Travelling is fun! But, for so many people, travelling is a big turn off because they suffer from what is popularly known as motion sickness.

Motion sickness is annoying, messy, and terribly inconvenient. They prevent people from enjoying a rollercoaster, short or long trips etc. Motion sickness makes some people hate travelling completely, while some people manage to beat this limitation.

While there's no way to be cured of it, there are ways to prevent it. Knowing you won't throw up on your next trip is key to surviving motion sickness but understanding why motion sickness happens is the door to preventing it.

Why motion sickness happens

Niket Sonpal, MD, a New York city-based gastroenterologist and internist who suffers from motion sickness, says:

"The inner ear is responsible for our ability to stay balanced, what happens is that repetitive movements disturb the inner ear, and then it gets tricked into thinking we're moving a lot. The fluid and what we call the ossicles in the ear start getting thrown off, and then the feedback from that turns into symptoms of dizziness and nausea".

How to prevent motion sickness, according to a gastroenterologist

Listen to music: Of course, when you put on your headphones and start playing music on your mobile device, you can avoid talkative travellers and their meaningless discussions too. But, do you know it is one of the healthiest things to do?

If you are suffering from motion sickness, music helps in diverting your mind. When your mind gets distracted in a pleasant way, your uneasiness can be minimised. 

Choose a window seat or sit up front: If you're taking a bus, plane, or train, sit in the window seat. If you are in a car, the passenger's seat is the best place to sit. 

Drink lots of water: Drinking enough fluids will keep you from feeling sick.

Don't eat foods that upset your stomach: Stay away from certain foods that will unsettle your stomach. The food you eat before a trip can compound the issue.