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Any of you travel frequently to Asia from US? Need tips...
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Looking for tips/advice on the flight over. First trip to Asia (for work). First leg SEA to HK...14hr flight. I don't sit long very well. What works well for you in the way of sleeping/drugs/music/movies/running intervals in the isles :) ...and just plain staying as comfortable as possible for as long as possible. Oh...and departure time is 4pm PST...arrival in HK the next day at 9pm HK time.

Thanks in advance!!!
-j
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Re: Any of you travel frequently to Asia from US? Need tips... [jhornebx] [ In reply to ]
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Are you flying business class or cattle car?
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Re: Any of you travel frequently to Asia from US? Need tips... [ECE] [ In reply to ]
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Business Class...
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Re: Any of you travel frequently to Asia from US? Need tips... [jhornebx] [ In reply to ]
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I don't do these flights my wife does, she flys from Chicago to S. Korea or Singapore a few times a year. She tends to fly AA and goes out of her way to find the lie flat seats as she says the difference is enough to make it bearable vs. unbearable. I have another relative that flys all over the world, she uses the strategy of asking for all her food etc. up front then she pops and anbien and sacks out for the rest of it. I've thought about doing that on long flights but I would be afraid of having adverse effects from the sleeping pill.
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Re: Any of you travel frequently to Asia from US? Need tips... [jhornebx] [ In reply to ]
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The only useful advice I can offer is to sit in the aisle seat. That way you can get up as often as you like to stretch your legs. Also, sleep as much as possible.

I have some sort of travel induced hypersomnia so I'm usually passed out before we even push back from the gate, but when I am awake I usually just watch some sort of in flight entertainment. I also spend an inordinate amount of time staring at the flight tracker.
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Re: Any of you travel frequently to Asia from US? Need tips... [nhunter344] [ In reply to ]
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I've never been able to SLEEP on flights. I have been able to doze off for 20min or so...and hope that being able to get horizontal will help with this.

Re: sleep as much as possible

Should I be concerned with sleeping too much? We arrive at 9PM local time. My next ST thread might read...How to get to sleep in Asia after a 14hr flight :)
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Re: Any of you travel frequently to Asia from US? Need tips... [jhornebx] [ In reply to ]
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I used to fly monthly to HKG on my way to SIN and KUL.
If you're travelling business then in comfort should not be an issue. I always try to get the aisle so I have easy stand up access, and I walk to the galley to get a drink of water / juice and a cookie every two hours.
As for the time difference / jet-lag, everyone is a little different. Personally I would try to nap a few hours on the plane but stay awake most of the flight so I'm exhausted enough to fall asleep when I arrive.
I don't know AA but Cathay and Singapore Air always had tons of entertainment - hundreds of on demand movies and TV shows. Bake your brain watching something you normally wouldn't back home.

Remember - It's important to be comfortable in your own skin... because it turns out society frowns on wearing other people's
Last edited by: Guffaw: Apr 18, 17 12:54
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Re: Any of you travel frequently to Asia from US? Need tips... [jhornebx] [ In reply to ]
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I do YVR->NRT/HND once a year or so. Headed east is much easier than heading west.

Have a couple of beverages and a nap or two on the plane. The less you sleep on the plane, the easier adjusting to local time will be.

Bring work todo, interesting reading todo, watch some movies. Wear compression socks if you have 'em. Once you land, go out to enjoy the city and have a few more beverages and be in bed around midnight... it'll take a bit to fall asleep and wont you sleep well.
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Re: Any of you travel frequently to Asia from US? Need tips... [jhornebx] [ In reply to ]
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Quote:
I've never been able to SLEEP on flights. I have been able to doze off for 20min or so...and hope that being able to get horizontal will help with this.

I have found that my sleep has improved since I started using both an eye-cover and ear plugs.
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Re: Any of you travel frequently to Asia from US? Need tips... [jhornebx] [ In reply to ]
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I've done a lot of long distance flights and there are only a few things that help. I don't sleep on the plane but will close my eyes and try.

