Travel health and the emerging specialty of "wilderness medicine" have obvious overlap. Dr. Paul Auerbach is one of the leaders in wilderness medicine: helping found the Wilderness Medical Society, co-author of A Field Guide to Wilderness Medicine and numerous journal articles and serving as faculty to the Stanford Fellowship in Wilderness Medicine.

His blog, Medicine for the Outdoors, is celebrating the two year anniversary. For those who haven't yet had a chance to visit, it is filled with practical information and advice for those exploring their environment and wanting to come back from the experience in good health. Travel and expedition medicine is the focus of my career and I find myself citing Dr. Auerbach's work and information, in my work. He is one of the pioneering physicians who helped elevate this field of medicine to a new and unique specialty.

A visit to his blog will allow the reader to learn about things from jellyfish stings and dislocated shoulders on the trail to malaria medications and outdoor recreation. This is truly an opportunity to read, first hand, the information from a leader in wilderness and expedition medicine. I highly recommend a visit to his blog, if you get a chance. Oh, and don't forget to congratulate him on his two-years of dispensing great advice!

Here's another version of canopy tours, much different than the ones in Hocking Hills, Ohio and near Kuala Lumpur. At the Ysterhout Gorge in Magaliesberg, South Africa, trees are sparse, but the gorge is mighty. This is a well-done edited version that shows each step of the experience. The scenery is gorgeous. The family in this video consists of a young girl as well. You really know how much you trust a tour guide when you send your child flying along a cable, feet dangling high above the rocky ground. There's a point where my heart would jump. Part with fright, part with their excitment--and I'm the one who once took my 3 month-old on long boat rides in Thailand, passing him above the water while he was strapped in a car seat carrier. Here is a resource to find canopy tours in South Africa, plus a Gadling post from former blogger Erik Olsen that presents options in other places.

Politics aside, this is actually pretty spectacular. Chinese mountaineering team, including a woman from Tibet, took the Olympic flame to the top of the world today, AP reports.

The team used torches designed by rocket scientists to take the flame to the peak of Mount Everest. Fueled by propane, the flame burned brightly in the frigid, windy, oxygen-thin Himalayan air thanks to technology that keeps rocket motors burning in the upper reaches of the atmosphere. The flame was carried most of the way in a special metal canister. As the team neared the summit, they used a wand to pass the flame to the torch.

Wow. All this effort just to say "we did it."

The Mount Everest climbers were struggling for breath in a live television broadcast as five torchbearers each shuffled a few feet before passing on the flame to the next person. The final torchbearer, a Tibetan woman named Cering Wangmo, stood silently on the peak with her torch while other team members unfurled small Chinese and Olympic flags. They then clustered together, cheering "We made it," and "Beijing welcomes you."

One would almost think that China and Tibet are best friends. Almost.

From San Francisco to London and Paris to India, protestors are taking to the streets to demonstrate against China's hosting of the Olympic Games. Angered by the Chinese government's refusal to meet with the Dalai Lama, as well as the continued suppression of human rights in potential breakaway regions, the world is seeking to punish China on the eve of its long-anticipated coming out party.

For travelers on the ground in China, independent tourism has never been more difficult, especially since parts of the country have now been entirely closed off to the outside world. Following wave of violence that commenced on March 14th, the Chinese government has entirely barred tourists from entering Tibet. As a so-called 'autonomous region,' non-Chinese nationals must obtain special entry permits for Tibet.

Sadly, it's looking like the 'Roof of the World' may remain in relative isolation until the Olympic Games have passed, which is a huge blow at a time when tourism in the region was beginning to flourishing. Here in Japan, this was highlighted recently in the news when Mr. Yuichiro Miura, the 75 year-old thrill seeker who once skied down Everest using a parachute as a brake, announced that he was changing his Everest climbing route.

Afraid of heights? Don't watch this video, shot along El Caminito del Rey, a mountain walkway near Malaga, Spain. This narrow, gut-wrenching path is only 3 feet wide, pinned along the side of a gorge, nearly 700 feet above the river below.

Originally built in 1901 to allow local workers to cross between two nearby waterfalls, El Caminito has recently fallen into a sad state of disrepair. Many parts of the walkway have completely collapsed, leaving nothing but a metal beam and a wire between you and 700 feet of nothing. Not surprisingly, there have been a number of deaths along the trail, and the local government has tried to seal it off.

But for some adrenaline junkies, a warning sign, tall fences and the prospect of a fatal slip-up is nothing but a challenge. Check out this video and watch one man laugh in the face of death.

What is it about Spain that inspires thrill-seekers to the utmost feats of poor judgment?

