Sleep & Europe Travel: My good friend the snooze alarm is becoming my enemy

This afternoon a friend invited me to a barbecue, and then we were going to a poetry slam nearby. Now it's 12:30 in the morning (the 8:36 timestamp at the bottom of this is London, not Portland time), and my coffee buzz is just about played out. 12:30 in the morning, Pacific Northwest Poetry Time. Bugger. I keep thinking about how I'm going to try to get up around 7 tomorrow – er, this morning – and knowing that odds are it won't happen.
Beep beep beep beep beep whap shhhhh

Since the lads and I moved to Portland, I’ve been trying to get up a little earlier than my traditional 7:30-ish. Something closer to 7, I thought. That’d be good. Hell, maybe even a touch earlier, say – gasp! – 6:45?!?
I could maybe spend a bit of extra time reading or scribbling, before coming in to the office, you know? Hit a few more guidebooks, ponder some blog stuff, or jot down an early-morning poem or article idea that springs into my head. Earlier rising hasn’t been working too well so far though, I hate to admit.
That damn snooze alarm is just so easy to hit.
And that’s the trouble. I’ve always been a night owl, with a preference for slightly later mornings. Sean and Chris have this incredible ability to just about beat the sun when it comes to getting up in the morning. They’re up ‘n at ’em, as the saying goes… and I’m still snoozing. Trying to readjust my sleeping schedule ain’t easy; my average bedtime has been midnight since, well, I was about 12 years old.
And the point of all this is?
Travel is not about catching extra beauty sleep.
What about when I’m in Europe? See, on my other travels I’ve noted my little tendency to sleep in. 8 becomes 8:30… which sometimes becomes 9. And then I’ve pissed away most of the morning, by the time I’ve breakfasted (on what’s left of the bread and jam) and cleaned up a bit and gotten ready for the day. So much sight-seeing and people-meeting and blog-posting and destination-jaunting time – lost because I was hitting the snooze button.
Getting up earlier would be great – up and at ’em myself, by around 7 or so… get cleaned up, snag some grub (another advantage of early rising: you get more of the breakfast selection at the hostel!), and get out there before the sun’s hardly lifted up from the horizon.
But will it happen?
I want it to… but that damn snooze alarm is still just so easy to hit, and I’m not having much luck ignoring it or staying my hand.
Maybe I’ll have to see if there’s a travel alarm clock that doesn’t come with a snooze alarm…
How else can I make myself get out of bed a bit earlier, and take in more of my day both home and abroad?