I'm not exactly the best person to take a road trip with. Part of this is because I don't have my driver's license and am therefore unable to take over any leg of the driving. The other part is that I sometimes get a bit motion sick. I can't read in cars. I can't watch movies in cars. Sometimes even looking down at my phone is enough to make me a little queasy.
I have stories of times motion sickness has gotten the better of me. And what's worse, so do other people. So I decided to take matters into my own hands and get some of those motion sickness preventing bracelets from CVS. And I thought I might as well talk about my experience with them on here, because if it's going to be a travel blog, why not talk about all aspects of travel?
These bracelets work with acupressure. There's a ball on the inside of the bracelet that applies pressure to your Nei-Kuan point, which you find by placing your ring finger against the crease of your wrist, then lining your middle and index finger up next to it. The Nei-Kuan point is usually about where your index finger hits. You wear one bracelet each wrist, and they can be used until they're stretched out and no longer tight on your wrist anymore. There are lots of different brands out there, but I wore the CVS-brand ones. Here's how it went:
By Car
The first time I used them was in the car on the drive up to New York last week. I was pretty sure I had put them on right, and it seemed to be going well. After playing a game or ten of solitaire on my phone, I was still feeling all right, so I decided to do the unthinkable and get out my book. And I managed to read The Spectacular Now for a good 45 minutes or so. Granted, I read with a baseball hat on and the hood of my sweatshirt up so I couldn't see anything moving outside. Also, after the 45 minutes I started to feel a little nausea coming on, but it quickly went away as soon as I stopped reading. I didn't even need to close my eyes and rest for a bit to get it to stop. So I wasn't suddenly able to read for hours without a problem, but I read more than I ever had before in a car.By Train
This was where I found the bracelets made the biggest difference. I love taking trains, but the way that they rock from side to side while also moving forward can really upset my stomach. However, when I took the train into Grand Central from White Plains (about an hour-long ride), I didn't feel anything. I was even able to sit in a backwards facing seat and still be fine. Compare that to the ride back, when I accidentally packed the bracelets and didn't feel like getting them back out. I sat facing forward and next to a window, but my stomach was still beginning to toss and turn a bit for the last leg of the journey.
Overall, I'd say these things are a good investment. It won't completely cure motion sickness, but it will alleviate symptoms and you'll certainly have a much more pleasant trip.
Thanks for reading! I promise my next few reviews will be about things that are a bit more fun. Like books. And museums. And Broadway shows.
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