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Tags: Sleeping / Sleeping on Airplanes / Ambien / Jet Lag / → All Tags

Tackling Travel's Biggest Challenge: Sleeping On a Plane

When I visited Japan a few years back, I was afraid that the 14-hour flight from Newark would leave me so jet-lagged that I'd be a zombie once I arrived in Tokyo, so I did everything in my power to sleep on the plane. It didn't work. I kept my eyes glued shut for hours on end, yet sleep would simply not come. Upon touching down at Narita, I spent the next 48 hours in a daze. If only I had the wisdom of the experts msnbc.com called on for an interesting article on how to sleep on an airplane.

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Tags: Budget Travel / Travel Accessories / Airplanes / Jet Lag / → All Tags

Turn The Volume Down For Less

If you like silence, better stay home. From people talking on their cell phones at the movies in Milan to the screech of wild birds in Queensland, travel can be one long "SHHHHH" for the impatient.

We've never held much interest in those noise-canceling headphones, but sometimes it seems worth the $60-$90 for a little peace and quiet. For the DIY types, Kip Kedesh's video (above) shows how to rig up your own 'phones for around $20 using construction-strength muffs.

Not handy at all? A recent CNet review picked out an $84 pair by JVC that work almost as well as those Bose beauties. Ahhh, the sound of silence.

Related Stories:
· Video: Make Your Own Noise-Canceling Headphones for $20 [BT]
· Best Noise-Canceling Headphones [CNet]
· Travel to a Quiet Place: Preacher's Cave [Jaunted]

[Photo: Bert Heymans]

Tags: Jet Lag / Argentina / Animals / → All Tags

Hamsters Are Fresh After Long Flights and Viagra

Hate jet lag? So do we. But some researchers in Argentina have found that our recovery from jet lag might be considerably faster using the somewhat unlikely-sounding solution of taking Viagra.

So far they've only tested in on hamsters, using lights rather than flights, but results show that taking low doses of Viagra (not enough to produce any hamster erections, apparently) helped the hamsters adjust to a new time zone about 50% faster. The trick is that it only worked when they simulated eastbound flights, so it looks like we'll need one-way flight traffic plus Viagra to feel good after a long flight.

[Photo: Emuishere]

Related Stories:
· Viagra Hamsters in Jet Lag Breakthrough [ABC]
· Viagra Could Help Jet Lag [Ananova]
· Ship of Tools [Jaunted]

Tags: Podcasts / Jet Lag / British Airways / Sleeping / Airlines / → All Tags

British Airways Pods You To Sleep

Once you're on the plane, it's a bit late to get a massive warning about the possibility of getting jet lag. But yeah, there are probably a few pointers left to give to the not-so-experienced traveler, and British Airways has now set this up in a series of podcasts that are best listened to before you leave for the airport, rather than on your iPod once you've boarded the plane. The advice comes from the sleep expert of British Airways, a fellow named Dr. Chris Idzikowski, a.k.a. Dr. Sleep.

Topics include sleep basics (close your eyes, count sheep), synchronizing your inner clock (as complicated as it sounds) and overcoming jet lag. Unfortunately even Dr. Sleep suggests that getting over jet lag is still only something that can happen gradually. And the podcasts aren't even boring enough that they'll really help you sleep.

Related Stories:
· BA Launches Online Jet Lag Podcasts [Business Traveller]
· How to Sleep on Airplanes [Jaunted]

Tags: Jet Lag / Travel Gadgets / → All Tags

Body Clock Hacking May Help Cure Jet Lag

Vancouver blogger Darren Barefoot, who writes the excellent Geeky Traveller, pointed out we don't have much going on under our Jet Lag tag.

Didn't we dispel the myth that carrot juice cures jet lag? Anyway, though we are firm believers that the only sure fire cure for Jet Lag is to ignore it, we are willing to listen when someone claims to have found the body clock algorithm, which in essence, could reduce or cure jet lag.

Litebook is a portable 'light box' that travellers can use to reduce the effects of jet lag. It uses bright white LEDs of a specific wavelength identical to those of the peak wavelength of sunlight.

I tried it recently when flying from Vancouver to Ottawa. It was only three time zones, but it seemed to help me out with fatigue and sleeping the right hours. It certainly worked better than those silly pills I've tried in the past.

There's also a jet lag calculator on Litebook's site that enables users to figure out when they should the device, and when they should avoid light to overcome jet lag as quickly as possible.

Light is evil. Pill popping doesn't work. That sounds about right. A "Jet Lag Calculator" on the site helps weary travelers figure out how much light they need to avoid to calibrate their body clocks.

We aren't sure if Hoth Han Solo is to show product scale, or to remind us all that crawling into the belly of a freshly killed tauntaun does not cure the winter blues, nor jet lag--either way we are down with Hoth Han.

Tags: Books / Airplanes / Jet Lag / → All Tags

How to Sleep on Airplanes

There's an art and science to everything, even airplane sleeping, as brothers John and Evan Stallcup prove in their new handbook on the subject.

We were skeptical at first, it seems like we've heard every tip in the book already. But the Stallcups have written this for the regular coach traveler and included some unknowns. Those mints you suck on to reduce the ear popping? Forget them. Peppermint relaxes the muscle that prevents acid reflux too much. Bring the noise cancelling headphones and try the brothers' 'steel band method'- a visualization technique.

Hey, for under $10, we'll try anything to get some sleep on plane. We're curious about your tips...send 'em our way and we'll share them.

Related Stories:
·   How to Sleep on Airplanes [Amazon]
·   How to Sleep at 40,000 Feet [London Times]