100 Ways to Slightly Improve Your Travel Experience: #4 Don't plan on Sleeping on Overnight Flights

 I learned this one from a long time boss, don't plan on sleeping on an overnight airline flight.  For years I fought to sleep on overnight flights, and most often failed, arriving feeling frustrated and terrible.  Charlie simply said, plan on staying up, take something to read, or something to watch to fill the hours, if you nap a little great, if not who cares. Plan the day after an overnight flight as a day to nap and catch up on sleep.  He said, if you fly home overnight, take the next day off from work.  

Fighting to try to force myself to sleep is more exhausting than letting things happen as they happen. 

I plan the day after the flight as a rest day.  If I am staying in a hotel, I arrange an early check in, even if I have to pay extra for the night before to assure that the room is available when I arrive in the morning.  I find sleeping for 3 or 4 hours when I arrive is enough.  My Sweet Bear needs more sleep, and will be up for dinner, then fall asleep early. 

I love going to Europe, and once I learned to not fight the overnight flight it became much more enjoyable.  There are a few daytime flights from the northeast United States to Europe, I have done that once, Washington Dulles to London Heathrow, 9 AM here, to 9 PM there, it was an easy trip.  But most seats going east across the Atlantic are overnight flights.  

At the moment I am avoiding an overnight flight by taking a slow boat across from North America to Europe, six days at sea for six hours of time zone change, we should arrive well rested. 

I am in a digital detox, without access to the internet for a couple of weeks.  Please comment, but I won't read or reply to comments until about May 12th.