I have battled motion sickness for as long as I can recall,
even in seemingly harmless places like taxi cabs and surfboards. The last time I attempted a boat excursion was
roughly 8 years ago. My apprehensions about
the trip were batted away by the saleswoman at the activities desk in Cairns
who assured me in her Aussie accent that the waters of the Great Barrier Reef
were “like glass”. A few hours (and one
Bonine) later, I was lying face-down in the boat for the two-hour trip back to
Cairns. As I moaned in agony, I made a
pact with myself that I would never ever subject myself to an experience
like that again.
Recently, I was
invited to a most-expenses-paid cruise trip that served as a family
reunion. The thought of being trapped
for five days on a cruise ship didn’t exactly fill me with tons of excitement. However, as I looked over the details of the
trip and the abundance of options for onboard and offshore fun, I decided to
take the chance knowing that three members of our party were nurses. (After all, no one has ever died from motion sickness
as far as I know.) Armed with a supply of Transderm Scop patches to stick
behind my ear once every three days, here's how it all went down.
The Night Before
I decided to put
on my first patch the evening before getting onto the ship as I wanted to
ensure that whatever magic was inside these little dots had plenty of time to
enter my bloodstream. I followed the
directions to the letter and applied a patch behind my right ear. Several minutes later, I noticed that my
vision was slightly blurry. At first, I
thought it was a side-effect of the day's journey from NYC to Miami but then
later recalled that this was to be expected.
As I was ready for bed, I figured I'd defer any panic until the next
morning.
Day 1
I woke up with a headache that seemed to
affect me for most of the day but did not return for the rest of the trip. Cross another
side effect off the list. The blurry
vision I experienced the previous evening was gone and I was ready to get to
the ship. As there were 15 of us, we
rented a passenger van to take us from the hotel to the Port of Miami, a trip
of approximately 25 minutes. This was to
be the first test of the patches. As I
sat in the back of the van, I realized that I was perfectly at ease despite
being accosted by a six-year-old boy who found it amusing to pinch my nose for
much of the journey. The good news was
that I didn't feel a single twinge of motion sickness. Typically, I would’ve been woozy not only for
the car ride but for an hour or so afterwards.
This small victory bolstered my confidence for the adventure at sea that
lay ahead.
As we were
getting situated in our stateroom in the late afternoon, I continued to feel
fine and became very eager to check out the ship. The fact that our stateroom was in the middle
of the ship was a huge benefit as I felt much less movement there than anywhere
else we visited on the ship. I wouldn’t
say I felt *zero* movement at all times while in the middle, but there was a notable difference. I noticed in a stateroom located in the rear
of the ship that I could feel motion and also as I sat in the ship's
library. As a little experiment, I tried
looking out the window once we set off. Sure enough, I was good for a few
seconds before the queasiness set in. If
you are prone to motion sickness, it's imperative that you prepare adequately because
no matter what anyone tells you, it's possible to feel the movement of the ship
even in the middle, regardless of what you’ve heard about the so-called
stabilizers that are supposed to steady the ride.
Day 2
For our first full
day at sea and my headache from the previous day all gone, I decided to do a
whole lot of nothing. After breakfast
and a morning full of sun, I went back to our stateroom for a nap. While walking down the corridor, I started to
feel extremely dizzy. A quick check
behind my ear indicated that the patch had fallen off so I immediately applied
another one. Thankfully, I had extras
with me to last for more than once every three days for the duration of a
five-day cruise. A word of caution- make
sure you have plenty of extra patches just to be on the safe side.
In addition
to using the patches, I made sure to keep myself hydrated and well-fed for the
duration of the cruise. Drinking plenty
of water is beneficial not only because of the sun. In regards to keeping your stomach full, it’s
darn near impossible to avoid food while on board a cruise ship.
Day 3
We disembarked in
Ocho Rios, Jamaica and joined a zipline tour where you’re strapped into a
harness that supports your body as you fly through the treetops. In order to
get to the starting point, we had to drive in a van for about 15-20 minutes
through hilly and curvy terrain. After
we arrived at our destination, we were schlepped into the back of a pickup
truck with seats and traveled across roads that were so bumpy we thought we
were going to fall out at several points during our 10-minute ride. Without the patch, I think I’d still be lying
by the side of the road in the fetal position.
Fortunately, by looking forward at all times, I was able to make it
through with flying colors. And speaking of flying, the zipline adventure went
off without a hitch.
Day 4
As 72 hours had
expired since the last patch, I made sure to swap out for a replacement. Sure enough, my vision started to blur
slightly. My previous experiences kept
me from panicking. Again, it’s best to apply
the patches before going to bed so that the blurriness will have minimal
impact. Also, by applying the patch at
night, you will allow ample time for the medication to enter your bloodstream
overnight.
Day 5/6
I kept the patch
on as I wanted to take advantage of its magic for our trip home the following
day. We had to wake up early as they
were kicking us off the ship by 8AM.
After leaving the boat, we checked into a hotel on South Beach and went
for a swim. After our swim, I lost another patch. Next time, I’ll either be very cautious or I
will research a brand of patch that will withstand a dunk in the pool. Sure enough, the flight home the next day
made me feel queasier than I felt for the duration of the cruise.
Despite the ups
and downs, I can say whole-heartedly that the patch was a success. A whole new
world of travel has opened up for me. Bring
on the next boat trip!
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