Tips on Avoiding Travel Sickness

Have you ever felt dizzy while on travel? Well, what you have experienced was just one of the symptoms of travel sickness or motion sickness – and it’s no fun at all!

Even seasoned travelers admit themselves that they too have experienced travel sickness on one or few of their trips.

Travel/ Motion Sickness Causes

Travel or motion sickness is caused by imbalance of sensory senses.

When motion-sensing organs like the ears and eyes convey conflicting or mixed messages to the brain, e.g. the ears senses movement while the eye does not, the brain gets confused and causes change in one’s sense of equilibrium.

This state of brain confusion could lead to travel sickness or motion sickness thus, spoiling your long-awaited vacation and the beauty of traveling.

Travel/ Motion Sickness Symptoms

Aside from dizziness, the most common symptom of travel sickness includes the following:

• headache
• drowsiness
• excessive salivation
• cold sweating
• nausea and
• (the worst) travel-induced vomiting. *ugh*

How to Avoid Travel/ Motion Sickness

If you’re prone to travel sickness and you’re heading off for a road trip, cruising or simply going home, check out this Tips on Avoiding Travel Sickness.

It’s better to be familiar with some extra precaution before your travel begins. Take note, once travel sickness symptoms strike; they can be very difficult to stop.

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Eat the Right Amount of Food

Refrain from neither traveling on empty stomach nor eating heavy meals. Empty stomach can make travel sickness worse as much as too much eating.

Eat lightly before and during travel. As much as possible avoid fatty and spicy foods.

If going on a long trip, bring some saltine crackers to munch on. The best foods to avoid motion sickness are those that are light and bland. Examples can also be plain bread or pretzels.

Choose The Right Seat

Whatever you’re riding in, whether it’s an airplane, a car or a ship, choose a seat where you can experience the least motion. The lesser the motion, the lesser the chance of travel sickness.

So, when you’re booking for a flight, choose the calmest area of the airplane – the middle part over the wing.

If you’re traveling by car, bus or train, sit in the front. On a ship or boat, the center is generally the most stable part.

Sit Facing Forward

Always sit facing the direction in which you’re travelling. Sitting forward helps maintain your balance because the forward motion your body feels is the same as what your eyes see.

Don’t Read

You read it right. Don’t read while on travel no matter how bored you are.

Reading books will only trigger motion sickness since your eyes focuses on your book while your body senses motion, consequently causing sensory conflict.

Forget your books, they can wait. Instead, put your headset on, play your favorite songs and sing along! You can also try listening to audio books if you like something fun or educational.

Close Your Eyes

When traveling, close your eyes and try to sleep. Closing your eyes can reduce sensory confusion since your eyes don’t see anything. Plus, if you’re able to fall asleep, you’ll surely forget you’re traveling.

You can bring a travel pillow and eyepatch to make you comfortable. This will help you feel rested and eventually sleep.

On the plus side, you’ll get to rest and be more energetic once you arrive in your destination!

Fix Your Gaze

If you want to keep your eyes open, keep your gaze focus on a fixed point or at the horizon. Focusing on a fixed point can help your body maintain equilibrium.

If the scenery is gorgeous, it’ll be a good time to admire it. Or if it’s not, then take the opportunity to let your mind wander.

Purchase Over-the-Counter Medicines

Anti-nausea medicines like Meclizine or Diphenhydramine are another form of managing travel/ motion sickness.

You can ask your pharmacist for more anti-motion sickness medications that do not require prescriptions.

These medications are usually proven effective but always check the labels for possible side effects and take necessary precautions.

Bring Some Ginger

If you prefer herbal remedy for travel sickness, try ginger. In fact, ginger is one of the traditional remedy for nausea.

So, don’t forget to include in your stuff some ginger-flavored candies, ginger biscuits, ginger ale, ginger tea, or simply powdered ginger-root.

Wear Acupressure Bracelet or Wristband

Another natural way to avoid travel sickness is to apply pressure on your Acupressure Point P6 (Pericardium 6 or Nei Guan) through acupressure bracelet or wristband.

The P6 point – a pressure point that once pressed will help relieve motion sickness is located about two or three finger-widths below the wrist on the inner forearm in between the two tendons.

Acupressure bracelets or wristbands have round button that gently presses against the acupressure point in the wrist with which eases the feeling of nausea and vomiting.

Avoid Travelers Suffering From Travel Sickness

Yes, motion sickness is contagious!

Seeing other travelers suffering from travel sickness can sometimes trigger to make you feel sick too.

Whenever you hear fellow travelers talk about travel sickness or seeing them becoming sick, isolate yourself the soonest possible time. Often, the mind can play tricks and make you feel sick too even if you’re not.

Conclusion

If you’re a traveler by heart, don’t let travel sickness stop you from exploring the world. Always remember to apply those tips listed above and choose what way suits your need. After all, we are unique and deals with stuff like this a little differently.

If none of them work, and you can’t help yourself but to throw up, just prepare a barf bag and let it out! *wink*

Below are some items that can help you deal with motion sickness:

Got any more tips you’d like to share? Comment below and let us know! Let us help each other enjoy our travels! Cheers!

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