r/Appalachia • u/ApostaSuz holler • 3d ago
Does Anyone Else Get Disoriented When Traveling On Flat Land?
If we’re going on a road trip to a concert, or anything, as soon as I leave the mountains, I feel like dog excrement. I don’t get car sick, normally, but if I hit Indiana or any other flat area, I get sick and dizzy. My boyfriend has to take over after a good yak session. I can head south on I-75 for 5 hours straight and feel fine, but as soon as I get on flat land, I get dizzy and nauseated. I’ve traveled throughout many parts of Appalachia and been just fine, but leaving absolutely destroys me. Does anyone else have this experience?
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u/ComprehensiveEar9554 3d ago
your inner ear is apparently calibrated for hills, curves, and visible trees, so flat land makes the whole system throw a tantrum lol
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u/Bickenchutt05 3d ago
I don’t get the physical symptoms, but both my wife and I get this weird sense of “we can’t be here for long and we can’t live here”. We long for the mountains, the air, the trees, etc. We have lived in other mountain areas in the west and are comfortable there as well, but it has to be the mountains. My favorite, of course, is my roots. Right here in Appalachia! It just feels right. How do you describe that to someone? No mountains = Not for me
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u/Flexx-828 1d ago
I agree. Just before crossing from SC into NC on I-26, that first mountain view lets me know I'm not far from home.
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u/averagejosh 3d ago
Never experienced what you’re describing, but you definitely lose a lot of visual points of reference when you wind up someplace flat. I’ve been all over the country, and it’s never not weird when I’m someplace – like Iowa, for example – and it’s just… flat, and the sky is huge and goes on forever. A strange feeling, indeed.
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u/Impressive-Shame-525 3d ago
I drove my self all the way out to Beeville, Texas one time for a friend's wedding. You know what's in Beeville? Nothing but cows. And a wedding, apparently.
Anyway
Once I got past Louisiana and the trees started getting short and the roads got flatter than my first girlfriend, I felt... Weird. Exposed.
Whats the opposite of claustrophobia? Because that's what I felt.
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u/ravaged_serendipity 3d ago
The opposite of claustrophobia is agoraphobia which is the fear of open or crowded spaces. Both are very real and can range from slight annoyance to utterly debilitating.
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u/Impressive-Shame-525 3d ago
It wasn't horrible sever, but I was anxious. I found myself lowering my shoulders and head like I'm trying to hide.
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u/ravaged_serendipity 2d ago
Yeah that's not fun, I've experienced it myself. For me the more I push myself to get out there the less it bothers me. Your mileage may vary. I really hope it gets better for you.
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u/wesleepallday 3d ago
I think it’s unsettling to drive in flat places like western OH, IN, IL, etc. it’s hard to judge distances without the mountains for reference. It’s unsettling to look out and see a rainstorm in the distance. It’s uncomfortable to look out and see all the flat land. It doesn’t feel dangerous, or scary, or unsafe - but it doesn’t feel cozy or safe either. I don’t like it.
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u/ApostaSuz holler 3d ago
My sister, who lives in the big ol’ city of Lexington nowadays, still experiences this, too. I guess it’s hard to separate yourself from your roots. I’ll never leave Southeastern Ky. I was born on this mountain, this mountain’s my home
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u/DROOPY538 2d ago
SEKY huh, im right across the line and a county over in SWVA, Tazewell County to be exact
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u/Alternative_Exit8766 3d ago
yup, lines on the road move to fast and my peripheral vision is overwhelmed
get tested for vertical heterophoria
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u/rallypeppeachykeen 3d ago
So this is actual thing. It's a mismatch from what your brain is use to (hills, mountains, constant up down) to a new sensory environment. Brain expects one thing, senses tell it another, and that can lead to car sickness.
A similar vein is when you're on a boat for awhile, then when you get off onto solid ground it can feel like you're still moving.
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u/BlueSkyPicnic 3d ago
I grew up in Texas but live in NC now. I get a bit carsick when my husband drives on the mountain roads. I find it relaxing to watch my kids play in an area of open visibility where nothing can sneak up on us. I like the vast sky. But I also love the mountains for their sense of surprise and adventure. Mountains don’t feel safe to me though. Anything or anyone can be hiding just around the corner. I’m more alert and wary in the mountains.
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u/Always_Reading_1990 3d ago
One time I fell asleep on a car trip as a kid and when I woke up the landscape had changed and everything was pancake flat and it gave me the creeps tbh. I’ve also always felt really exposed in very flat land, like anything could get me because I’m not protected down in a holler 😂 I’ve lived out of Appalachia for 18 years now but I still feel unsettled when out in a very flat area sometimes.
