Fear of Motion Sickness

The idea of traveling is often accompanied by a variety of emotions and a switching mental state. Love, laughter, disgust, amazement, fear, curiosity are all significant emotions one can relate with travel. But nothing disturbs our mental state more than the fear of motion sickness on travel.

Motion sickness is a condition in which a disagreement exists between visually perceived movement and the vestibular system’s sense of movement (Wikipedia).

In simpler terms it involves travelers puking, or feeling uncomfortable in an about-to-puke stage (called nausea) while traveling on different modes of transport. Interestingly throughout my life I have been through all of the above listed emotions when it comes to motion sickness.

As a kid I was completely occupied by the idea of vomiting on travel. I recall the bus journeys we took to Bilaspur to catch trains, or the long drives from Korba to Jabalpur, or the shared taxi rides from Bhopal to Devas, I had left my mark on an entire state. Avoiding food, gulping soda, keeping a clove in my mouth, drinking less water, popping Avomine pills or keeping the window open- I tried everything, but everything failed. The constant fear in my mind of vomiting on road journeys, the disgust of actually doing it, and the love of my parents when they helped me clean up sort of sums up how I traveled on that dusty, warm, red-soiled, bumpy, teak-wooded M.P. landscape. Just to add  I was traveling on the worst roads in the world.

And one day it stopped. I went through an entire road journey without throwing up. I was amazed by the sudden stoppage of uneasiness and vomiting. What a relief it was!!!

But nothing can actually beat the relief one gets immediately after the act of vomiting. The freshness which follows vomiting is in a close competition with the event of a first rain, or that of taking a dip in an icy chilled Ganga at Har ki Paudi, or drinking water having saunf.

But I started missing it, motion sickness was inseparable component of all my travels as a kid, almost as inseparable as a Digital Camera is to any travel nowadays, and from that day the way I traveled changed forever.

Although like all things motion sickness came back again and again in all my travels, and non-travel situations, stirring up various emotions and creating memorable instances. Few of them which come to my mind:

1. I was almost about to land in Mumbai when I saw the acres of slum encroachments visible near the landing strip of Mumbai Airport. All of  a sudden I smelt a strong smell too. I was amazed at the degree of stench and filth of the slums that it was able to reach the interiors of plane flying above it!!! Till I realized that a kid sitting behind me had puked.
2. We had just had a brilliant Kerala style ayurvedic massage in Munnar and stepped out for a light bite. All of a sudden I see my friend who had undertaken the same treatment running all over the place and vomiting. The situation was extremely funny and evoked a sort of a contagious laughter with all other friends catching on to the situation.
3. Every morning we used to reach Shimla bus stand early in morning, in between the steaming chai vessels, an army of sweepers cleaning the stand and the buses coming out of yard. One significant feature of Himachal buses are their vomit-stained sides from the previous days. In Himachal I realized that motion sickness is just a way of life. If spitting outside the window and leaving a Guthka mark is common to buses in M.P., vomiting is normal to people in Himachal. So when motion sickness came back to me after so many years on road travel, I felt normal, without any guilt or disgust.

More than the stories I guess if you are or have been suffering from this sickness I have my own set of cures for the same. Please try them at your own risk:

1. Never ever brush your teeth by Colgate in morning before you leave for journey, Colgate Gel works but not regular Colgate
2. Mix three tablets of Hajmola in one glass of cold Limca and drink it, works wonders
3. Avoid dairy products and high on sugar drinks
4. Have fruits which leave a kasela swad in your mouth like Jaamun, Amla
5. If you stop on the way on a temple, and if the prasad is Coconut, keep it in your pocket and eat it after the journey

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Do you have interesting stories related to motion sickness or some whacky cures for the same which you would like to share?

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Featured image by Prasoon Gupta