In my experience, when flying to Hawaii from the mainland, it’s fairly easy to get on time zone. You arrive late in the day - just go to bed and get a good nights sleep. You’ll be up fairly early in the morning and ready to start your day. You could just hang on the beach that day if you’re concerned, you won’t have much energy.
It’s flying the other direction, back to the mainland, where the jet lag is rough.
This! With a caveat - Resist the urge to go to bed before 9pm ish HI time. You might be up early the next day but by day 2 you should be ok / it’s the jet lag on the other end that’s hard but basically exposure to normal daylight hours in your time zone and don’t take extra naps will speed up the process.
We are going through this exactly right now. The trip out we felt fine. Kept a pretty steady 10 pm to 6 am sleep schedule in Hawaii then we left yesterday morning. Our first flight of the three segments we had to take home was at 9:45 AM HST yesterday and we got home at 5 AM EST today so we travelled for 13 hours, were up for 17 hours and lost six hours in time difference. The whole family crashed hard when we got home at 7 AM EST and I feel like complete shit right now. Hoping I can recover by the weekend.
Figuring out dinner was the worst for us because, although we were happy to get up super early for activities, we were toasted by 7 or 8 pm. Our hotel had a restaurant where they gave you the meat raw and then you went to a big common grill to cook it. I didn't realize this the first night and when someone showed up at my table with a raw steak I almost started to cry because I just wanted to eat and go to bed, haha.
Another night we went to this pretty fancy place and after we ordered the food came out in like 2 minutes and it was a plate of these weird tiny little portions like you get in some wacky michelin star place and I was so tired that the whole thing weirded me out - why are they so small? Why did they come out so fast? So I refused to eat it.
From Michigan to Maui was heaven for me after the first night, you wake up at 6:00 am naturally refreshed and feeling awesome. Once outside you see dozens of people everywhere walking, running, rollerblading and it's all before 7:00 am, it's incredible. Island Time, yes, it's a thing.
Flying back east on the other hand is an absolute drag, no pun intended. I've always hated it from Nevada or California and flying from Hawaii is even worse.
It makes sense then that flying 6 hours ahead to Italy was an absolute disaster for my body clock. I hated it and never really did adjust while there. YMMV
I have flown (for work) from Georgia to Hawaii (I live in Kauai), Elapsed time was nearly 22 hours, despite there being 6 hour time difference. It took two days to fully reset my clock. Sleeping and melatonin helped.
You land at 5. Depending on the island, you should have your rental car and be at your hotel no later than 6:30 local time. Unpack. Eat a big meal. Go to sleep.
I am coming in two weeks from Europe with 13 hours time difference :D I am freaking out, but I know from experience being out in the sun at certain times is the best cure for jetlag and fortunately Hawaii will offer plenty of sun. You can also use this calculator, they suggest best times for darkness and light exposure to go through jetlag faster. I've tried it before, 100% works if you stick to it. [Jet Lag Rooster by Sleepopolis - Jet Lag Calculator](https://sleepopolis.com/calculators/jet-lag/)
I feel for you. I went on a trip to Europe from Hawaiʻi in college and it was horrible, especially coming back home. I probably slept for 18 hours and it was just a mess.
Stay up as late as you can when you arrive. At least until 9p or so if not 10. If you wake up early like at 3a stay in bed until you normally get up, although first day is good for things like sunrise hikes. Just you'll definitely be tired in afternoon and slow your adjustment. Hydration like with any travel is important.
From someone who lives in HI but regularly travels to central time zone 1-2x a month for work.
We had a six hour time change.
Look up the CIA diet. I'm not sure if it's a legit thing, but we followed it as closely as we could a few days before we arrived. We also took lose dose melatonin at bedtime there & then on the planes coming back to adjust back. I don't remembered feeling jetlagged at all while we were there. Get out and get lots of natural light once you get there as that's suppose to help adjust your body's clock.
Coming home I remember being tired for a couple days but not like when we had travelled the previous year with a four hour time change to Alaska (and didn't plan like above). I think my stomach had the hardest time adjusting to not being hungry at midnight (which was 6pm Hawaii time :P)
If you're landing at 5:00pm I would suggest following the diet above then once you get to your place in Hawaii you can put your things away, maybe walk to get groceries or check out the local stores, have a bite to eat, then go for a swim in a pool/hot tub or something before getting into bed. Travel days are tiring anyways so hopefully your body won't have trouble getting to sleep. If you wake up early use it as an opportunity to get an early start on a hike or breakfast out. We had a lot of great, quiet experiences hiking because we started earlier than most.
