment would be a key component to any answer on any topic right? And now? We’re off to Versailles…a demain!
I always set my watch to the new time zone as soon as I board the plane, mostly because I like to know how long I have until I get there. I also immediately adapt to whatever the local time is; of course, that’s easier if I arrive in the middle of the night! So far, no jet lag on my adventure through Asia.
Now, how do I conquer hideously swollen feet after 24 hours of traveling?
Sharry, the feet can definitely be promlematic. Some trips I get it bad, and others not so much. This time, I did a lot of toe-clenching and ankle stretching whenever I could, drank lots of water (always do that), and walked around quite a bit. Then, when I get to the hotel, I take 10 minutes or longer, with my butt against the wall and my legs straight up. It helps enormously and is also very refreshing/energizing. Maybe those super-constrictive socks might help too?
I do everything you do (especially the chocolate) but I’ve never tried the melatonin. Is it easy to find? Also, how did I miss the fact that you left already? Bon Voyage! Is this your year in France?
Hey Miz Amy. Our year in France has shrunk to two months 🙂
We are in Paris and on May 1st, we go to the South to the house we rented. We’re there until the end of June. And guess who might be visiting? Heather G.D et famille. We will eat croissants and splash wine on our chins in your honour. (And yes, melatonin is easy to find at most pharmacies).
I’m with Kevin -Cheers!
Hey Susan…Why am I not surprised? Did you mean to say Beers instead of Cheers?
Hi Colleen, it’s Karen’s friend Jennifer Marquis. I love your blog!! It is so funny because my husband and I were just talking about jet lag as we are heading to Europe this summer. He has a terrible time recovering from jet lag so we are going to follow your ideas! It’s funny how some people, like me, just don’t seem to be affected by it and others like my husband find it really difficult. We found out that one of our daughters is just like me and one is just like David when we made our las trip to Paris a few years ago. We were there for a couple hours, we were all dozing and Jess sat right up and announced “We’ve come all the way to Paris and all we are going to do is sleep????” So Jess and I headed out for a walk around while Emma and David slept. Have to say I will never forget as we came around a corner and there was the Eiffel Tower and Jess’ eyes went so big and her mouth just hung open, she was speechless! Looking forward to trying out all your helpful hints in July 🙂
Hey Jennifer, thanks for visiting and taking the time to write. I just read your comment to Kevin and he said, “Tell her I’ve always been the same way as David, but I swear the melatonin is the answer.”
What he meant to say was, “My wife is so smart and I finally listened to her and look at me! It worked!”
He really has been the kind of guy who gets totally messed by the whole jet lag thing, so I feel like he’s my living labratory experiment on this. I’m pretty sure he’ll continue to ignore my coffee break rules, but other than that, he’s actually deferring to my advice. It only took 26 years 🙂
Fantastic,
thanks for the tips!! I will put this in my travel folder for future referance!!
Looks like you are having a wonderful time,
It is great to live vicariously through you!!
You are so welcome Laurie. It really does work. I forgot to mention that I bring my own refillable water bottle and get the flight attendant to fill it instead of those horrible little plastic glasses. Drinking lots of water helps a lot. And the melatonin trick is only the first three nights. After that, I’m good to go!
But Colleen, doesn’t the coffee at 3 p.m. and the chocolate after dinner mess with your ability to sleep?? I can’t do that in my own time zone!
Jana, please repeat after me, “Chocolate is my BEST friend…EVER!”
Seriously, the chocolate was in the form of a pudding/cake and ice cream, so (in my books) it barely counts as much caffeine. And no, my coffee around 3 pm never bothers me, though I wouldn’t take it much later than 4 pm because then I’m pretty sure it would.
I have been thinking of you and Kevin so much the last couple of days, and looking forward to my Paris fix, so thanks for being so dad-blasted regular with your posting! The first time I went to Europe with Diane and Haley, Di headed off for her business event and Haley and I thought we would take ‘a little nap’. That turned into 4 days of topsy-turvy coma-like sleeps and the oddest awake times ever. Second time went immediately to the time I arrived in and stayed up til regular bedtime… perfect. Even coming back I was not tired at all.
Can’t wait to get tomorrow’s posting from The Travel Front.