This Week in Travel and Health

Traveling to a new place is supposed to be different. When you leave home you’re usually looking for different experiences than what happens in your everyday world. But of course, that’s a blessing and a curse – being away from your normal environment can leave you out of sorts, lead to disruptions in exercise routines, unhealthy food choices and difficulty sleeping. All of these factors can make your exciting new experience less satisfying because you’re exhausted and rundown. Bringing a little bit of home with you can help to mitigate these issues and make you more comfortable. USA Today’s Nancy Trejos has some tips on making your hotel room more comfortable so that your trip is more productive.

This is allergy season for a lot of folks – as plants come back to life in springtime, allergy sufferers’ eyes water and noses congest. And those allergies won’t go away when you leave your leafy backyard – pollen is a global thing. At Expat Health, Ines Cerro has some tips for traveling allergy sufferers, including this little secret: Drink less milk.

You almost can’t travel these days without mobile apps – they can make everything so much easier. BBC travel blogger Sean O’Neill takes a look at the best Google apps for travelers.

London, Paris Rome – they’re awesome destinations that you have to visit at some point. But of course, it’ll put a hurting on your wallet. But Europe doesn’t have to be so expensive. At USA Today, Christine Sarkis suggests 10 European destinations that don’t cost an arm and a leg.

The headlines this week – not just the travel health headlines but the bulk of the news – were focused on North Korea as a growing threat. Which raises the question for travelers (and diplomats) of which countries dislike the United States the most – which countries dislike Americans the most? According to a global public opinion survey, North Korea is not one of the nations that hate America the most; 24/7 Wall Street reports that the five countries that hate America the most are clustered in the Middle East. American travelers, take note.

Travelers spend lots and lots of time in airports, which is often a less-than pleasurable experience. But maybe someday it won’t be so bad. At the New York Times, David Barboza takes a look at the utterly spectacular Terminal 2 at Hongqiao International Airport in Shanghai.

As you know, you can’t have an Internet without cats; it seems there are a lot of cat enthusiasts out there among you. For those folks, Emma Sloley reports at CNN on the best vacations for cat lovers. We’re sure that Jaunted’s Travel Cat is excited by this list.

Finally, I’m sure many of you are excited for this weekend’s return of swashbuckling travel show guy Anthony Bourdain, as he debuts his new show Parts Unknown. Enjoy!