First, get as much sleep as you can before the flight, then go and get some outdoor exercise and take a shower before going to the airport. There is nothing worse then starting a long flight when you are already tired.

On the flight, don't drink alcohol or coffee, eat lightly, drink lots of water and sit on the aisle. Bring a washcloth and toothbrush on the flight to clean up. I get up regularly and stand up with some stretches and deep knee bends, and stretching.

Not much else you can do.
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Re: Any of you travel frequently to Asia from US? Need tips... [jhornebx] [ In reply to ]
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Fwiw. I've done 1m plus miles in 6 years touching every continent except south america

If flying business class, stay on home schedule till destination. Go to bed lights out at normal time. Wake up and once indestination stay up till normal home time or as late as possible then go to bed.

E.g. leave at 4pm. Stay up ti 10pm home time. Ssleep with whatever personal aid works for you. Noise reduction head phones are mine (plus lots of booze) wake up. Land at 9pm and stay up till i am completely wasted and go to bed. Next day onnto normal schedule.
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Re: Any of you travel frequently to Asia from US? Need tips... [jhornebx] [ In reply to ]
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Force yourself to adjust to hkg time as soon as you're on the plane. I like to show up to long haul flights exhausted. Get up super early, Do a long run, work out in the afternoon, etc. Take two gravol with an inflight bevvie. That'll easily take care of half your flight. Kill the other half with movies/books etc. I actually prefer a window seat. I can plug in to my music and stare out the window for hours. I rarely get time to zone out day to day.

Long Chile was a silly place.
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Re: Any of you travel frequently to Asia from US? Need tips... [jhornebx] [ In reply to ]
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x whatever on the aisle seat. So much easier to get up and about at your whim. Same same with compression socks. I always enjoy the in-flight movies. Also, if able, travel on an Asian based airline. They are FAR superior in every aspect over any US based server (food, extremely polite and attentive customer service, seat quality, etc). I lived in Japan for two years and traveled all over Asia for my job (1-2 international flights a month). I didn't believe my wife when she first told me about the quality of Asian airlines compared to US. I quickly discovered how right she was.
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Re: Any of you travel frequently to Asia from US? Need tips... [MOP_Roy] [ In reply to ]
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Definitely agree on Asian carriers. My last flight through hkg was on Cathay and was fantastic. I avoid American carriers like the plague if I can help it.

Long Chile was a silly place.
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Re: Any of you travel frequently to Asia from US? Need tips... [jhornebx] [ In reply to ]
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Fly business or first on the Dreamliner and you will arrived well rested.


_____________________________________
DISH is how we do it.
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Re: Any of you travel frequently to Asia from US? Need tips... [Andrewmc] [ In reply to ]
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Andrewmc wrote:
Fwiw. I've done 1m plus miles in 6 years touching every continent except south america

If flying business class, stay on home schedule till destination. Go to bed lights out at normal time. Wake up and once indestination stay up till normal home time or as late as possible then go to bed.

E.g. leave at 4pm. Stay up ti 10pm home time. Ssleep with whatever personal aid works for you. Noise reduction head phones are mine (plus lots of booze) wake up. Land at 9pm and stay up till i am completely wasted and go to bed. Next day onnto normal schedule.

Interesting. I have the opposite approach. I try to adjust to destination time as quickly as possible. Seems to work well enough for me.

Long Chile was a silly place.
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Re: Any of you travel frequently to Asia from US? Need tips... [nhunter344] [ In reply to ]
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nhunter344 wrote:
The only useful advice I can offer is to sit in the aisle seat. That way you can get up as often as you like to stretch your legs. Also, sleep as much as possible.

I have some sort of travel induced hypersomnia so I'm usually passed out before we even push back from the gate, but when I am awake I usually just watch some sort of in flight entertainment. I also spend an inordinate amount of time staring at the flight tracker.


Same here.

Bring your tooth brush, something to wash your face. Sometimes I will also shave.

