Posts Tagged ‘Vertigo’

Dealing with Air Sickness

January 16th, 2009 Tushar Mathur

The main problems that occur while traveling by plane are the air sickness and jetlag. But what are they and how they can be prevented and dealt with, really takes a lot in having knowledge about them. So let us know first what air sickness is.

Air Sickness

Most people think that air sickness is mental disorder but it is not so. It is the feeling of nausea which is caused by motion when the plane lands or takes off. This is due to the steep attitude of the airplane, the sudden increase or decrease in speed and height. The common signs of air sickness are loss of appetite, vertigo, burping, stomach awareness, nausea, and increased swallowing and salivation. Airsickness is due to the difference between what people see with their eyes and the data that they get from the hearing organs of the ears. Thus, this makes your brain confused to process efficiently.

Let us discuss how to deal with it.

  1. Do not be stressed and try to be relaxed. Even if you fear the take-off then its better that you divert your mind and take a mild sleeping pill an hour before the scheduled take-off. Do not think much about the air sickness because the more you will think the more you will feel sick.
  2. Do not be full stomach but eat and drink sparingly before getting on the plane.
  3. While taking-off try to be in your seat belts so that even slightest motion may not cause you air sickness.
  4. Take anti-air sickness and special wristbands from the airport.

Jet Lag

Jet lag becomes a dread feeling for those who travel for hours for their work and business meetings. It is because of jet lag, sleep patterns get disturbed. This really occurs when ones body clock is confused and symptoms include sleeplessness, tiredness; lack of concentration, headaches and a general feeling of disorientation. Jet lag is usually at its most horrible condition when crossing several time zones particularly in an easterly direction.

Let us discuss how to deal with jet lag.

  1. While flying towards east, sleep as much as you can. Try to have meals, drinks and try to relax.
  2. In order to avoid disorientation change the watch timings according to the destination you are heading to.
  3. On arrival to the destination have fresh air, evening meals and do not try to go to bed.
  4. If you were not able to sleep in the plane, then sleep for few hours at your destination but make sure that you set your alarm clock and do not sleep for so long.

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Norway, in the land of the fjords

September 28th, 2008 Tushar Mathur
It feels like a temple in the open air. You almost expect that, at any moment, an angry Nordic god will appear from behind a rock and carve another fjord from the very stones.
We stood on a flat rock, the wind blew gently and we cautiously peered over the edge – a sheer drop of 600 meters to the water below.
Now you know what ants see when they look down stairs! This place is called Preikestolen, meaning “Pulpit”, and everybody who travels throught the fjords in Norway comes here to experience the sense of vertigo this massive cliff produces.

The view from this rocky platform is beautiful; the tops of the hills have been ground down by glaciers, reminiscent of The Badlands in the United States, and they are covered by a sprinkling of low trees that seem like lichen from this distance. The air is crisp and crystal clear. The sun is surprisingly warm and the azure skies, vaulting and open above us, seem infinite.



Unto Valhalla

There are other beautiful nice fjords; take Sognefjord, for instance – it is also called “King’s Fjord” as the Norwegian successor to the throne comes here to fish. Another reason for the name is that it is the largest in Norway. Hideous depths lurk in these dark waters with the sea bed lying some 1200 meters below the surface.
The fjord cuts almost 200 kilometers inland and when the ship steered into some of the side fjords, which are in fact quite independent, you get the impression of being tested for claustrophobia. The cliffs are so impossibly high and so close that there is a tangible sense of enclosure, of being locked within the landscape itself.
The landscape is beautiful and deserted. You look around in wonder, knowing that Valhalla is near at hand, the hall where heroes and gods feast before the final battle and the end of the world.
You fear that at any moment a Viking “drakkar” may glide out from the mists, full of merciless conquerors. Instead, you might come across a thousand-year-old wooden church, six storeys high, resembling in shape a Viking helmet. Or, more frequently, you’ll find a herd of goats with bells round their necks.
The secrets of the hundreds of fjords, cutting into the Norwegian shores like wrinkles in her skin, are made more tantalising yet by the colorful houses of the locals.

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