Jet Lag

[Jilek, Glenn]

I have family in Northern Europe and have traveled there quite a lot.  Jet lag was always a problem until I heard of something called Ambien.  A friend of mine who is French and is a nurse said that she always gets a prescription from her doctor for it when she travels home.  It is a sleep aid that is not at all harsh.  I have used it several years now.  There is no type of "hang over effect" at all.  The flights from the Midwest usually start in the evening.  I wait until we are in the air and all is stabilized in the cabin...tell the steward that I don't want to be disturbed for eating etc (sometimes they have even put a do not disturb sticker on my seat)...then I take the Ambien and relax.  I sort of hear and smell what is going on but otherwise sleep until breakfast.  I always wakeup refreshed an hour or so before they serve the morning meal.  It is the only way to hit the ground running so to speak.  The first night or two I may take it to get my internal clock synchron!
 ized, but no more than that.  When I first mentioned that to my doctor, he told me that he and many of his colleagues use it for overseas travel.

It's just a suggestion of something to talk to a doctor about. It has been a great help to me in dealing with jet lag.

Glenn


-----Original Message-----
From: peregrinoaATT.NET
Sent: Monday, August 04, 2003 3:55 PM
To: GOCAMINOaPETE.URI.EDU
Subject: Eight days


40 km/day sounds huge to me.  The issue in my mind is how many days in a row
can you do
that?  I suggest planning 30 km/day,  to allow time to look around, etc.  (I
suggest 20 km/day
for the average pilgrim). If you need to do 40 km some day because you did
fewer km another
day, you will have that option.

It sounds like you have allowed zero days in Santiago, I suggest a minimum of
24 hours there,
I was happy to spend more than 48 hours there.

Jet lag will take it's toll on the first few days, I usually figure to lose a
day at each end to jet
lag, and I was subpar for several days on my pilgrimage, could not get my
sleep schedule
straightened out.

If you walk two different segments, you would necessarily spend some time,
maybe most of a
day, using public transport to connect the segments, with the accompanying
hassle.  To do
three separate sections in 8 days sounds like a joke rather than a good plan,
one that would
only make sense if you have a support vehicle and driver.

It all sounds so hurried that it would seem to be defeating the purpose of a
pilgrimage.  Kind of
like a "If this is Tuesday, I must be in Galicia" bus tour.  I would
drastically cut back and
simplify your plan.

Richard