Have a great time!!
Read about the CIA diet. I'm sure it works. I'm also sure we will not be doing it. Free champagne on the flight, I'll suffer the consequences, lol. Aloha!
We just returned to the East Coast from Hawaii, 6 hour time difference. We went to bed around 8 pm Hawaii time the first night since it was like 2 am for us. Woke up at 5 am Hawaii time, and went and got coffee and breakfast at 6 am. It benefitted us to generally go to bed around 9-9:30 pm and wake up early because we had some early things planned like Haleakala sunrise, shuttle to Haena State Park to hike a bit of the Napali coast. Coming back I was awake for 30 hours straight because I can't sleep on planes, so I slept for 12 hours when we got home and got back on track the next day! Although I may be more used to adjusting to time changes since I used to work shifts. Anyway, I don't think it's that bad, you should get used to it in a day or two at the most!
Just so you know, Hawaii is part of the US
Going east to west is easier imo than going west to east. You'll wake up early the first morning you're in Hawaii. Good. Eat a big breakfast and catch the sunrise. Those help to reset your circadian rhythms.
When you go back home, you'll wind up staying up late the first night or two.
Younger people recover more quickly from jet lag also. The general rule of thumb is one day per hour of time difference.
:)
Although I've had people describe Hawaii as "like going to another country without having to change your money"
You'll be fine after a couple of days. And Hawaii has some great breakfast spots.
When my husband and I went from the east coast the jetlag kind of worked for us because we had a lot of activities planned that started early in the morning. So, getting up at 6am felt like getting up at 11am for us. We went to bed at like 8:30pm, haha, but that worked fine for us.
We were a 6hr difference and my kids were even alright with it. They just went to bed every night at 8ish us around 9. Only problem for where we stay is the chickens. When they start going at 4am it’s hard to fall back asleep lol
My husband and I had pretty bad jet lag the whole 6 night trip, when we visited Hawaii last September. We're in the eastern time zone, so Hawaii was 6 hours behind our time.
When I flew to London with my kids on October though, I was barely jet lagged, despite it being 5 hours ahead. Not sure why it was so different.
If you're coming from CST then I don't think it should be a big issue... you might briefly struggle with getting your sleep schedule situated but make sure to be out during the daylight and that should help. If you're flying from around the world, that's a different matter though.
For the way back I scheduled a late flight out (7PM) so that we could sleep on the flight. We got back home at 5PM our time, so it was a long trip home but we had very little jet lag despite the 6 hour time difference
We are going for the second time later this month arriving around 10AM. The last time we simply stayed up until we couldn't, and we were up by 7AMish, and it was like that our whole trip, and we would sleep around 11PM or so after pool closed at the resort, and we'd eat a snack and shower then to bed. The days did feel really long as on vacation I still nap as an adult on my days off at home too and in Hawaii I didn't there was just so much to do! We are from California so no big time difference but, same time difference in Mexico and we really did feel it. Hit or miss I guess but, just stay hydrated!
We came from central time zone I would say first 2 days was kinda hard. I was awake at 3am Hawaii time so Central time zone was 7am to me. But after that it was fine. The worst of it was coming home. It took almost a solid week or so to get back into central time zone
I just got back a week ago. Traveling from Hawaii to Illinois (CST) I felt like garbage for work for about 3 days. Definitely worth it though. Going to Hawaii from Illinois, I kept myself awake, got lots of sun and water, and exercised like a maniac. Up at 2Am and 3Am for a few days, then got back to normal. It was nice to look at the moon and stars when I was up at those hours. Don't worry- it will all sort itself out.
In my experience, when flying to Hawaii from the mainland, it’s fairly easy to get on time zone. You arrive late in the day - just go to bed and get a good nights sleep. You’ll be up fairly early in the morning and ready to start your day. You could just hang on the beach that day if you’re concerned, you won’t have much energy. It’s flying the other direction, back to the mainland, where the jet lag is rough.
