Why Air Quality Matters More Than You Think While Traveling

In addition to our passion for travel and personal finance, we place a huge focus on health and longevity. This extra attention started after reading Outlive by Dr. Peter Attia, a book that radically changed how we think about aging well and living fully for the long haul.

If you’ve read our review of Outlive, you already know how deeply it resonated with us. One insight from the book that stuck with us? Air quality is one of the most underrated health risks we face daily. Dr. Attia makes it clear: while we tend to obsess over diet and exercise, the air we breathe can have an equally big impact on our long-term health. Poor air quality isn’t just a city issue. It can quietly affect your sleep, immune system, cognitive performance, and even increase your risk of chronic disease.

As full-time slow travelers that spend a fair amount of time in developing countries, that hit home. We move often, stay in all kinds of places, and spend a lot of time indoors. Yet we had never considered measuring the air we were breathing, until a few years ago.

Tracking the air quality measurements for your city is a great start but there can be big variations in your specific location and your specific home. Because of this, we began using a Temtop air quality monitor to track indoor air in every place we stayed. Fast-forward to today, and we’ve collected over 3 years of data across dozens of homes around the world.

In this post, we’re diving into what we learned from our air quality data (some of it truly surprising), how you can measure and improve the air you breathe while traveling, and what tools, habits, and destinations have helped us breathe better. Are you ready to dig into it?

Why Air Quality Matters (Especially for Nomads)

As full-time travelers, we carefully plan where we go, what we eat, and how we stay active—but for a long time, we never thought to ask: Is the air we’re breathing helping or hurting our health?

After diving into the science and tracking our own air quality data for three years, we’ve come to realize: air quality is one of the most overlooked yet powerful factors that can impact your longevity, daily energy, and overall wellbeing—especially when you’re constantly on the move.

The Health Risks of Poor Air Quality

Poor air quality doesn’t always look dirty. In fact, some of the most harmful pollutants are invisible, odorless, and quietly wreak havoc on your body over time.

Research shows that long-term exposure to pollutants like PM2.5, PM10, and VOCs can lead to:

• Respiratory illness (including asthma, bronchitis, and COPD)
• Cardiovascular disease from chronic inflammation and blood vessel damage
• Cognitive decline and memory loss over time
• Poor sleep, brain fog, and chronic fatigue
• And an overall increase in all-cause mortality
  → Source: Ambient (outdoor) air pollution (WHO)

While many of us worry about diet, exercise, or water quality while traveling, the truth is, the air we breathe is just as essential—yet far easier to ignore.

What Dr. Peter Attia Says About Air and Longevity

In his book Outlive, Dr. Peter Attia focuses on optimizing healthspan—the number of years you can live well, not just live long. And one of the recurring themes in the book is the power of avoiding chronic, low-level harm.

Air pollution is one of those harms.

Dr. Attia emphasizes that chronic exposure to pollutants—even at relatively low levels—can contribute to systemic inflammation, oxidative stress, and long-term damage to both your lungs and cardiovascular system. He points out that while acute health events (like a heart attack) are dramatic, most of what erodes our health happens quietly over decades.

That’s why he encourages being proactive about your environment—including the air you breathe, especially indoors.

Why It’s a Bigger Deal Than You Think When Traveling

As digital nomads or slow travelers, we’re constantly changing environments: from bustling cities to sleepy coastal towns, from humid jungle villages to high-altitude towns. And in each new place, the air quality is different, sometimes drastically so.

Here’s why it matters even more for us nomads:

• We spend time indoors: indoor air quality can have a huge cumulative effect.
• We don’t always know the seasonality of pollution: like Chiang Mai’s burning season.
• Many Airbnbs or hotels lack proper air cleaning system or use cleaning chemicals that increase VOCs.
• We move frequently, which means more exposure to environmental variability, something most people don’t face at home.

In short: while most people have one home to manage air quality in, we have dozens. That’s why we started measuring it ourselves—with a portable air quality monitor that has traveled with us for over three years.

And the more we learned, the more it influenced how we book accommodations, choose destinations, and optimize our daily environment to support long-term health.

