We all have deep-seated fears about something. Sometimes those feelings get lodged within us and over time will develop into fears that we can't fight. I've experienced that feeling and sure enough, it’s haunted me every day.
I'm a typical person who gets carsick easily, people say it’s called motion sickness, caused by mixed signals sent to the brain by the eyes and inner ear. when we're in a moving vehicle, the body must be in a sitting or stationary position, but our eyes and ears are looking around during the trip. this creates a response of nausea in the stomach and pain in the head.
When I want to travel to a distant place by car, I will definitely get motion sickness in the middle of the journey even before arriving at the location. It was really annoying! I even became the butt of jokes with other passengers. I couldn't joke around with others, couldn't snack and couldn't even enjoy the passing scenery. It was like a curse for me, that this motion sickness would stick with me forever.
One day while I was studying in my fifth semester, I received a scholarship for an off-island exchange student. I was over the moon and enthusiastic about it. I quickly prepared my belongings, clothes and other personal items. While re-registering, I was surprised by an overwhelming feeling of worry, as I realized that the transportation used was an airplane. All my ecstatic feelings were replaced with anxiety. I'd never even been on an airplane before in my life, this would be my first experience traveling in a huge machine flying at 35,000 feet carrying people.
I can't describe how muddled my mind was as departure approached.
"What if I get really drunk on the plane!"
"Will the flight attendants provide a barf bag if I start getting nauseous?"
"I hope people don't laugh when I start vomiting all over my stomach!"
It was as if negative thoughts had taken over my entire mind and body. It was then that I had to quickly anticipate my worries so that everything would go normally. My mother and my close friend suggested some things that could minimize the feeling of Motion sickness, including taking anti-motion sickness medicine, smelling aromatherapy, sucking ginger candy, covering the navel with a menthol patch and trying to listen to your favorite music. I followed all of their instructions and hoped that their tips would actually work for me.
When the departure day came, I was really confused about where and what to do at the airport. I felt like I was in a crowded area but I was the only one who seemed to be lost in the crowd. Thankfully, a security guard guided me wisely until I arrived at my departure gate.
I was truly amazed to see the huge airplane that would soon take me to my destination. All this time I could only watch them on TV or on the internet. I was warmly greeted by the flight attendant. She asked for my ticket and showed me my seat on the left side at the very back, I was lucky because I was sitting by the window.
When the plane took off, that's when my anxiety peaked, my heart was beating wildly as it was now in the sky amongst the clouds. I had taken my anti motion sickness medicine after breakfast, I tasted ginger candy, put a patch on my belly button, smelled aromatherapy and tried to listen to music. But it was difficult to listen to music at that time because of the buzzing in my ears due to the air pressure difference.
During the trip, I kept looking out the window and gazing at the clouds that looked like fluffy cotton. Sometimes I also had to feel subtle vibrations due to collisions with the clouds. I don't know why I didn't feel any nausea or headache at that time, maybe because my efforts were really successful or because my attention was focused on the beautiful scenery outside?
The trip took 2 hours and 30 minutes. The only activities I did during that time were looking at the scenery, taking a short nap and smelling my aromatherapy. I was really relieved when the announcement from the cockpit said that the flight was almost over. I again witnessed an equally beautiful scenery, it's expanse of blue sea and the island where I will study which has appeared little by little.
Thankfully I arrived safely with a refreshed feeling when I got off the plane, I couldn't believe the anticipation I had put into fighting my worries had actually worked. I realized then that it all started because of a suggestion that came to me. When I'm about to board a vehicle, I always tell myself that I'll definitely get drunk, and it really happens. Unlike this trip, when I got on the plane, I kept strengthening myself to survive no matter what, and the result was that I was still fresh until the end of the trip.
Until now, when I want to travel by car or other vehicles, I always give myself strong motivation not to experience motion sickness, the result is that the frequency and level of my drunkenness has decreased and I can enjoy my trip, well as long as I also take anti-motion sickness medicine and listen to my favorite music, I will definitely be fine.