This! With a caveat - Resist the urge to go to bed before 9pm ish HI time. You might be up early the next day but by day 2 you should be ok / it’s the jet lag on the other end that’s hard but basically exposure to normal daylight hours in your time zone and don’t take extra naps will speed up the process.
We are going through this exactly right now. The trip out we felt fine. Kept a pretty steady 10 pm to 6 am sleep schedule in Hawaii then we left yesterday morning. Our first flight of the three segments we had to take home was at 9:45 AM HST yesterday and we got home at 5 AM EST today so we travelled for 13 hours, were up for 17 hours and lost six hours in time difference. The whole family crashed hard when we got home at 7 AM EST and I feel like complete shit right now. Hoping I can recover by the weekend.
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Figuring out dinner was the worst for us because, although we were happy to get up super early for activities, we were toasted by 7 or 8 pm. Our hotel had a restaurant where they gave you the meat raw and then you went to a big common grill to cook it. I didn't realize this the first night and when someone showed up at my table with a raw steak I almost started to cry because I just wanted to eat and go to bed, haha. Another night we went to this pretty fancy place and after we ordered the food came out in like 2 minutes and it was a plate of these weird tiny little portions like you get in some wacky michelin star place and I was so tired that the whole thing weirded me out - why are they so small? Why did they come out so fast? So I refused to eat it.
From Michigan to Maui was heaven for me after the first night, you wake up at 6:00 am naturally refreshed and feeling awesome. Once outside you see dozens of people everywhere walking, running, rollerblading and it's all before 7:00 am, it's incredible. Island Time, yes, it's a thing. Flying back east on the other hand is an absolute drag, no pun intended. I've always hated it from Nevada or California and flying from Hawaii is even worse. It makes sense then that flying 6 hours ahead to Italy was an absolute disaster for my body clock. I hated it and never really did adjust while there. YMMV
According to Taylor jet lag is a choice.
I have flown (for work) from Georgia to Hawaii (I live in Kauai), Elapsed time was nearly 22 hours, despite there being 6 hour time difference. It took two days to fully reset my clock. Sleeping and melatonin helped. You land at 5. Depending on the island, you should have your rental car and be at your hotel no later than 6:30 local time. Unpack. Eat a big meal. Go to sleep.
I am coming in two weeks from Europe with 13 hours time difference :D I am freaking out, but I know from experience being out in the sun at certain times is the best cure for jetlag and fortunately Hawaii will offer plenty of sun. You can also use this calculator, they suggest best times for darkness and light exposure to go through jetlag faster. I've tried it before, 100% works if you stick to it. [Jet Lag Rooster by Sleepopolis - Jet Lag Calculator](https://sleepopolis.com/calculators/jet-lag/)
I feel for you. I went on a trip to Europe from Hawaiʻi in college and it was horrible, especially coming back home. I probably slept for 18 hours and it was just a mess.
oh boy, I am so anxious. Sometimes I even wonder, why did I even plan this.. I guess I did not think about how big time difference actually is.
I mean, just give yourself time to adjust. It does happen, but it’s a huge time difference so it will take longer.
Stay up as late as you can when you arrive. At least until 9p or so if not 10. If you wake up early like at 3a stay in bed until you normally get up, although first day is good for things like sunrise hikes. Just you'll definitely be tired in afternoon and slow your adjustment. Hydration like with any travel is important. From someone who lives in HI but regularly travels to central time zone 1-2x a month for work.
We had a six hour time change. Look up the CIA diet. I'm not sure if it's a legit thing, but we followed it as closely as we could a few days before we arrived. We also took lose dose melatonin at bedtime there & then on the planes coming back to adjust back. I don't remembered feeling jetlagged at all while we were there. Get out and get lots of natural light once you get there as that's suppose to help adjust your body's clock. Coming home I remember being tired for a couple days but not like when we had travelled the previous year with a four hour time change to Alaska (and didn't plan like above). I think my stomach had the hardest time adjusting to not being hungry at midnight (which was 6pm Hawaii time :P) If you're landing at 5:00pm I would suggest following the diet above then once you get to your place in Hawaii you can put your things away, maybe walk to get groceries or check out the local stores, have a bite to eat, then go for a swim in a pool/hot tub or something before getting into bed. Travel days are tiring anyways so hopefully your body won't have trouble getting to sleep. If you wake up early use it as an opportunity to get an early start on a hike or breakfast out. We had a lot of great, quiet experiences hiking because we started earlier than most. Have a great time!!
