This Week in Travel and Health

We’re all here on this page because we share a love of traveling, but we also understand that traveling can be very challenging. From exhaustion to inconvenience to downright danger, visiting your dream destination can be a nightmare. A small sampling – this morning there are predictions of increased security risks now that sequestration has happened in Washington and the TSA’s budget is scheduled to be slashed. And in Egypt, a seemingly innocuous hot air balloon trip ended in deadly disaster

So why do we travel? Why do we endure the hassle and risk our health?

Here’s why: In this thoughtful post, Bassam Tarazi writes about what he learned about the importance of travel in a two-month trip around the world. Tarazi says travel makes us better people and affords us a chance to let go of our typically controlled life and “roll around in uncertainty’s playpen.” Brilliant.

Eating healthily while traveling is getting easier, at least in terms of options; it’s still up to you to make healthy choices. And as Jaunted reports, Turkish Airlines is giving you many options – the airline offers seven different vegetarian in-flight meals

When people think of the Middle East, they usually think of a hot climate and lots of sand. But the real world is a little more nuanced than that. In fact, it can be a winter wonderland. As the BBC’s Mike MacEacheran writes, Lebanon has just about turned into the snowboarding  capital of the world

Here on the first day of March, Spring is in the air. Soon, flowers will be in bloom here in the northern hemisphere and the cold winter will be a memory. In the spirit of Spring, CNN’s Bruce Holmes takes a look at the 12 greatest gardens in the world – places like London’s Royal Botanical Gardens and Japan’s Kenrokuen.

The world’s tallest hotel opened this week in Dubai.

If you haven’t quite given in to the Harlem Shake and remain enthralled by Gangnam Style, here’s some good news for you. As you probably know, Gangnam Style celebrates the lifestyle in Seoul’s uber-upscale district, but how upscale do you have to be to live in Gangnam Style? The New York Times’ Seth Kugel takes a look at going Gangnam on the cheap – call it Gangnam Frugal Style.