If you are an outdoor aficionado, you may already be familiar with Wend. The outdoor magazine based out of Portland, Oregon fills its pages with stories from around the globe that peak the interest of not only outdoor enthusiasts, but anyone with a wanderlust. The latest issue covers a trip through Iceland, volunteering in Indonesia, trekking Afghanistan and surfing the Great Lakes; that's what I call good reading material.

Being the eco-friendly souls that they are, the Wend crew finally put the magazine online, making all of the articles accessible via your computer. You can still buy the print version, but if you are out traveling -- or just want to save on paper consumption -- the new online version is just as satisfying. And it's free.

Check out the virtual version of the latest issue here. And if you are feeling truly inspired, shoot them an email and pitch a story.

Sure, we've all thought about it and some of us do it often. Getting high on your holiday trip can be pretty fun, in fact. I mean really high, above 11,500 feet (3500 m). Not everything cool is on a beach at sea-level. Ruins in the Andes, trekking in the Himalayas and chasing back country powder are a few things you have to get high, to do. These trips are all "dream vacations," so why risk a problem with altitude sickness?

High altitude is considered to be 1500 - 3500 m (4950 - 11,500 ft) while very high altitude covers 3500 to 5500 m (11,500-18,050 ft). Anything above 5500 m falls into the extreme altitude category. Altitude sickness is not related to physical fitness and can have some deadly consequences, if not recognized and treated promptly.

Accute Mountain Sickness generally includes symptoms of headache, worse at night or during straining, nausea/vomiting and dizziness. The symptoms are often described as a "bad hangover".

Some conditions associated with more severe forms of altitude sickness or AMS (acute mountain sickness) include HACE (high altitude cerebral edema) and HAPE (high altitude pulmonary edema). These conditions involve swelling and fluid accumulation in the respective tissues. Swelling of the brain, as seen in HACE, can present as marked stupor and confusion. HAPE, with fluid collecting in the person's lungs, often starts as a cough followed by progressive shortness of breath.

You've always dreamt of flying out to a remote lodge in the middle of nowhere in Alaska, but you're a bit concerned about the pilots. Are they really good enough to get you into that 1000-foot strip? Wouldn't it be nice to know just how these aviators rank?

Well, the May Day Fly-In and Airshow in Valdez, Alaska has a bush pilot competition that ranks pilots and their planes in their ability to takeoff and land in the shortest possible distances. These airplanes are highly modified to handle the tightest gravel bars Alaska has to offer. And their pilots know how to get the most out of them.

If you're looking for some experienced pilots to take you to a great lodge, you can't go too wrong with the Claus family. Dad, Paul, accomplished the shortest takeoff at 19 feet, and his 18-year old son Jay scored a 39-foot takeoff, which was good for 4th place in his class. The Claus family own and operate the Ultima Thule Lodge.

Here's 18 year old Jay's 39 foot takeoff:


I think I'm ready to go visit the Claus family and see just WHERE they're taking this airplane!


Join Kent at Cockpit Chronicles which takes you along on each of his trips as a co-pilot on the Boeing 757 and 767 out of Boston.

On your trip to the slopes for some much needed excitement and adventure, you awake to find fresh powder. Lots of it, too. You begin to head for the runs and realize that in your excitement, you've forgotten your gloves. No matter, you think, I have to get out there! A few hours later, your hands begin to blister and get numb. What do you do?

This is a common situation and one that I have seen happen all too much. The condition is frostbite and it can not only slow down your trip, but can cost you your extremities!

This is a condition where the tissues of the body, generally the fingers and toes, begin to actually freeze. This can cause massive damage to the tissue and sever cases, beside being very painful, can require amputation of necrotic (dead) tissue.

There are two conditions to know, frost nip and frostbite. Frostbite is the worst and most severe form, characterized by destroyed tissue and numbness. Blister formation and muscles damage are also common. Frost nip is less severe and does not destroy the tissues.

The simple fact there was snow during the high season (which is this month and next) for climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro was enough to warrant a front-page feature in this week's travel section of the New York Times. Seeing the white-capped summit--the highest in Africa--is just part of a growing trend of "see it while it's still there" tourism, which Aaron wrote about a few weeks ago.

Anyways, it turns out there was "several weeks of heavy rain and snow" right before the writer showed up. By the way, this was during last January, so perhaps our readers can update us on whether there's any snow left this January. One of the Tanzanian guides on the trip had this to say about global warming at Mt. Kilimanjaro, "When I first started climbing, we had big snow, big glaciers. The glaciers were bigger and taller than now. And also, the weather changed. We had heavier rain than we have now."

But here's the trouble about climbing the summit to appreciate the mythic glaciers and snow-caps. On the writer's trip, there were 11 American climbers, 3 Tanzanian guides, and 38 porters and cooks. That's a rather big carbon footprint, dont'cha think?

If you're still up for the trip, and I don't blame you if you are, we've written about the logistics of getting there and picking a climbing outfit here.