INTL Travel - Airport, Jet Lag

In my last post, I talked about general "Europe Travel Tips" on a large scale here: https://changewithtravel.blogspot.com/2017/12/tips-traveling-europe.html

But wanted to break out several of those things I talked about, and write them into smaller individual posts. Mainly because, there is so much information on each one. One post cannot cover them all.

This post is about tips for the airport, flying, and jet lag. I always say, the worst part of my trips sometimes are the airports (connecting flights). Once you're past that, it's a breeze! But there's also jet lag, and jet lag can put you out for days at a time. Here's what I do...

London, England (2013)

Rule 1 - Especially when flying internationally, know your airport well. This may seem strange, but it is not, and sometimes imperative. Each airport has a website with terminal maps, and if you're not confident about the airport you're landing in, you should check out the terminal maps. Even a simple Google search for terminal maps will be sufficient.

I say this because, let's say you have a connecting flight, but your plane is delayed. You need ample time to get to your next flight. If you have no clue where you should be heading, it will at be nice to at least have a general direction where to go from the terminal you landed in.

My 2014 trip with my mother to England was probably second to the worst. Our flight landed, and we were far back in the plane. By the time we got out, our connecting flight check-in time was only a couple minutes away. We were in JFK, New York City, and having not been in this airport before, we were basically running through the entire airport trying to catch our connecting flight. I grabbed my mother's bags, and was carrying everything and running. My mom did not enjoy this at all. It was very stressful for her to have that experience.

My second experience (and worst) was when flying to Sweden in 2016. I landed at Schipol, Amsterdam. Nobody was there to open our airplane door/gate, I had 10 minutes to make it to my next flight which was on the opposite side of the airport. It was so interesting as you could see people running for what seemed like a mile in the airport. (If possible, try to make sure you're running to the correct gate too... or if you have time, check the monitors. Because my Schipol, Amsterdam flight moved terminals as well, and had to run even further).

I feel airports are the worst part of the trip, and if you make it through the worst airport experience, the rest of your trip should be a breeze compared to that. But I've had some pretty intense airport experiences.

Flying to Heathrow Airport (London, England) 2013

Alright, so on to the jet lag topic. Seriously, jet lag can put you out for a week. If you only have a week in the location you're going, you need to minimize jet lag. I've got it down pretty much for Europe, and I usually do not have jet lag. However, my first experience of flying to London in 2012 was quite the opposite, and I was dead tired.

Here are my tips: When you book a flight from the USA (if you're from the USA--other country's time tables will be different), it's usually a 10 hour or so flight to Europe. Depending on when you leave, you'll typically land in Europe in the morning. So you'll want to be tired enough to sleep on the plane. (Depending on your origin and destination, you'll want to research timetables and what works best for you--since this obviously wouldn't apply to someone flying from Italy to Paris).

The night before flying, I stay up late, really late. I usually use this time to pack, make last minute adjustments, book parking spots if I need to (Paris, France), and finish travel routes (destinations--sometimes based on weather). At times up until 3 AM or so (I've gone to sleep earlier, or much later). I then wake up at a normal time, and although a little drowsy that day, I stay up the entire day.

On the airplane, I stay awake until I usually hit the Atlantic Ocean (or around New York City). I am flying from Utah though, so wherever you're flying from, you'll want to adjust your time. I sleep all the way across the Atlantic Ocean, and when I wake up it's usually right before we land in Europe. 

Now, you'll probably still be tired, but it's morning there and you have the whole day. 

So, use this time to adjust, but DO NOT sleep at all if you can help it. Get to your hotel, walk around, see the sights close by your hotel. 

Try to stay awake at least up until 9 PM if you can. I know I've fallen asleep before, and sometimes after. 

When you wake up again in the morning, you should be far more already adjusted to the new time and with minimal jet lag. Enjoy your trip!