Reading in the car, bus, train, etc.

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Am I the only one who can't do this? I can barely look at a map without getting carsick. Or metrosick, if I happen to be on the metro. This is a serious downer as I'd like to use the commuting time to read. Instead I have to face forward and take deep breaths and focus on not getting sick.

My spouse can read on the metro STANDING UP AND FACING BACKWARDS! I get nauseated just thinking about this.

Is this a skill that can be learned? I mean, can I overcome this motion-sickness thing?

― quincie, Friday, 19 December 2003 20:09 (twenty-two years ago)

In my experience, it can be learned. I used to get terribly sick whilst reading on the bus, but I'm fine now.

(which metro, just out of curiosity?)

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Friday, 19 December 2003 20:57 (twenty-two years ago)

The D.C. metro, which I think is probably one of the smoother rides.

How did you learn it? Did you just keep doing it whilst getting sick and then at some point you didn't get sick anymore? It would be one thing if I knew the queasyness would go away as soon as I stopped moving, but it tends to linger. Also I never throw up, so I just have that awful nauseated feeling and can't seem to do anything about it. But I'd like to be able to read at least a little bit, maybe glance over the newspaper or something! I'd be willing to put up with some discomfort if I thought I could get it under control at some point.

― quincie, Friday, 19 December 2003 21:23 (twenty-two years ago)

quincie, I'm with you. I have a ton of friends who do this, but I just cannot concentrate enough to read a book. My father, on the other hand, sometimes gets on a subway (in NYC), rides out to the end of the line and back again, reading the whole time. If it's particularly hot out, and the subway is air-conditioned, and much of the ride is above ground, it's actually a great way to spend a few hours.

― Berkeley Sackett (calstars), Sunday, 21 December 2003 01:21 (twenty-two years ago)

three weeks pass...

You might consider unabridged books on tape or cd. I was never a fan of these, but as my reading time has diminished I found I could steal some extra by listening to books while in the car or walking the dog. It's not exactly reading, but it's more like reading than I thought it would be. A bonus, is when you're reading a book, say "Bangkok 8" by John Burdette this way. The producers of the book on tape have to work out the pronunciations of all the foreign names and words, so you don't have to.

Incidently, Bangkok 8 is great fun.

― Michael Jacobs, Sunday, 11 January 2004 16:00 (twenty-two years ago)

I can read standing arse backwards leaning against a tube pole as King Kong wheels the carriage about his head, no problem. My dad can too but my mother and sister cannot (many long car trips have shown the truth of this). My ex-girlfriend also could not read in the car, though another one could (actually she could read on Greek ferries, never tried a car with her), make of that what you will.

To my knowledge none of them have been able to learn to read while in transit.

― Paul Watson, Tuesday, 13 January 2004 14:45 (twenty-two years ago)

I can read on a train or plane, but not in a car or bus.

― o. nate (onate), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 15:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Reading on a motorbike is not recomended.

― MikeyG (MikeyG), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 16:03 (twenty-two years ago)

This is pretty much an unrelated tangent, but is anyone else intrigued by the rules for using the prepositions "on" and "in" in conjunction with different modes of transportation? For example, you would say you're "on a train" or "on a bus", but never "on a car". Instead you say "in a car". Why can "on" be used for a bus but not a car? Surely you're just as much "in" the bus as you are "in" the car, and just as much "on" the car as you are "on" the bus, right?

― o. nate (onate), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 16:09 (twenty-two years ago)

To whoever in Chicago I've almost killed, or whoever keeps honking their horn at me, I apologize, but I read while driving. (Only in heavy 2-5 mph traffic, natch.)

― Matthew K (mtk), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 17:04 (twenty-two years ago)

I was reading Helen & Desire by Alexaner Trocchi on the bus this morning. I had to put my bag on my lap to cover my shame.

― MikeyG (MikeyG), Thursday, 15 January 2004 18:24 (twenty-two years ago)

In the car, when it's not moving. Train, if the ride is more smooth than jumpy. Airplane, all the time. Walking, after many mishaps resulting in sprained ankles/feet, no.

― yesabibliophile (yesabibliophile), Tuesday, 20 January 2004 15:37 (twenty-two years ago)

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