How To Cope With Different Time Zones When Travelling During Covid-19, for business, medical or conference

World clock at Alexanderplatz in Berlin.

Photo by Christian Wolf in Wikipedia article on World Clock

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How to you cope with different time zones when travelling? I recall having three breakfasts when travelling by plane in a series of hops across the USA.

SHOPPING LIST

Have a whiteboard or white paper on your fridge for shopping in both countries.

GOODBYE LIST

Note all the people you need to call when leaving one country and arriving at another.

 Are you awake and fretting?

SLEEP BEFORE LEAVING

Do you have the words Let It Go written up on a board? Maybe add Go to sleep at midnight, Cinderella.

EATING AFTER ARRIVING

Add the new times of breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Add an alarm for mealtimes.

SLEEP AFTER ARRIVING

Add an alarm for sleep time. I used to set an alarm for 10.30 pm to clean my teeth and take a shower and get into my night clothes. If I felt wide awake, I carried on working until my second alarm and then I just lay down and shut my eyes 'for five minutes' just for a break, and usually fell asleep.

PREPARING FOR A MEDICAL EXAM

Your first consultation may be online.

List questions.

Photograph any rash or part of the body which is hard to show online.

X-rays

You may be asked to deliver x-rays or medical records from another country. Take photos, videos, scans, and text notes of everything you are handing over to a hospital in case you don't get it back.

You might need it later.

COVID-19 TESTS & WAIT TIME

Allow time for the phone check up from the nurse before you have the Covid-19 test.

Allow for two weeks stay home quarantine in a new country.

Allow time for a Covid-19 test three days before the operation if you have been in a country a while and plan leaving afterwards.

Allow for being in quarantine between a negative test and the operation. So if you want to do a big supermarket shop, or say goodbye to anybody, do it before the quarantine period.

If you have, for example, a rash on your body, you might not want to undress during a zoom call. You could take a photo the day before, or ask a family member to do so, and show the photo.

Even an accessible part of your body could be difficult to show on zoom. For example, a rash on your foot is difficult to show on a computer screen or laptop unless you are standing on one leg. You might find it easier to use a mobile phone, or to take a photo.

Useful websites

https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

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Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_clock

About the Author

Angela Lansbury has travelled UK to Singapore and Singapore to the UK, for a family wedding and a family hospital operation.

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