Have you ever encountered a food while traveling that you just can’t get out of your head?

Whether it’s lychee-flavored sake from Tokyo, aged pecorino from Tuscany, or smoky barbecue sauce from Texas, there are items that you crave, but may not be able to find. Fortunately, with the holidays just around the corner, this is the ideal time to track down those hard-to-find treats using the Internet.

Food gift sales have grown to nearly 50 percent of all gifts bought as of last year, which is no wonder since food has a one-size-fits-all appeal. But we don’t just wrap a box of Twinkies in holiday paper—the best food gifts are unique, personalized discoveries.

If you’re headed to the Olympics in Beijing, you may find that affordable hotel rooms are hard to come by. But here’s how to find a reasonably priced alternative.

On your next family vacation, why not make it a learning experience for everyone? Now there are language immersion experiences that are designed especially for families.

Many language schools in countries around the world are now offering programs tailored to fit your family vacation style.

In the colonial town of Guanajuato, Mexico, the Academia Falcon offers age-specific lessons on a weekly basis that allow your family to progress at their own pace.

Parents and kids can stay in apartments or with host families during their stay.

The Centre International d’Antibes, in the French Riviera, has a week-long family program that includes excursions and cultural activities to supplement the language courses, starting at about $300 per person.

In Ecuador, you can combine language immersion with ecotourism …

As Christmas approaches, the gift-buying frenzy begins.

If you’ve got a global traveler on your list, the possiblities may seem to be endless.

Gadget guy Phil Baker offers up some standout gift ideas for travelers designed to assist you on the road and help make your traveling a little more enjoyable or productive.

Plus, there are devices that can help you travel safer, healthier, or even just with less stuff.

Getting a stain on your clothes while traveling can be very inconvenient, and even potentially embarrassing.

Take our advice on some unexpected items that you might want to take along with you when you travel to make those stains disappear with a minimum of hassle.

Washing machines aren’t always accessible on the road, and stopping at the dry-cleaner can be time consuming and expensive.

If you want to avoid being stuck with stains on their clothing, consider bringing along things like lighter fluid, which does a good job lifting grease stains out of silks.

Stains from ballpoint ink pens can often be treated with rubbing alcohol or finger cuticle remover, while Vaseline can help you remove lipstick stains quickly and easily.

Finally, travelers might consider …

Tel Aviv proper technically may be Israel’s second most populous city behind Jerusalem, but its metro area dwarfs that ancient city, and includes a large swath of Israel.

It’s a lively, modern, and increasingly cosmopolitan destination that, if it’s not on your travel list, should be.

Named after the utopian town envisioned by Zionist author Theodore Herzl in his turn-of-the century novel Altneuland (The Old-New Land), Tel Aviv certainly lives up to its lofty moniker. Founded in 1909 by the Jewish population of nearby Jaffa, Tel Aviv immediately became an immigration hotspot among both bourgeois Eastern European Jews and artists from all backgrounds.

Got a travel question?

Now, getting an answer is as easy as sending an email.

PLAYING THE FREQUENT-FLIER GAME

My husband and I have been planning a trip to Costa Rica with our kids for a few years now. We planned to use our Mileage Plus Visa account. We finally have enough miles and have been totally flexible with our travel dates (leaving any day from the end of January to mid-February and returning eight to nine weeks later). They can find an outbound flight for us, but state that the partner airline United did not have any return flights available (not for any day in February, March, or even April!).

It’s time for another Web site of the week to help you travel better.

This week is a great one for those of you who may still be a bit nervous about crashing when you’re flying.

Web-savvy traveler Johnny Jet finds out how you can get the scoop on the likely level of turbelence on your flight.

You may not be able to really avoid turbulence, but at least you’ll be prepared.