Jan 29, 2012 - The Journey Home

My trip home was long but uneventful. Fly to Tokyo and then to NYC. Once in NY, everyone spoke English but some had accents so strong that I had trouble understanding them. Yep, I'm home! (grin) When traveling it's important to be vigilant. Throughout my trip, I had kept up with news reports reading electronic versions of USA Today on my Nook. I also subscribed to news alerts from the US government and through SOS International. For example, there were notices about disease outbreaks: "A sudden rise in the number of cases of meningococcal...

Nov 20, 2011 - Preparations - One week to go

Busy getting ready for my trip. Some of the medical preparations for this included: 1. Purchase evacuation insurance to get me to competent medical care, if needed. 2. Visit a travel clinic to ensure that my vaccinations are up-to-date. Most, like typhoid, were still current from previous trips. I did need a series of shots for Japanese Encephalitis and I needed a series of booster shots for rabies, since I plan to trek in the mountains. 3. Get prescriptions for diseases that have no vaccines, like malaria. 4. Study up on the locally common...