What We Learned From Tracking Air Quality in 30+ Homes Around the World

A few years ago, we made a small but powerful addition to our travel gear: a Temtop M10+ air quality monitor.

At first, it felt a bit over-the-top like, were we really going to check the air in every place we stayed? But the more we used it, the more essential it became. For 3 years, we’ve tracked indoor air quality in 30+ homes across 15 countries and the results have completely reshaped the way we travel.

Why We Chose the Temtop Monitor

We did a lot of research before picking a device. We wanted something:

• Portable and lightweight (so it wouldn’t take up space in our carry-on as it contain a battery element that is non removable and can’t be checked-in)
• Battery-powered (for flexibility in checking any room)
• Accurate and data-rich (we love numbers, after all!)
• Capable of tracking more than just AQI

We ended up going with the Temtop M10i (and later upgraded to the Temtop M10+ for better battery life, usuability and air quality metrics), which offers real-time readings for multiple pollutants and stores historical data.

Our Measurement Routine (What, When, and How)

Whenever we arrive at a new Airbnb, apartment, or hotel, we follow a simple routine:

1. Turn on the Temtop monitor and place it in the main living area
2. Leave it running for at 24 hours to get an solid baseline
3. Occasionally check while cooking, cleaning, using the A/C or airing out the space
4. About once a month sync the device with the Temtop phone app to keep our readings sync on the cloud

This gives us a feel for both the typical indoor air quality and how it reacts to our daily habits.

What Metrics We Track (PM2.5, AQI, TVOC, CO2)

Here’s a breakdown of the four key measurements we focus on:

• PM2.5: Fine particulate matter that can enter the lungs and bloodstream. Anything above 35 µg/m³ starts to raise health concerns.
• AQI (Air Quality Index): A composite score based on pollutant levels. We tracked this both indoors and via apps for outdoor comparisons.
• TVOC (Total Volatile Organic Compounds): Emissions from things like cleaning supplies, furniture, paints, or scented candles. A high reading here was a red flag for poorly ventilated spaces.
• CO₂ (Carbon Dioxide): We especially watched this in our bedroom, as levels over 1000 ppm often made us feel groggy or unfocused even with plenty of sleep.

Visualizing Our Indoor Air Quality Data

The little graphic below is your cheat-sheet for every air-quality chart on this page:

Band	AQI range
Green = Good (0-50)	Air is as clean as a mountain morning; crank the windows open and go for that jog.
Yellow = Moderate (51-100)	OK for most of us, but sensitive travelers (asthma, allergies) might notice haze after a long day outside.
Orange = Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups or USG (101-150)	Kids, seniors and anyone with heart or lung issues should limit outdoor time; everyone else starts to feel “scratchy-throat” days.
Red = Unhealthy (151 +)	Even healthy adults take a hit—think of it as smoking at least one cigarette a day without ever lighting up. Masks and indoor HEPA filters become a must.
Grey = No data / Excluded	We either didn’t turn the Temtop on or the stay was too short to meet our 3-day threshold.

Average AQI & PM2.5 Levels by Locations

The graph below provides the mean PM2.5 and AQI for all the places with stay for more than 3 days and ranked from the place with the better to the worse air quality.

While you might not be surprised that a lot of place in South East Asia have very bad air quality, but you might be surprised to find that Taipei (Taiwan) was surprisingly good as well as Busan (South Korea). Though a lot of places in South Korea do have indoor air filter that clearly help filtering out pollution.

This next chart shows every place we stayed at since August 2022. The colored box shows the middle 50 percent of daily AQI, the whiskers capture the best and worst days, and the box color tells you at a glance which EPA category the median day landed in. Long, skinny boxes mean the air was stable; tall boxes with whiskers flung wide reveal a roller-coaster of clean and dirty days. Line up two Chiang Mai stays, for example, and you’ll see how winter burning season compares to spring rains—actionable intel if you’re timing your own visit.

Seasonal Trends and Shocks

These three-band “barcodes” as the heartbeat of our travels. The top strip shows how local air swung from healthy green days to worrying red spikes (based on AQI value); the middle strip turns particulate pollution (PM2.5) into an easy-to-grasp “cigarette-equivalent” line (anything darker than maroon means our lungs took a beating); the bottom strip tracks each move from city to city, so you can instantly see which location brought relief and which plunged us back into haze. The solid-grey gaps show period when we did not have data.

