Hot Air Ballooning and Motion Sickness

I suffer from severe motion sickness but had no issue on the hot air balloon ride. If it is a concern, take some motion sickness med (Bonine) at least an hour before your flight.

Unless you rise into a thunderstorm, there is no sense of movement in a hot air balloon. If you are worried, contact your doctor and have him prescribe a scopolamine patch for you.

Oh, just do it! I am so petrified of heights. It is very smooth and the silence ( apart from the "whoosh" as the pilot adjusts the gas) is magical. I began crouched in the basket's bottom😄, peeking through the slats and eventually it was just so thrilling I was standing up. You could take whatever your product of choice is as insurance, but it was one of the highlights of the trip.

I never took a hot air balloon ride.

take some motion sickness med (Bonine)

I was going to suggest the same. It is an OTC so you can find it in your local pharmacy; especially Walmart.

It helps to steady motion sickness, mild vertigo. If you have a severe condition, talk to your doctor.

Here are some suggestions. Maybe you already exercise them --

Take deep breaths
Feel the breeze as part of a calming experience
Look up at the sky or focus on a particular beautiful object
Sometimes, people carry little vials or mini bottle of pure Lavender oil. It can calm the spirit.
Don't drink alcohol or too much caffeine > before your ride
Bring a bottle of water

I also suffer from motion sickness when we are cruising, not really severe, but just enough to make me want to take pills and stay in bed.

However, last year on our honeymoon trip to Cappadocia, when we went for the one hour hot air balloon flight, I had absolutely no issue with it. I didn't even feel it. The flight was very smooth and the weather was great. I was too excited to notice anything else but magical moments.

Hope you will be OK too.

Have fun!

Thank you for this post and thank you everyone for the advice. I am going on the RS Best of Turkey in September, 2020 and I was worried about motion sickness on the hot air balloon too. Now, I am not worried at all.

I have a lot of trouble with motion sickness - the balloon ride was fine. The long bus rides are another story altogether.

Yep, I have struggled with motion sickness all of my life but had no issues at all in a hot air balloon. The ride is smooth and straightforward; not a lot of the bouncing, curves or rocking motion like you get in a vehicle or a boat. There is, of course, some up and down but nothing abrupt. You'll be fine!

I do recommend watching the scenery at horizon level - look more into the distance - to minimize the visual sense of movement? It's possible the looking straight down could make you a little woozy, although that didn't bother me much either..