For the last year and a half that I have been living in Asia it has been a constant expensive struggle to maintain regular use of vitamins and supplements. It is a bit difficult to find bottles of vitamins here in Korea. If they are found it is little more than a basic multi-vitamin and...

Every year, as spring makes its slow way across Korea, the country is set upon by the phenomenon of "yellow dust". You might draw the curtains in the morning and find the jaundiced haze thick over the city, or leave for work in the morning to find your bike, scooter, car covered in a thin...

One of the many issues that round the world travelers need to think about before they set off on their trip is related to health. Even a young and healthy traveler can be hit by a food- or water-borne illness, or suffer an injury, while on the road. If making sure you're prepared for an...

If you’re on the road in Asia it is definitely worth checking out a few of the treatments that Oriental Medicine has to offer that are perhaps too expensive to try out at home. Here in Korea I recently tried acupuncture for the first time. Acupuncture aims to release energy that is perhaps not flowing...

If you’re in Korea, or traveling through the region, one thing you should be sure to experience is the Korean jjimjilbang. A jjimjilbang is a Korean sauna, though referring to them as such is perhaps a little lacking, as they offer so much more. For around 5,00won, about US$4, travelers can take advantage of many...

Southeast Asia draws travelers for many reasons; for the experience of a foreign culture quite unlike one’s own, for the lush scenery, or the life experience. However, like most other areas of the world, there is an undeniable amount of party culture associated with this region that draws a certain traveler. I’ve seen photos and...

I’ve always been of the opinion that having a food allergy is a heinous lot to have drawn in life. I approach this largely from a food-lover’s standpoint, but also because seeing a food allergy being triggered is quite frightening. Seeing it happen just once is enough to make me want to carry an epipen...

Going to the doctors in another country is always an interesting experience. We can find great similarities and parallels between visiting cafés or riding public transportation in America and Europe, or between grocery stores in the US and Japan, but going to the doctor always seems to remind you that you are in a foreign...

Sometimes we feel like we don’t need as much sleep when we’re traveling, because the excitement and energy we get from our new surroundings and adventures is enough to keep us going. I’ve heard travelers romantically recount exhausting stories about traveling and, due to situation, not sleeping for days at a time. I’ve even told...

On a recent trip to Japan, I had the opportunity to experience the country’s Shinkansen train service. The Shinkansen, sometimes called the bullet train, is a network of high-speed trains that carry passengers across the country at speeds up to around 450km/h. Japan is notorious for its vast and efficient transportation system. True, tickets can...

As any health conscious person may know, it’s actually pretty hard to get all of the essential vitamins and minerals that your body needs from food alone. Even for the most health conscious person, it is still a difficult task. So how do you maintain a proper intake of vitamins while traveling? While I’ve moved...

One thing you might notice rather quickly after arriving in Korea is the bounty of ginseng available seemingly everywhere. Dried ginseng leaves have found their way into many popular teas across North America and experienced quite a boom. In this form the effects of ginseng are considerably milder, and it is certainly a much watered-down...

There are far more entertaining and sexy subjects when it comes to long-term travel than what it takes to stay healthy on the road, but there are also few things that can screw up a RTW trip more than getting sick when you're far away from home. This isn't to say that there isn't going...

Within the backpacker lexicon there is a certain unwritten assumption that everything must be done on the most severe cheap. That all corners must be cut, as one must go without as much as possible to become this Champion of Cheap. One of the first lessons we learn on the road is that travel is...

Sometimes travelers get home from a trip feeling like they need a few days to physically recover from their travels. A wise traveler should cultivate a lifestyle that translates seamlessly between their time on and off the road. Here are a few health conscious habits that will help keep you in top form while traveling...

Back when I wrote Vagabonding , I designed the end-of-chapter resources so that they could be continually updated online and stay as useful and relevant as possible. Recently, with the editorial help of Justin Glow and input from dozens of readers, I added to (and reorganized) my online resources at Vagabonding.net. I've copied the index...