The 5 graphs below cover the period from 2022 to 2025

Cleanest vs. Most Polluted Stays (and How We Handled It)

Here is a brief insights into the cleanest and most polluted locations we stayed at with the number of days we stay in such locations

🏆 3 Cleanest Locations

Rank	City & Country	Avg. AQI	Days of Readings	Why it scored so well
#1	Sydney, Australia (2022-10)	15	30	Strong sea breezes off the Pacific keep PM 2.5 in check
#2	Grenoble, France (multiple times)	20	27	Ringed by Alpine peaks yet still ventilated by cool mountain air
#3	San Francisco, USA (multiple times)	20	60	Fog-filtered air and relentless coastal winds flush pollutants out of the city basin.

🚨 3 Most-Polluted Locations

Rank	City & Country	Avg. AQI	Days of Readings	What pushed numbers up
#1	Siem Reap, Cambodia (2023-03)	118	27	Looks like there was a burning season going on during our visit
#2	Hanoi, Vietnam (multiple times)	116	31	Congested traffic + winter temperature inversion trapped exhaust right at street level.
#3	Luang Prabang, Laos (2025-02)	115	11	We visited at the peak of the burn season from Thailand that might have affected the air quality there

Surprising Patterns and Insights from 3 Years of Data

After measuring dozens of homes, a few patterns stood out:

• Looks can be deceiving. Some of the cleanest-looking apartments had the worst air quality. High VOCs in modern, freshly painted units were common, badly maintain A/C flushing out polluants…
• Tropical climates = trouble. In Southeast Asia, we found much higher PM2.5 indoors especially during burning season even with ACs running.
• High CO₂ levels were almost universal in poorly ventilated bedrooms, even in newer buildings. Cracking a window or adding a fan often made a noticeable difference in sleep quality.
• Mountain towns and coastal villages consistently scored best, especially those with cross-ventilation and minimal traffic nearby.

Most air issues are invisible and scentless. Here’s what to look (and feel) for:

• You wake up groggy or with a dry throat. Common in stale or CO₂-heavy rooms.
• You feel fine outside, but get headaches indoors. VOCs or poor air exchange.
• Humidity <30% or >60%. Dry air irritates lungs; damp air grows mold.
• Dust builds fast. That’s PM 2.5 in action, likely from traffic or bad filtration.

Using Your Data to Decide on Air Purifiers, Ventilation, or Moving

Once you’ve got the numbers, act accordingly. No guesswork.

If PM2.5 or VOCs are high:

• Ask the host for an air purifier. Some will actually bring one if you show them data.
• Buy a travel air purifier. We like the PureZone Mini for its size (and are considering getting one)
• Seal it off. Close windows if outdoor AQI is worse. Create a “clean zone.”

If CO₂ is high:

• Crack a window. Even 5 minutes of fresh air helps.
• Use fans to circulate. Airflow beats stagnation.
• Sleep with the door open if you’re in a small sealed room.

If nothing helps consider changing rooms or moving accommodations, especially if you’re on a longer stay. Send screenshots to the host to make your case.

How We Changed Our Travel Habits Based on Air Quality

Once we started tracking air quality, we realized how often we were just tolerating bad air and how much better we felt when we didn’t. Cleaner air = better sleep, more energy, fewer sore throats. Now it’s a key part of how we plan trips.

For instance as we love Chaing Mai, we decided to avoid February to April (burning season) since PM 2.5 levels are brutal during this time. We also decided to stop visiting places like Hanoi, Siem Reap or even Luang Prabang as these places are not worth the long term impact on our health. We are also considering spending at least half of the year in Europe since air quality is so good in most countries (at least for now).

Daily Habits We Adopted to Improve Our Breathing and Sleep

Even in decent air, we’ve built routines that make a difference:

• We open windows daily when the outside AQI is safe (<50).
• We check for humidity and keep it between 40–55% when possible.
• We sleep with windows cracked open if CO₂ levels spike overnight.
• We skip scented candles and sprays. Most are just VOC bombs.

