5 Ways To Kick Seasickness in the Butt
Me and boats have never seen eye to eye. I paid for a booze cruise in Spain when I was 18 and was so seasick I never even managed to drink a drop of the alcohol I paid for *boohoo*. I was recently reunited with how crap I feel on boats in Taiwan on my way to Green Island and Lanyu Island and apart from the seasickness tablets you can take, here are 5 Ways To Kick Seasickness in the Butt and come off the other end of your journey looking relatively alive.
1.Get that plastic bag ready
If you’re in for a rocky ride, the boat crew will hopefully be kind enough to supply copious numbers of plastic bags. On my way to Green Island and Lanyu Island in Taiwan, they had plastic bags and gigantic bins. The crew knew their ride was the ride from hell.
2.Hold on to something
Welcome to the biggest washing machine you have ever had the joy to experience. When you can’t decipher what is north, south, east or west any more, hold on to something big which you can cry tears into. I have never loved my backpack so much.
3.Listen to music
To take your mind off how crap you feel and just laugh (cry?) at the situation you have no control over, listen to music. Hate your life? How about some Slipknot? Want to listen to some sarcastic jolly covers? Richard Cheese will make it all better. Or if you decide to lose the plot and just head for the happiest stuff you can find, Perez Prado and his track ‘Sway with me’ should help.
4.Sit at the back of the boat
When you’re crashing through those big boy waves, do yourself a favour and let the captain at the front take the brunt of it. Be a good passenger and sit as far back as you can. If the drunk guy in Wayne’s World can headbang whilst off his tits sitting in the back and not vomit, the same magic might just work for you.
5.Breathe deeply
You need to go into hippy mode and just breathe through this experience dude. Breathe in and breathe out and run some ‘I’m not gonna puke’ mantra through your head.
Save your soul and pin this for later!
What’s your top tip for kicking seasickness in the butt? Comment in the box below! May the puke never be with you.
Looking for more boat travel tips?
Check out my post 5 Essential Tips for the Ferry from El Nido to Coron!
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12 Comments
Rachel28 September 2015
Hahaha, I've been on a few of those vom boat trips in Asia, I'm not the greatest sailor either! One one in south Vietnam was saved by plastering Tiger Balm around my nostrils, the fresh zingy smell cleared my head and also masked the revolting puke smell floating violently around the boat! If you can see a horizon that totally helps too, calms your confused brain apparently. When I sailed from Finland to Germany (28hs) I took seasickness pills, they sure knocked me out for a few hours (luckily I had a bed in a shared cabin) but I never got queasy at all.
aliceteacake29 September 2015
Wow girl haha! I love tiger balm but never thought about using it for this: good tip! I hear you about the sound and sight of puke: everyone on board was caught out :/
Jackie | The Globetrotting Teacher29 September 2015
Ugh! Seasickness is the worst! I never realized you should sit at the back of the boat. What a great tip!
aliceteacake29 September 2015
When I got on I initially sat at the front. The crew saw and told me to get as far back as possible. They could see I wasn't exactly Jack Sparrow.
Alana30 September 2015
I've never experienced sea sickness or any sort of motion type sickness. I have seen people deal with it though and it looks just awful. Several girls on my Africa overland trip swore by tiger balm to help deal with motion sickness, maybe it would help with sea sickness?
aliceteacake30 September 2015
Fantastic tip and one I'll definitely be trying! Thank you for suggesting :)
Julius @ Traveltipy30 September 2015
Wow, I wouldn't want to be on board of that boat. Once I "enjoyed" huge waves when sailing from Sicily to Aeolian islands but it was still nothing comparing to this :)
christine2 October 2015
hahaha I just had the worst ferry ride.. I thought I was gonna have to lean over the ship! So wavy!
Ashlee5 October 2015
Deep breathing works a treat for me! Even with just general nausea! <3
Ale5 October 2015
Eating!!! I know it seems quite strange but if you have something in your stomach is much much better, than have it completely empty!!!
Tina28 August 2016
Use SeaBands! Eat ginger chews, e.g., GinGins! I give them to everybody who sails with me. They really help. Dramimine helps too, but take it hours ahead of time and go for only a half tab, unless you want to go to sleep.
Alice teacake4 September 2016
Excellent advice Tina! I've been chewing on ginger chews whilst on the Mongol Rally too to help with car sickness. Has helped immensely!
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