Article snippet: The State Department is overhauling its travel warning system for Americans abroad for the first time in years in an effort to streamline information on threats overseas and present it in a clearer, more direct fashion, it said. The changes come at a time of global upheaval that’s difficult for many travelers to keep tabs on, but also a time of increased travel –- 2017 was on track to be a record year for the number of Americans traveling abroad. In 2016, there were over 80 million Americans who went overseas. Instead of travel warnings and travel alerts, as well as country specific pages with details like what dangers may await and how to secure a visa, the State Department will combine all of that onto one country page –- accompanied by a travel advisory at one of four levels for each country: Level 1 -– Exercise Normal Precautions –- lowest level of risk Level 2 -– Exercise Increased Precautions –- heightened risk Level 3 -– Reconsider Travel –- avoid travel due to serious risk Level 4 –- Do Not Travel –- highest level, with greater likelihood of life-threatening risks Every country -- and plenty of non-nations -– now have a page, including Antarctica (a Level 2), Hong Kong (Level 1) and Jerusalem (Level 2). The new rollout also includes an interactive map for travelers to more easily determine the warnings in each country. There are 11 Level-4 countries –- Yemen. The Department advises that U.S. citizens do not travel to these countries, a... Link to the full article to read more