[AniManiac]

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?

[xp1155]

Have you tried Melatonin? You can get it over the counter in the supplement section (I use 5mg) and your body produces it naturally. Of course, ask your doctor if it will interfere with any other meds you are taking.

[AniManiac]

Originally Posted by xp1155

Have you tried Melatonin? You can get it over the counter in the supplement section (I use 5mg) and your body produces it naturally. Of course, ask your doctor if it will interfere with any other meds you are taking.

Yes, I use melatonin for helping adjust sleep schedules. It's one of the only ways I can sleep on a plane. I'm a little leery of hypnotics, so I'm glad it works really well for me.

I'm definitely the wrong person to ask. The 2 trips that I've made involving many times zones, 4 flights in a row, being up for... well, I've never been able to figure out because I get too confused... but somewhere in the 1 1/2 day range. I can NOT sleep in a moving vehicle, and jump right into the time zone reality and top that off by staying up really late...Soooo bad, I know, but both times it kicked me into most excellent hypomanias...that there's no way I'd be convinced to be sensible.
(I didn't even know what they were at the time, but everyone commented with incredulity at my 'superhuman' energy levels, lol...)

BUT. If it was a regular feature and lots of back and forth back to back in both time zone directions, I'm sure it would be a whole other ballgame. You have really good ideas, and the only one I can think of atm to add would be to eat healthily and get lots of water. It's way too easy for those things to go by the wayside when travelling.

[AniManiac]

Originally Posted by Innerzone

I'm definitely the wrong person to ask. The 2 trips that I've made involving many times zones, 4 flights in a row, being up for... well, I've never been able to figure out because I get too confused... but somewhere in the 1 1/2 day range. I can NOT sleep in a moving vehicle, and jump right into the time zone reality and top that off by staying up really late...Soooo bad, I know, but both times it kicked me into most excellent hypomanias...that there's no way I'd be convinced to be sensible.
(I didn't even know what they were at the time, but everyone commented with incredulity at my 'superhuman' energy levels, lol...)

Yep, that's me. Life of the frickin' party. Wittier and more sparkling than ever before. Totally impress everyone. No one can keep up with me. And boy, the brilliant ideas that come out after 4 or 5 days of this... I have rules against sending email at that point!

Originally Posted by Innerzone

BUT. If it was a regular feature and lots of back and forth back to back in both time zone directions, I'm sure it would be a whole other ballgame. You have really good ideas, and the only one I can think of atm to add would be to eat healthily and get lots of water. It's way too easy for those things to go by the wayside when travelling.

Yeah, my travel is pretty irregular. Predictable, but irregular in terms of timing and location. I've seen strategies where you're supposed to slowly acclimate yourself to the timing for another time zone before you travel, and that just doesn't work for me; the travel time itself is as much of an issue as the local time zone change.

Good suggestions! It can be hard to eat well on the road, and staying hydrated is also a challenge. I always take a water bottle so that I can be sure to have my own supply of drinking water. I should eat better than I do, but my willpower falls apart in the face of eating out at every meal. One of my friends packs all kinds of healthy snacks, but that's a lot more preparation than I have been willing to put into it. Lately I just make sure I have some fruit-nut bars as a backup.