My advice for Eurotravellers

  1. Take the AM flight, because you land at 8PM.
  2. Pick a flight that is only half-full. The space is AMAZING.
  3. Don't sleep. Read a book or experiment with those exercises they tell you to do in your seat. Keeps you much more alert than Two and a Half Men, plus it's good for your thigh muscles to figure out how to lift your knees and do leg circles without kicking the seat in front of you.
  4. If you watch Akeelah and the Bee you'll ball like a damn baby in front of people. Be prepared.
  5. Sing along softly with your iPod. It freaks people out, but no one will have the nerve to ask you to stop.
  6. Drink lots of water. You'll be hydrated AND you'll be up and down to the bathroom which is good for your circulation. Who needs flight socks?!
  7. If the loo closest to you smells like pee 20 minutes into the flight, pick another toilet for future runs. It's only going to get worse, but it's likely that not EVERYONE is peeing on the floor so your odds are good that there's at least one better smelling cubicle.
  8. Strike up a conversation with the dishy guy sitting in front of you. He will help you with your luggage in baggage claim and offer you a ride into the city. (Note to self...don't take your car to the airport in case a dishy guy offers you a ride.)
  9. Once you've landed and driven to your destination it will be 10 pm. Have a light snack to supplement the carb-filled day of snacking on the plane.
  10. Head to bed, take two Tylenol PM, and sleep like a baby for the night.
  11. Wake up refreshed and ready to deal with your new timezone.

Comments

Coaster Punchman said…
Sounds good, but I fear the morning flights to Europe may be more expensive simply because they are desirable.
4:44 pm
Dino said…
I like taking the pm flights and getting in at 7am. That way I have all day ahead of me and I am (semi refreshed). I try to go home (germany) once a year, I fly into Frankfurt pick up my rental car, blast the stereo and head on the autobahn. It generally takes me about 30 min to get used to the high speeds (no speedlimits got to love it) and then off I go. I stay up all day and try to get to bed around 10pm and by the time I wake up I am good to go.

PS after the post CP wrote about your weekend I had to come over and say hi.
9:26 am
Melinda June said…
Thanks for stopping by, Katy. You're really lucky that you can thrive after those overnight flights. I'm dead to the world for a week.
1:58 pm
Dino said…
coffee and red bull works wonders. That and actually sleeping on the plane. I make sure that I stay up the night befor the flight to ensure I am totally exhausted and no screaming kid can wake me up. I also put on heads phone and really loud calm music to drone out any potential noise. I am also generally to excited as I do not get to go home as often as I would like
7:54 am
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