Never have motion sickness again. I’ve been a frequent traveler for several years now. On one epic trip, I took 3 planes in one day, twice on the same trip. I’m not going to lie or sugar coat it, but it was brutal. The good news is that I managed not to get motion sickness, so in the end no matter how exhausted I was, the fact that I came out of it in one piece was a huge success. For those of you who also suffer from motion sickness you can probably relate. As a child, I never suffered from motion sickness and even loved it when my dad took the car at high speeds on those windy country roads.

Then one day, seemingly out of nowhere, it hit me like a ton of bricks. We were on our way to Seattle from Warsaw, Poland by way of Paris. I started feeling a little off on the first leg of the flight and by the time we landed, all I could do was stagger to the toilet. Not a pretty sight. Somehow I managed to get on the flight to Seattle. Once there, I spent quite some time in the airport bathrooms and finally made it to the hotel where I basically passed out for a couple of hours. On the way home, I spent about 4 hours lying on the floor of the Charles De Gaulle Airport, telling my husband to leave me and I would catch up the next day.

Why am I telling you all this? Because it’s important to know that you can win the fight against motion sickness. It might come back every now and then, but at least you have a chance to keep it at bay. It’s not fun and it can ruin a trip.

NEVER HAVE MOTION SICKNESS AGAIN

THE DAY BEFORE
Start hydrating. Drink water and stay away from alcohol and sugary drinks. If you are a coffee drinker, have what you usually have. This is not the time to go cold turkey on caffeine.
Eat healthy. This point isn’t quite as crucial, but try not to overindulge. You don’t want to be dealing with an upset stomach.

THE DAY OF
Increase hydration. This isn’t scientific, it’s just my experience. On the day I’m going to fly I start drinking copious amounts of water. It means I’m constantly running to bathroom, but so be it. If you have any medical reasons for not being able to increase your water intake, be mindful of them but for everyone else, as long as you are not making a habit of drinking too much water a couple of hours should be okay. Realistically I probably drink a litre of water before getting on the plane. If possible I still have a cup of coffee in the morning, because again, I don’t want to be suddenly caffeine free on this day.
Eat. My first instinct is to not eat because turbulence makes everything worse, right? Wrong. Eating is a crucial component to not getting sick. The trick is that you want to eat lean proteins and vegetables an hour or two before the flight. You want to be full but not stuffed. Also, stay away from sugar and fatty foods because they are too heavy. I actually like to have an orange pre-flight.

DURING

• 20 minutes before the flight I take anti-nausea medication with ginger (but whatever brand you have available is fine).
• I make sure to have a bottle of water that I sip throughout the flight. A couple of sips every half hour or so usually does the trick.
• I graze throughout the flight. I find that nuts can upset my stomach, but a few almonds every half hour or so work well. Also you can do carrots or any other vegetable. The strangest food that works for me are naturally flavoured gummy candies. I would never eat them anywhere else, I don’t particularly like them to be honest, but on a flight or a train, 3 or 4 gummies every now and then work perfectly.
• Now this next part is a little controversial but I’ve found the anti-nausea wristbands to be indispensable. There are probably an equal amount of studies that say they work as ones that say it’s all a joke but I don’t care. Even if it’s just a placebo effect, it works for me. They cost me almost nothing and I’m not giving them up.
• Even though it goes against every beauty tip, I blast cold air on my face the entire trip. Yes it’s recycled air, yes it dries out my skin and yes I get cold but, the last thing you want is to be hot. You will need air so that you can take deep breaths and relax.
• Don’t let your head roll if you fall asleep. I don’t care if you have to keep yourself awake or tie your head to the chair. Letting your head roll around is the equivalent to being on a rollercoaster.

That’s pretty much it. It looks complicated but it’s really not and trust me, the alternative is so much worse. If you do happen to get sick the best thing you can do is get to your bed ASAP and sleep it off.

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