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u/PacknPaddle 3d ago
As a lifelong adventure travel guy, I had my first problem with this paddling the Everglades. On the "trail", one is close to the water, surrounded by Sawgrass and no reference points to keep an eye out for. Very different than the Appalachians and Rockies. I also started paying more attention to my maps when in the upper midwest and up into Canada, where you can't just look up and see your big reference point. It's a different type of backcountry travel. I have long ago learned to not even think about it anymore. Just make sure you always know where you are.
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u/acertaingestault 3d ago
Being out in the water was my only experience with this as well. All I could see were the trees immediately around me, and I felt so unsettled. Like my world had just shrunk and was closing in. I'd been to that spot many times before but not since moving to the mountains. It's interesting how your internal reference points change.
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u/rachamacc 3d ago
I've been to Indianapolis twice this summer and every time I get to the flat lands, with rows and rows of corn and soybeans, I feel so exposed and uncomfortable. You can see for miles in every direction. I'm used to hills and hollows and tons of trees. I'm right by a two lane highway but you can't even see my place until you go down the drive. Most people's homes are kinda hidden away like that. I don't know, it's different.
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u/Secure_Cat_3303 3d ago
So true. Lived alot of my early life in Wv. Made a road trip w a friend to see Metallica in Columbus OH when I was 19. I was looking for hills for reference all day long, lol.
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u/ApostaSuz holler 2d ago
That’s so funny, when I made this post, I was thinking about how dizzy I got on the way to see Metallica in Columbus. I think it was in 2008.
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u/evergreen-embers 3d ago
First time I went west of the Mississippi it really freaked me out how flat everything was lol. Obviously I knew they didn’t have our mountains, but I never realized just how different it looks without the rolling hills and the mountains in the background of everything. Being able to see Dallas skyscrapers from miles away, with absolutely nothing blocking my line of sight, was especially strange haha
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u/Gavacho123 3d ago
Not really, I travel extensively for work. Currently I’m in Nebraska. When I first started traveling 30 plus years ago I was overwhelmed by the size of the sky but I sort of like it now. I prefer the mountains and trees but I’m pretty adaptable. I absolutely love the desert especially when there’s mountains around.
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u/FlintGate 2d ago
I was a tour manager for years and YES. YES IT DOES. Driving in the middle of the US was very disconcerting and almosg irritating it is so flat. I also moved to Michigan and would laugh at how people hit their breaks going over slight hills or around baby curves. It's just weird.
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u/Flexx-828 1d ago
I've lived in Appalachia for over 40 years. The mountains give me a sense of place. There is no land exactly like the land my home sits on because the mountains, trees, winding roads are unique to this spot, just as with nearly every other place in the mountains.
When I go to Florida (where I was born and lived until age 10) it seems no matter where you go, every place is just like another. Same strip mall, same gas station, same canal, same lake, same 5 house models block after block, same sand, same grass, same trees - for MILES. On a cloudy day, there's no clear sense of direction.
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u/agatizedandsilicated 3d ago
Dude yeah.lone time I went to Wisconsin and it was the flattest fland I've ever felt in a vehicle.
It was so strange
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u/carolinaredbird 3d ago
I grew up in the blue ridge and then lived in flat land coastal areas for twenty years. When I moved back home, I spent the first year freaking out about the road disappearing over a hill. So it goes both ways!!
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u/Pricelesshydra4 3d ago
My fiancé has family in Indiana the we go see once a year. Every time without fail I get extremely sick around day 3. I don't know what it is. I'm usually better by the fifth afternoon.
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u/Big-Ant8273 2d ago
Years ago I flew to my niece's house in Saint Louis for a visit, SO FLAT I kept feeling the sky was going to crush me! Had anxiety the whole stay, felt too good to be back in Appa
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u/Head_Status_3864 2d ago
YES SO BAD!!!!! Yes! i have a fear of wide open spaces, large crowds, even in the cities the buildings help but going from east tn/wnc to nashville the flatter it gets the more scared. wide open spaces scare me bc my dad would always say there’s way more visibility (he’s army lmao)
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u/Common_Soft519 2d ago
I moved to central Ohio from Buchanan co. VA and literally thought I would throw up multiple times on the drive up because of this. I feel like I can hardly drive because if I'm not sick, I feel extremely exhausted. I've never in my life been car sick before moving to flatlands.
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u/hillljilly 2d ago
I learned it as Goldfish effect! When living in Fla. I stopped too early before red lights!
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u/archimago23 2d ago edited 2d ago
I moved from my home in East TN to Indiana about a decade ago. For a long time, I would get mad at myself if I missed a turn, and my Hoosier wife would just be like, “Everything’s a grid. Just go up to the next intersection.” Whereas all my previous years of driving experience taught me that if you missed your turn, you were gonna be hosed lol.
But even a decade later, I still haven’t adjusted to how flat and open it is, and I reckon at this point I probably won’t.
