Be Smart

It was a sad childhood moment for me when Mom figured out that the reason I got carsick on trips was that I passed those long hours in the back seat with my nose in a book. She loved books, but she was also fed up with cleaning vomit off the seat, the carpet--and me. So the rule when the car was moving: no reading. I played the license-plate game for endless boring hours and tried not to spend precious gas-station moments in the bathroom instead of with a book.

It wasn’t until decades later, after some serious barfing in a glass-bottomed boat, that I learned the secret cure for motion sickness from a tour guide. It’s simple and completely free. Lift your eyes to the horizon. Focusing on something close can bring on motion sickness. Stare into the distance and it usually disappears.

The makers of the ReliefBand say their wristwatch-like device helps with motion sickness (and also morning sickness if you can’t tough it out until week 12). But the main target is chronic severe nausea like nausea from chemo. It’s nerves in your wrist, they say, that are responsible for throwing up.