Jet lag is well-named. And we all know why.
You can fly across a continent in hours. And leave your circadian clock behind. Especially flying east to west. For some people, it takes days to catch up.
Trans-Atlantic cruises are not fast. But passengers face a similar problem. The time in The Azores is nine hours different than the time in New Orleans.
Rather than save up the time change until we dock in Ponta Delgada, the ship takes advantage of an interesting coincidence. The ship traverses approximately one time zone each day.
So, each day at noon, we lose an hour. The clock jumps from 11:59 AM to 1:00 PM. It is almost like switching to daylight saving time nine days in a row.
And the results are about that mixed. People who get groggy with the spring jump forward get really groggy with nine doses. (I can hear a certain blogger with children sighing right now.)
And then there are the people who stay up until the wee hours with multiple drinks in their hands who blame the time changes on their lack of focus.
I fall in the grateful camp. The noon change seems to be a clever way of dealing with an old problem. I will admit that the time changes have left me a little tired.
It certainly has thrown off my appetite clock. And not to my benefit. Pizza at 2 in the morning seems to be as predictable as speedos on Europeans in their 70s.
And I had best make the time changes my friend. I will have plenty more before we get to Dubai.
Interesting - I was going to ask about the time zone experiences - and there it is!
ReplyDeleteHey Steve. enjoy reading your blog. I guess that cruising in the opposite direction does the opposite so instead of being groggy everyone is extra perky ! Cheers...
ReplyDeleteDon't do well by jet lag, my sleep patterns always get thrown off. Speedos and pizza, what an interesting comparative. I prefer the latter even at 2am.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't the change from the criminally against nature daylight savings time to regular time be made a lot easier if the switch were done at midday instead of sneakily while most are asleep?
ReplyDeleteIt strikes me as both a humane and civilized way to adjust time. And that means The Powers That Be will never do it. Maybe we should start our own protest movement. After all, I don't need to e anywhere at any particular time these days.
ReplyDeleteJust wait until you see what I have in store for you in a couple of days.
ReplyDeleteLike a good servant, I know what my readers want before they do.
ReplyDeleteOddly enough, the hour change seemed to throw most of the cruisers off. I suspect there may have been other contributing causes, though.
ReplyDeletePizza at 2 in the morning seems to be as predictable as speedos on Europeans in their 70s. Yikes! That caught my attention. However, I do envy the cruise across the Atlantic. I have been on one cruise before, and I was less than thrilled. So far, your cruise into nothingness sounds appealing.
ReplyDeleteI have photographic proof to offer as exhibit A -- in a day or two.
ReplyDelete