4 ms·

This submission should be labeled (2016). My whole brain is awake the first night in a new place. I just can't sleep.

by _qulr 6y ago

dazc 6y ago
I have found that having a nap as soon as I arrive in a new hotel room actually helps a lot. Even if doesn't work for you at least you'll have had the benefit of the nap.
nickjj 6y ago
> My whole brain is awake the first night in a new place. I just can't sleep. Me too, it usually takes me 3 nights to really feel like I'm able to sleep. The first 2 nights I'm pretty much consciously awake the whole time. By the 3rd night I usually have spurts of dreams I can remember and generally feel more rested the day after. I don't have any issues sleeping at home tho. I tend to goto bed when I feel tired, fall asleep easily and haven't woken up to an alarm clock in 15 years other than a few times where I set it because I had to be up much earlier than usual for very important things.
- apohn 6y ago
  IME 2-3 nights to get used to it is about right.
- bonoboTP 6y ago
  > The first 2 nights I'm pretty much consciously awake the whole time. I believe that this is your experience, but I wonder it's actually true or there are short sleeping periods (microsleeps or perhaps longer) that you don't notice or remember. I've heard from some people for example that they literally didn't sleep for a week at some point, but this is very dubious regarding health effects. For me, if I actually skip 2 nights sleep (e.g. travelling) I'm barely able to speak in coherent sentences or make decisions, my vision blurs, I feel derealization etc.
  - _qulr 6y ago
    > For me, if I actually skip 2 nights sleep (e.g. travelling) I'm barely able to speak in coherent sentences or make decisions, my vision blurs, I feel derealization etc. Then do an all-day on-site technical job interview.
  - nickjj 6y ago
    I think there's a really big difference between legit staying up, as in not even laying down to rest for 48 hours and laying in bed with your eyes mostly closed for 6-8 hours at night while consciously knowing you're not sleeping. Human bodies react very differently too. I remember doing a tech related trip once where it was crazy schedules (up at ~6-7am and back in the hotel room at 9:30pm-10pm) for 3 nights and then waking up at 4:45am on the last day to catch a 6+ hour flight home (10 hours with lay overs) and arriving at home. That was with very limited travel experience and having to be video recorded / mic'd up for 6-8 hours a day to interact with multiple tech presentations. Basically very stressful for someone who never did any of that before and is generally not that outgoing. I never really felt too tired in the moment and I know for sure I didn't sleep the first 2 nights and did get a few solid hours of real sleep on the 3rd night. Honestly I was pretty surprised at how well things turned out. I used to pull a lot of all nighters as a teenager playing video games. Usually by ~36 hours I felt some side effects like brain fog and being ridiculously tired but by the end of that stretch it was a way different (and worse) experience than that travel experience, or laying in bed for ~6-8 hours with my eyes closed at night but not sleeping for a few nights.
    - bonoboTP 6y ago
      > laying in bed with your eyes mostly closed for 6-8 hours at night while consciously knowing you're not sleeping I remain highly skeptical that this is actually true, it would have to be measured. I don't doubt that it feels so and that you are honest, but I wouldn't even trust myself to accurately describe what really happens over several hours with eyes closed. I assume some sleep can go unnoticed. There are also people who honestly insist they don't ever snack and eat healthy and magically get fat. Anecdotal self reports are very unreliable, similar to eye witness testimony. But people are really upset to hear this.
coldtea 6y ago
Well, lots of people (me included) sleep like logs after a long flight and a few hours in the new place...

This submission should be labeled (2016). My whole brain is awake the first night in a new place. I just can't sleep.

by _qulr 6y ago

This submission should be labeled (2016). My whole brain is awake the first night in a new place. I just can't sleep.

dazc 6y ago

I have found that having a nap as soon as I arrive in a new hotel room actually helps a lot. Even if doesn't work for you at least you'll have had the benefit of the nap.

nickjj 6y ago

> My whole brain is awake the first night in a new place. I just can't sleep. Me too, it usually takes me 3 nights to really feel like I'm able to sleep. The first 2 nights I'm pretty much consciously awake the whole time. By the 3rd night I usually have spurts of dreams I can remember and generally feel more rested the day after. I don't have any issues sleeping at home tho. I tend to goto bed when I feel tired, fall asleep easily and haven't woken up to an alarm clock in 15 years other than a few times where I set it because I had to be up much earlier than usual for very important things.

apohn 6y ago
IME 2-3 nights to get used to it is about right.
bonoboTP 6y ago
> The first 2 nights I'm pretty much consciously awake the whole time. I believe that this is your experience, but I wonder it's actually true or there are short sleeping periods (microsleeps or perhaps longer) that you don't notice or remember. I've heard from some people for example that they literally didn't sleep for a week at some point, but this is very dubious regarding health effects. For me, if I actually skip 2 nights sleep (e.g. travelling) I'm barely able to speak in coherent sentences or make decisions, my vision blurs, I feel derealization etc.
- _qulr 6y ago
  > For me, if I actually skip 2 nights sleep (e.g. travelling) I'm barely able to speak in coherent sentences or make decisions, my vision blurs, I feel derealization etc. Then do an all-day on-site technical job interview.
- nickjj 6y ago
  I think there's a really big difference between legit staying up, as in not even laying down to rest for 48 hours and laying in bed with your eyes mostly closed for 6-8 hours at night while consciously knowing you're not sleeping. Human bodies react very differently too. I remember doing a tech related trip once where it was crazy schedules (up at ~6-7am and back in the hotel room at 9:30pm-10pm) for 3 nights and then waking up at 4:45am on the last day to catch a 6+ hour flight home (10 hours with lay overs) and arriving at home. That was with very limited travel experience and having to be video recorded / mic'd up for 6-8 hours a day to interact with multiple tech presentations. Basically very stressful for someone who never did any of that before and is generally not that outgoing. I never really felt too tired in the moment and I know for sure I didn't sleep the first 2 nights and did get a few solid hours of real sleep on the 3rd night. Honestly I was pretty surprised at how well things turned out. I used to pull a lot of all nighters as a teenager playing video games. Usually by ~36 hours I felt some side effects like brain fog and being ridiculously tired but by the end of that stretch it was a way different (and worse) experience than that travel experience, or laying in bed for ~6-8 hours with my eyes closed at night but not sleeping for a few nights.
  - bonoboTP 6y ago
    > laying in bed with your eyes mostly closed for 6-8 hours at night while consciously knowing you're not sleeping I remain highly skeptical that this is actually true, it would have to be measured. I don't doubt that it feels so and that you are honest, but I wouldn't even trust myself to accurately describe what really happens over several hours with eyes closed. I assume some sleep can go unnoticed. There are also people who honestly insist they don't ever snack and eat healthy and magically get fat. Anecdotal self reports are very unreliable, similar to eye witness testimony. But people are really upset to hear this.

coldtea 6y ago

Well, lots of people (me included) sleep like logs after a long flight and a few hours in the new place...