Mother Nature tried her best. But she could not make me lose my lunch.
While traveling on my honeymoon this month, I had the good fortune of experiencing three of the four forms of motion sickness and emerged unscathed. Okay, perhaps the memory remains, but the nausea did not humble me like a college freshman's first keg stand. The good element to it was I had a small window of time to compare them directly. Your grandma told you knowledge comes from mysterious teachers, and she wasn't lying.
For those who don't travel much (which included me until this month), here's some trivia to bubble the acid in your gut. As defined by Wikipedia, motion sickness is "a condition in which the endolymph (the fluid found in the semicircular canals of the inner ears) becomes 'stirred up', causing confusion between the difference between apparent perceived movement (none or very little), and actual movement." Take a deep breath now, that was the bad part.
Motion sickness occurs while traveling via sea, air, car, or in outer space. Since I can only assume that my marriage upset the gods, I experienced the first three forms to a degree that I never had before. (As for the fourth, NASA has yet to return my calls). Most of the air and sea motion on my trip was due to the outer effects of Tropical Storm Gamma, which was passing through at the time. See the diagram below that compares my travel path to Gamma's.
Since I have stomach ailments while on solid ground, such a trip appeared to be a gastrointestinal death wish for me. But I planned ahead and packed a Ziploc sandwich bag of remedies like Johnny Depp's suitcase from 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'. It contained the pill form of Pepto Bismol, Rolaids, Ginger extract, digestive enzyme supplements, and of course Dramamine. Lots of pretty colored tabs that luckily raised no eyebrows from U.S. Customs.
Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
excellent albeit disgusting story, thanks Mark. The worst form of motion sickness is the one you have!
2 - S.Rod.S
You should put a disclaimer at the top: Do Not Read this story while eating. I got flashbacks from the two worst days. Let's just say - Not a pleasant feeling.
3 - Mark Sahm
EO: You could say this is the evil twin post to your "Spoilers: Beware!". However, I feel all warm and fuzzy to be called "excellent albeit disgusting".
S.R.S: Face it, everything bothers your stomach. :o)
4 - Eric Olsen
I have some vivid memories: food poisoning from a roadside stand near San Antonio on my first honeymoon, the communal barf-fest on the way out to the Barrier Reef from Cannes, Australia back in 2000, the bedspins back in my serious drinking days, etc
5 - Mark Sahm
Perhaps there is some cosmic correlation between the strength of your marriage and the type of nausea you experience on your honeymoon. Seems like everyone gets sick then.
Luckily, I did not experience any such symptoms while at the altar.
6 - Krasimir [FilmDailies.com]
I've been on a ship just twice and I didn't feel ANYTHING. Maybe it has to do with your emotional state and of course ... the weather :)
7 - Mark Sahm
Kras: Were you a swinging single when you went on your cruises? Maybe that's the key to zero sickness!