How to Check Air Quality Before You Travel

Air quality can make or break your stay, especially if you’re sensitive to pollution, traveling with kids, or planning outdoor activities. Here’s how to stay ahead of smog and smoke:

Best Apps and Tools for Monitoring Outdoor Air Quality

Before you book anything, check the air quality trends in your destination. These tools are your best bet:

• IQAir (AirVisual) – Global coverage, real-time AQI maps, historical data. Great UI.
• AirCare – Simplified AQI readings and pollen data for allergy-sensitive folks.
• EPA’s AirNow – Best for U.S. locations, especially during wildfire season.
• Windy – Not just for surfers—this one overlays AQI with weather and wind patterns.

Tip: Don’t just check the current AQI. Look at seasonal trends and past spikes. A “green” reading today doesn’t guarantee clean air next week.

What to Look for in Booking/Airbnb Listings (and What to Ask Hosts)

Airbnb doesn’t surface air quality info, so you have to do a little legwork. Here’s what to focus on:

• Location: Cross-reference the address with your AQI app. Avoid listings near highways, industrial zones, or low-lying smog-prone areas.
• Ventilation: Listings should mention good airflow. Look for windows, balconies, or HVAC systems.
• Air Purifiers: If it’s not listed, ask. Especially in cities with high pollution.
• Smoking Policy: Sounds obvious, but “smoke-free” isn’t always enforced. Confirm with hosts.
• Nearby Green Spaces: Parks or tree-lined streets aren’t just aesthetic, they can indicate cleaner microclimates.

On top all our favorite Top tips to save money & score great deals on Airbnb, make sure to ask hosts the following:

• “Do you have an air purifier in the unit?”
• “Is the unit near any major roads or construction sites?”
• “Do you keep windows open for ventilation, or is it sealed?”

Our Favorite Tools to Improve Air Quality on the Road

We travel light but these four tools always make the cut. Each one plays a specific role in keeping the air around us cleaner, especially in cities, smoky regions, or stuffy rentals.

High-Quality Masks

For flights, polluted cities, or wildfire days. We carry N95 or KN95 masks. They offers reliable protection from PM2.5 and smoke and we go for a fit airtight over a fancy brand as comfort matters if you’re wearing it for hours.

Portable Air Purifiers

Must-have for hotel rooms or Airbnbs. We would consider Levoit Air Purifier for longer stays or PureZone Mini as a carry-on travel item

Air Quality Monitor

No guesswork. We’ve been using and trust Temptop M10+ for real-time PM2.5, CO₂, and VOCs.
Helps us decide whether to take action or relax.

Low-VOC Cleaners + Products

Invisible but important. We avoid cheap scented cleaners or air fresheners. We travel with fragrance-free products as much as we can!

Our Bottom Line – Breathe Better, Travel Smarter

What started as a small experiment(tracking air quality out of curiosity) has turned into a useful tool to our health and travel lifestyle.

We rethink how we choose destinations, book Airbnbs, and even structure our daily routines. Why? Because the data is clear: clean air equals better sleep, sharper focus, fewer sick days, and (if you believe the science—and we do) a longer, healthier life.

Dr. Attia’s Outlive helped us connect the dots: it’s not just the dramatic health events that shorten lifespan, it’s the quiet, cumulative exposures that chip away at your well-being. And poor air is one of the sneakiest culprits.

If you’re a full-time traveler, remote worker, or just someone who wants to feel better day to day, start paying attention to the air you breathe. It doesn’t require paranoia but just awareness and a few smart tools.

Start with:

• A portable monitor to give you visibility. (We love the Temptop M10+)
• A purifier to improve your environment. (We would consider getting the Levoir Air Purifier)
• A mask for bad-air days. (You can’t go wrong with KN-95 masks)
• And the habit of researching air quality before you book your next vacation.

You don’t need to be perfect. But once you see the difference clean air makes, you won’t want to go back. So here’s our challenge to you: treat the air around you like you treat your food or your workouts. Because breathing well is living well. And please feel free to share your favorite clean air destination in the comments section below!