I can’t always sleep on a plane. And after an overnight flight to Europe, I don’t want to spend my entire first day in bed recovering from the journey. I want to enjoy the place I just traveled all that way to see.

Before a trip to Paris, I watched an airline video that suggested having coffee immediately before taking a nap. It sounded counterintuitive, but I decided to try it.

Once I arrived, I had a double espresso, lay down, and fell asleep almost immediately. I slept for two hours. Then I got up, showered, and hit the town.

That day, I walked roughly nine miles around Paris.

I had energy, felt relaxed, and enjoyed myself. I wasn’t dragging myself through the city just to say I’d seen something, and I hadn’t spent the whole day asleep. That night, I went to bed after 11 p.m.

Those two hours of rest gave me enough energy to enjoy the afternoon and evening. My first day in Paris felt like part of the trip, instead of a day lost to getting there.