I have to travel a lot for my job. I can reduce the amount of travel somewhat, but it's pretty much guaranteed that I'll have to get on a plane and cross a few time zones at least 4 times a year.
Unfortunately, that usually triggers a hypomanic episode because of sleep getting all screwed up. It's not just the change of time zone, but also getting limited sleep due to travel itineraries, e.g. getting up at 4 AM to catch a 6 AM flight. And while it's really fun to be hypomanic in a European capital, it's not so fun to try to keep my act together while engaging in professional interactions.
My next trip in February is going to take me from the East Coast to the West Coast to the UK. That means a 3 hour time change followed by an 8 hour time change. I won't be in Seattle or London long enough to fully adjust to the time changes, either.
Here's what I'm guessing I need to do in order to travel with minimal sleep disturbance:
- Fly during the day, with flights no earlier than 8 AM
- No red-eyes
- Avoid overnight flights, with the exception of eastbound transatlantics, which are almost all overnight flights
- Arrive the day before the conference/meeting/etc, early enough to be able to get a full night's sleep, which means no arrivals after 10 PM (and often earlier)
- Stay an extra night if needed in order to fly during the day
- Avoid back-to-back trips without a "reset" day in between
It seems like I'm just not going to be able to travel like I used to if I want to hold on to some semblance of sanity. I'm really bummed about the implications of trying to "take it easy" while traveling, and even reducing travel overall.
The worst part is that I'm subject to motion sickness, and have to take Dramamine, which knocks me out and makes me groggy until it completely wears off (at which point, lather, rinse, repeat...) So while most academics work like mad while they're on the plane, I can barely handle reading. It means that the travel days on both sides of a trip are a complete loss.
I'm wondering if anyone else has any ideas, suggestions, tips or strategies that work well for them?