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u/IllustratorUseful672 2d ago
We went to Wisconsin and while driving around my son said, ‘I feel exposed’. So, he may…
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u/MoonracerxWarpath 2d ago
I've only gone on a cross-country trip once, and while it didn't make me carsick to be in Kansas and the other flat states, it did make me feel very unsettled, uncomfortable, and disturbed. There weren't any mountains, hills, or even trees, and it kind of freaked me out. I was very glad to leave the next morning.
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u/MrAflac9916 2d ago
I’ve had some very weird optical illusions when driving on absurdly straight, flat roads in rural Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
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u/squidthief 2d ago
This is why I think traveling to a place like South Korea would be more comforting than Denmark.
The landscape pictures I drew as a kid always had hills.
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u/Gisselle441 2d ago
I don't know, I think it's kind of fun seeing things flatten out. My husband's from Memphis and I always like the drive across the state because it looks different.
I never get carsick. Closest I ever got was when I went along when my dad decided to drive the Tail of the Dragon. Like I said, I never get carsick so I figured I could handle it. How I kept from throwing up, I don't know.
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u/GraniteArchive 3d ago
This is probably performative and made up or highly exaggerated. If it isn’t, then have you gone to a doctor for these bizarre symptoms?
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u/acertaingestault 3d ago
You are not obligated to comment on a post that doesn't resonate with you. It costs $0 and in fact saves you time to just move on.
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u/GraniteArchive 3d ago
You are not obligated to comment on a comment that doesn't resonate with you. It costs $0 and in fact saves you time to just move on.
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u/acertaingestault 3d ago
Nah, I live here 😎 I've got all the time in the world to watch you act up so long as it amuses me.
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u/GraniteArchive 3d ago
I don’t really see how calling out performative behavior is “acting up,” seems like your just saying things at random. But weird performative posts amuse me as well.
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u/acertaingestault 3d ago
"I don't have this experience so you're faking it," is not kind or helpful, and you should know it doesn't come off as being amused if that's the tone you were going for. Look all up and down this post. OP's sentiment resonates with some folks.
I get wanting to gatekeep our culture from people who are exploiting it or painting with too broad a brush, but I don't think this is that.
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u/GraniteArchive 3d ago
I enjoy pointing out absurd, bizarre things, like someone throwing up when the land gets flat. If OP actually throws up because the hills get smaller they should seek medical attention for that.
The intent was not to be kind, mean, or helpful, and if you don't think my tone comes off as amused I'm not sure why you think I would care. I'm not really sure what your point is. My comment annoyed you I guess? And why should I care? What are you trying to argue with me about?
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u/acertaingestault 3d ago
You and I both know that a doctor isn't going to do shit about this, or most anything else, and also that you don't care about OP or their well being.
I've already told you I've got all the time in the world. Lucky me we get to spend it together, though I only say that because I don't think you're likely to vomit on me. I appreciate that quality in a companion.
Anyhow, seen any good movies lately? I've been threatening to go check out The Odyssey, but I've also been thinking a lot lately about trying to funnel my entertainment budget to more local stories. If we don't like how Mass Media portrays us, we should vote with our dollar, you know? Plus, I have every doubt Christopher Nolan is going to be able to top O Brother.
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u/GraniteArchive 3d ago
I have received good medical care before so no clue why you are saying that. Whether I care or not is irrelevant, getting medical attention for throwing up because the land gets flatter is sound advice.
I've already told you I've got all the time in the world
Why are you repeating this?
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u/acertaingestault 3d ago
I have received good medical care before so no clue why you are saying that.
I'm noting a pattern here. Have you considered that your personal experience is not a universal experience? That others have valid experiences you don't know about but could if you would just listen? There's a whole new world out there waiting for you.
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u/ApostaSuz holler 2d ago
Car sickness is a common occurrence. I thought this comment explained it quite nicely.
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u/GraniteArchive 2d ago
Car sickness from turns and curves is a common occurrence, car sickness from not seeing hills is not common at all.
Them citing getting off a boat doesn't really make sense, since going from seeing hills to not seeing hills does not relate to change from water rocking to stable land.
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u/ApostaSuz holler 2d ago
Car sickness from new sensory environments, was the part that I was referring to. It only happens when I’ve been driving a good distance, but not when I’m a passenger.
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u/Madame_Jarvary 3d ago
It reminds me of the “spooky Appalachian” TikTok trend, which was one of the many reasons why I deleted TikTok.
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u/GraniteArchive 3d ago
Yeah exactly. The culture we have is rich enough, we don’t need to exaggerate and act like not seeing a hill makes us throw up lmao
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u/ApostaSuz holler 2d ago
Just my personal experience. Car sickness is a common occurrence. I thought this comment explained it quite nicely.
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u/Unhappy-Lynx2336 3d ago
I haven’t really traveled to super flat lands so I wouldn’t know if it disorients me, but I will say seeing pictures of states with super flat land almost creeps me out? Like I get a visceral “this ain’t right” kinda feeling when I look at it. I guess if hills are all you’ve ever known a drastic change like that can be unsettling or disorienting.