OPINION: Planning for the worst

Road trips used to be such a productive time for me. When I was little, I would bring a stack of books basically the size of me and get them all read by the time a road trip was over. Of course, I was a lot shorter and thought the five hour drive to see family in Minnesota counted as a road trip. Fast forward to recent years, and I am not quite as capable.

I’m not sure when the change occurred, but at some point between then and now, I started getting car sick. It started off as needing to open the windows when we drove around curvy bends to let in some fresh air. That morphed into me not being able to read while in the passenger seat of a moving car without getting nauseous. Fast-forward to my 20s and I’m throwing up in the back of a bus in Scotland from stop-and-go traffic, much to the entire tour’s delight.

That unfortunate morning in Scotland was the first time I had truly gotten sick from car sickness, but it wasn’t the last (as Cheyenne can unfortunately attest to). And yet despite this, I love road trips and travel and cities. So what did I do?

For a while, I’d gotten pretty good at looking at my phone only in smooth traffic or pre-making playlists to enjoy in the car. However, after Scotland, I started to realize I needed to take more precautions. So, if you’re like me and need a checklist to not get car sick, sit tight.

Most important is the plastic bag. Yup, it’s gross, but if the worst-case scenario happens, you do not want to be ruining your coat (like me) or pillow (like me) or covering your sister (knock on wood, hasn’t happened).

Probably just as important is nausea medication. I’ve been using Dramamine for flights as along as I can remember, but only recently started bringing them on car trips. It did take me awhile to figure out the right amount for me in the car, though, as Dramamine does make you sleepy. And when I say sleepy, I mean it can knock you out no matter how much you fight it if you’re not careful.

Forced sleep is not something everyone wants on a road trip when you’re supposed to be ooh-ing and ah-ing at all the cool sites you drive past. I’ve found that half a Dramamine tablet is perfect for me, just enough to keep off the nausea but not enough for me to pass out.

OK, meds and a plastic bag, what else? Make sure you have some foods and drinks that are safe for an upset stomach. Sometimes, my car sickness is made more dramatic if I’ve had caffeine but no food yet. Other times, you just need a gentle sip of water to calm everything down.

Going back to my previously productive road trips, what do I do for fun now? I know better than to bring more than a single physical book, as the only reading I’ll be doing is at the hotel. Whether driving or being a passenger princess, I like to throw in my handy-dandy audiobook. For both the library app Libby or with purchasing an audiobook off of Libro.fm or Audible, you download the book to your phone right away, meaning you can continue listening even if you’re in the middle of nowhere.

For the most part, this is all I can really do on my Yellowstone trip this week that doesn’t take up too much room. I’ve brought latch hook supplies for shorter trips, but that can still make me a little dizzy if I focus too hard, plus the yard ends up taking up far too much square-footage. I can play a couple of offline Switch games as long as my head is under a blanket, keeping the movement from outside away from my eyes.

I’ve also purchased a strange, probably hokey, set of glasses that are supposed to help with car sickness. They look ridiculous, with various parts of the glasses filled with liquid that’s supposed to help even out your equilibrium. I’m going to give them a try, because I’d love to be able to read in the car again, but I’m not holding on to too much hope.