How to Adjust to New Time Zones

Whether for business or pleasure, traveling to new time zones can be tough on your sleeping habits. A couple of steps can help ease the transition and give you more energy to enjoy your trip.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Travel Pillows
• Alarm Clocks
• Eye Masks
• Melatonin
• Women's Watches
• Soothing Music

1. Switch to your new time zone as soon as you leave home. Reset your watch and act as if you were already in the new time zone.

2. Sleep on the plane if it is nighttime in your new time zone. Stay awake if it's daytime.

3. Avoid the urge to nap if you arrive at your destination during the day. Go outdoors as much as possible if you need to stay awake, since natural light will help reset your body clock.

4. Retire to bed at the local bedtime.

5. Take melatonin to help you sleep; some studies indicate it can help reset your body clock. Follow the directions on the bottle.

6. Eat meals according to local time.

Tips & Warnings

• Drink plenty of fluids. Eat high-protein meals if you want energy to stay awake, and eat meals high in carbohydrates if you want to relax and sleep.

on 8/29/2006 Plenty of vacation guide books say to avoid jet lag by staying awake on your flight to Europe, and then spending a full day awake when you get there. This is a great idea to get back in sync - but not if you are driving. Do you really want to spend your first day in Europe half-asleep behind the wheel of an unfamiliar car ! Think about it: you will be using unfamiliar controls (particularly an unfamiliar manual shift) and driving on unfamiliar roads with unfamiliar traffic signs and (if you are in Britain) sitting in an unfamiliar side of the car, driving on an unfamiliar side of the road, and driving round unfamiliar "roundabouts" at fast British speeds on narrow British roads. Can you really do this safely if you are feeling sleepy? If you were driving with your family on the freeway at home, would you want to know that the person in the car in front of you or behind you was a deliberately sleepy vacationer from abroad who had never driven an automatic car on the "wrong" side of the road before?

How about enjoying your first day by walking the city and seeing the sights, or by relaxing in a comfortable European train being served lunch at your seat, watching the countryside flow by.