Single room vs. Roommate

As I have gotten older, and recognize the needs of the person I am, I know that I like my quiet time after a busy day; like to wake and sleep when I want to [these days the circadian rhythms are totally out of whack]; prefer no loud/noisy TV stuff; can be seen--preferably unseen--scantily and comfortably clothed when in my private space; come and go when I please; and wake up dreadfully early most of the time. So, whether I travel alone or with friends, I want to fully enjoy the experience, so for me that is single room....to each her own!

As I have gotten older, and recognize the needs of the person I am, I know that I like my quiet time after a busy day; like to wake and sleep when I want to [these days the circadian rhythms are totally out of whack]; prefer no loud/noisy TV stuff; can be seen--preferably unseen--scantily and comfortably clothed when in my private space; come and go when I please; and wake up dreadfully early most of the time. So, whether I travel alone or with friends, I want to fully enjoy the experience, so for me that is single room....to each her own!

I am the same way. How do you deal with your out of whack circadian rhythms on the trip? I don't look forward to that.

@alabamadixiegal - To deal with jet lag/travel tiredness, try to go at least a day ahead. Two days is better! Try to spend time out in the sun on your arrival day. If you have to nap on your first day (I often do especially if I am traveling solo) set an alarm and only sleep for 1-1.5 hours, then get up and go back outside. Don't spend a lot of this day on indoor activities like museums and churches.

For European trips, RS's schedule is perfect for me to adjust to the new time zone since there is little programming scheduled for the day of arrival. I am usually very sleep deprived when I arrive in Europe, due to inability to sleep on airplanes, but an afternoon nap of two hours and then a walk outside usually would refresh me enough to attend dinner and the intro meeting. After that, I can go to sleep early enough to get caught up with sleep and adjust to the new time zone. I am normally a night owl, with bedtime between 1 and 2am, but on RS trips we tend to have earlier starts to each day than my usual so going to bed earlier than my normal works out perfectly.

For Asia, it is more challenging and might take a few days to adjust since the time difference is often around 12 hours. Pam's suggestion of arriving a day or two early would work best. Actually, I have found that adjusting back to my home time zone is harder after an Asian trip than adjusting when I arrive there.