Riding in Uber or Lyft used to be among my most productive times while traveling but lately I’ve lost all productivity while in the backseat.
Motion Sickness Is Hindering My Uber Productivity
I used to look forward to Uber or Lyft rides because they were so productive. I’d hop in, pull out my laptop, and work efficiently…whether the ride was five minutes or 55 minutes.
I would generally tether internet from my phone and could answer emails, read documents, or write blog posts.
Sure, sometimes talkative drivers would distract me, but that was the exception. I’d step off an Uber, having accomplished a lot since there were far fewer distractions when you could not move…
But lately I’ve found myself unable to work in a car. Whether I’m typing on my laptop or even just looking at my mobile phone, motion sickness quickly descends upon me. Yes, unless I’m starting straight ahead out the window, I start feeling nauseous.
Even worse, the same is true when I’m on a bus…as I recently experienced on my bus ride from central Prague to PRG airport and from Seoul to ICN Airport. But I don’t take buses nearly as often…
This has been going on for several months now and has not been confined to one or two incidents. Nurse Heidi (my wife) says it is part of aging, but there are pills I can take for it.
I don’t like taking pills of any kind beyond multi-vitamins and supplements, but I’d consider dimenhydrinate or something for this because this seems like such a time drain.
Is this something any of you have experienced? If you have experienced this, how did you deal with it?
I’d love to get my productivity back when I’m in a car or bus.
Thankfully, I have not experienced motion sickness on an airplane…yet.
I too have experienced this and have narrowed it down to a couple factors:
1) Proliferation of electric vehicles in the Uber fleet which drive very herky-jerky compared to gas powered vehicles, especially in the hands of less skilled or impatient drivers.
2) Quality of Uber drivers. Most Uber drivers used to be ex-taxi drivers or folks looking to make some money on the side who would take pride in their ratings and getting you safely and comfortably from point A to point B. Now the majority of drivers don’t even match their profile photo, often violate local traffic laws, and generally drive with reckless abandon to get as many rides completed as possible.
Uber used to have very stringent product standards for their base product. Drivers who failed to meet very high average ratings were kicked off the platform. That meant newer vehicles, better maintained, etc. And that’s even before reaching premium offerings that had stricter standards still.
Uber appears to have significantly relaxed its standards (at both base and premium ride levels), which gets and keeps a lot more drivers on the platform, which in turn drives down the price they have to pay drivers.
Uber earns a much higher margin on each ride now, paying drivers less. But with declining revenue, and little pay upside to drivers in maintaining vehicles better, you’re going to see a real decline in product. And every driver is competing for the same rides offering the same pay, within their tier, there’s no premium for better-maintained vehicles.
Ok but…what does any of that have to do with what Matthew is experiencing?
Good chance it’s the vehicles… coil springs… torsion bars.. shocks..struts..
Fary Jeff is thawt leader. Don’t question whether this is Ubers vehicles or poorly maintained vehicles or all vehicles. That requires asking question. That is outside paradigm. Shift
google dimenhydrinate vs meclizine: the latter (Bonine) is known as a less drowsy Dramamine, the former.
We take one in the morning of a cruise day, and it is good for the whole day.
Meclizine is only about $3.50 for a 100-pill bottle when you buy it at Costco pharmacy. It is non-prescription but requires going to the cashier at the pharmacy because they keep it back there and not on the shelves.
Don’t sit in a reclining position. Keep cool air vents directed on you or vent with windows. Look up every few minutes. There is a link with certain types of migraines and motion sickness.
As someone that has experienced both and went through months of scans and testing, a neurologist figured it out in five minutes. I wish you well because it is a miserable condition
You are at risk to BPPV (benign paroxysmal positional vertigo) in the future. I believe this is a very early manifestation. The trouble is you have too much calcium floating in your ear. See this patient’s guide from the Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/vertigo/symptoms-causes/syc-20370055
My qualification to write this is that I am a graduate of the Google School of Osteopathic Medicine. I am board certified by the American Board of Quackery Medicine. I did my residency at the Holiday Inn Express Medical School and affiliated hospitals. Afterwards, I did a fellowship in anti-vaxx medicine with RFK, Jr.
Much empathy. Scopolamine transdermal are amazingly effective in to he most dire of circumstances but perhaps impractical as patches must be applied in advance of expected motion sickness. And though legalin US, not in lots of other countries.
Have u tried a motion sickness bracelet? I was on a cruise with a group of friends who get motion sickness and they all wore one. It worked for all of them.
https://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/yoga-wellness/motion-sickness-remedies-for-travel
I’ll wager it’s your inner-ears, as suggested by Heidi, and it’ll get worse as you age. A word to the wise – don’t count on riding any wild carnival rides in the future, because they’re likely to leave you feeling very unwell for the rest of the day. You could always consult an ENT physician who specialises in otology to get their take.