All I Wanted Was A Pepsi, Just One Pepsi

Team Zoot, Team Zoot Mid-Atlantic

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Re: Any of you travel frequently to Asia from US? Need tips... [BCtriguy1] [ In reply to ]
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I tend to be good to go the day after i land so middle east to oz has me leaving 1am arriving very late next day so i tend to stay up, wander around till i pass out then when i wake up i am fine

To be fair. If its less than 6-8 hours difference i dont change anythkng at all
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Re: Any of you travel frequently to Asia from US? Need tips... [jhornebx] [ In reply to ]
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I travel quite often from Tokyo to Vancouver, and visa versa as I live in Japan. I usually travel coach, but I do whatever I can to get exit row seating which is almost as good as business class as I get the extra leg room. I'm tall (6'3) so flying without exit row is hell. Anyways, if you are worried about jet lag, thats another story. What time do you plan on flying? Sometimes its best to not get any sleep the night before you fly but it all depends on what your schedule is when you arrive.
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Re: Any of you travel frequently to Asia from US? Need tips... [jhornebx] [ In reply to ]
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Another tip, bring some 'around ear' headphones with you in your carry-on. I'm not sure what kind of headphones they give you in business class, but probably the cheap 'on ear' ones that aren't very comfortable. You don't need the super fancy Beat headphones, but I've found that some decent 'around ear' headphones makes the 12 hour movie watching experience much better. Earbuds aren't my thing either.
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Re: Any of you travel frequently to Asia from US? Need tips... [tri_kid] [ In reply to ]
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Leaving Seattle/Vancouver time 4pm - arriving in HK the next day at 9pm (HK time)
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Re: Any of you travel frequently to Asia from US? Need tips... [jhornebx] [ In reply to ]
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For those times, I would probably recommend trying not to get any sleep on your flight since you'll probably want to crash as soon as you arrive at your destination in HK.
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Re: Any of you travel frequently to Asia from US? Need tips... [jhornebx] [ In reply to ]
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i've flown to Hong Kong from the east coast (usually Newark, sometimes Philly through Chicago) over and over recently. Once business class, every other time economy (though lately, in the marginally better economy plus since i've flown so often i get the upgrade at no extra cost).

basically, i take drugs.

i used to just stay up the whole time since i could never sleep on the plane. but that was getting to be a hassle and left me wrecked for a few days. so i've changed approaches. i started by taking benadryls, then switched to prescription sleeping pills. sometimes it's prescription pills plus a melatonin. basically i'm going for out-cold-but-continent. that, plus a couple of movies and a bit of reading and the trip goes by fine.

i get an aisle seat and get up and walk once an hour or so, except for the time when i'm sleeping. there's places to stand and wave your legs around a bit (for me at least, though i'm 5'6 and not that limber, so my legs only swing so much). i also like my noise cancelling headphones, even if i'm not listening to anything.

when i get to Hong Kong I go to the starbucks and get an espresso, then stay up most of the night working. kind of hack my way through the day of work and crash as soon as I can after that. if i know i'm going to be back in the states soon i try to keep waking up at 3-4 am, makes the return much easier.

couldn't tell if you're actually staying in HK or changing planes there. if you're staying and want running tips let me know.
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Re: Any of you travel frequently to Asia from US? Need tips... [Bob Loblaw] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks Bob! We'll be in HK a total of 3-4 days. I'll take any running tips/routes you're willing to provide. First night we'll be by the airport, the other days/nights should be closer to downtown.
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Re: Any of you travel frequently to Asia from US? Need tips... [jhornebx] [ In reply to ]
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Hong Kong Island or Kowloon?
In any case, if you can run from, say, 1am to 6am, running on the sidewalks through the major areas is pretty cool. it's a great contrast from the busy hours when you can barely walk there. it's a very safe city - the only people to worry about are drunk tourists and ex-pats. it's a good way to take advantage of any jetlag.
if you're up for trail running (and don't mind if it includes hiking), the world's your oyster here. On Hong Kong Island, you've got the Hong Kong Trail and Section 2 of the Wilson Trail (Section 1 is nice but basically just staircases). Tons of stuff in the New Territories.
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