Time zones, and the flight that lands before it takes off
A calendar is honest about time and vague about place, which is fine until the two stop agreeing.
What most people assume
That entering the local time of the destination is enough.
Events carry a zone whether you set one or not
An event without an explicit zone belongs to whatever zone you were in when you made it. Fly somewhere and it moves, because it was never anchored where you meant.
This is why a nine o'clock meeting arranged at home shows up at six on arrival, and why it is right to do so.
Where it bites hardest
Flights, because departure and arrival are in different zones. Calls with people elsewhere, because one side's convenient hour is the other's midnight. And anything scheduled while travelling, which inherits a zone you are only passing through.
All-day events are the exception: they belong to the date rather than a moment, and generally do the right thing.
What it looks like
What to do
- Set the time zone explicitly on flights and on any call with someone abroad.
- Enter the departure in the departure zone and the arrival in the arrival zone.
- Anything booked while travelling should get an explicit zone, not the one you happen to be standing in.
- Use all-day events for dates that are dates rather than moments.