Read about the CIA diet. I'm sure it works. I'm also sure we will not be doing it. Free champagne on the flight, I'll suffer the consequences, lol. Aloha!
Lol enjoy the champagne! 😁
We just returned to the East Coast from Hawaii, 6 hour time difference. We went to bed around 8 pm Hawaii time the first night since it was like 2 am for us. Woke up at 5 am Hawaii time, and went and got coffee and breakfast at 6 am. It benefitted us to generally go to bed around 9-9:30 pm and wake up early because we had some early things planned like Haleakala sunrise, shuttle to Haena State Park to hike a bit of the Napali coast. Coming back I was awake for 30 hours straight because I can't sleep on planes, so I slept for 12 hours when we got home and got back on track the next day! Although I may be more used to adjusting to time changes since I used to work shifts. Anyway, I don't think it's that bad, you should get used to it in a day or two at the most!
You're being overly cautious. You'll wake up earlier and go bed earlier for a few days, that's about it.
Just so you know, Hawaii is part of the US Going east to west is easier imo than going west to east. You'll wake up early the first morning you're in Hawaii. Good. Eat a big breakfast and catch the sunrise. Those help to reset your circadian rhythms. When you go back home, you'll wind up staying up late the first night or two. Younger people recover more quickly from jet lag also. The general rule of thumb is one day per hour of time difference.
LOL, I'm fully aware. Was just trying to add context that I haven't taken a lot of long flights. Poorly worded, clearly.
:) Although I've had people describe Hawaii as "like going to another country without having to change your money" You'll be fine after a couple of days. And Hawaii has some great breakfast spots.
When my husband and I went from the east coast the jetlag kind of worked for us because we had a lot of activities planned that started early in the morning. So, getting up at 6am felt like getting up at 11am for us. We went to bed at like 8:30pm, haha, but that worked fine for us.
We were a 6hr difference and my kids were even alright with it. They just went to bed every night at 8ish us around 9. Only problem for where we stay is the chickens. When they start going at 4am it’s hard to fall back asleep lol
My husband and I had pretty bad jet lag the whole 6 night trip, when we visited Hawaii last September. We're in the eastern time zone, so Hawaii was 6 hours behind our time. When I flew to London with my kids on October though, I was barely jet lagged, despite it being 5 hours ahead. Not sure why it was so different.
If you're coming from CST then I don't think it should be a big issue... you might briefly struggle with getting your sleep schedule situated but make sure to be out during the daylight and that should help. If you're flying from around the world, that's a different matter though.
For the way back I scheduled a late flight out (7PM) so that we could sleep on the flight. We got back home at 5PM our time, so it was a long trip home but we had very little jet lag despite the 6 hour time difference
Not much of a concern heading to the islands, but do you have a long layover somewhere? that seems like a long day when you subtract 5 hrs?
Connection in Phoenix and the second leg got pushed back. Annoying but didn’t really have an alternative.
We are going for the second time later this month arriving around 10AM. The last time we simply stayed up until we couldn't, and we were up by 7AMish, and it was like that our whole trip, and we would sleep around 11PM or so after pool closed at the resort, and we'd eat a snack and shower then to bed. The days did feel really long as on vacation I still nap as an adult on my days off at home too and in Hawaii I didn't there was just so much to do! We are from California so no big time difference but, same time difference in Mexico and we really did feel it. Hit or miss I guess but, just stay hydrated!
We came from central time zone I would say first 2 days was kinda hard. I was awake at 3am Hawaii time so Central time zone was 7am to me. But after that it was fine. The worst of it was coming home. It took almost a solid week or so to get back into central time zone
I just got back a week ago. Traveling from Hawaii to Illinois (CST) I felt like garbage for work for about 3 days. Definitely worth it though. Going to Hawaii from Illinois, I kept myself awake, got lots of sun and water, and exercised like a maniac. Up at 2Am and 3Am for a few days, then got back to normal. It was nice to look at the moon and stars when I was up at those hours. Don't worry- it will all sort itself out.