Enhancing Travel Through Food

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If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.
James A. Michener

Fall has arrived, winter is around the corner and our thoughts turn to the holidays and food. What do you sit and ponder on a cold winter day? Travel, food, family?

When you wake up on a Sunday morning and curl up with the newspaper and a warm beverage --- are the travel section and the foods section the first section you read? We want to book our next romp around the world but for now we continue to work and save for that adventure.

Do you share our obsession for thinking about, planning and saving for your next trip, vacation or adventure around the world?

Or perhaps you are currently sitting in an Internet café reading this missive and incredibly happy because you are living the life that we are merely writing about and yearning for.

When you travel do you find that you want to immerse yourself in the local culture, including food and festivals? Do you dream of going to France to drink the wine and eat the cheese? Do you ponder the adventures of Italy and do you dream of eating the pizza and pasta? When you think of Belgium do you think of mussels and beers?
Do you want to eat sushi in Japan and the perfect bowl of noodles in Asia? I’ll never forget the wonder of the soups we consumed while in Asia.

How important are food and drink in your life? Do you live to eat or eat to live? Are you a planner or spontaneous? Are you adventurous or not? If you were in Peru would you eat a local favorite, the guinea pig?

Did you read an article that reminded you of that trip to Lebanon or Greece? Are you senses keen enough to smell the dishes they are writing about?


Do you dream of taking a cooking class in Thailand someday?
Do you sit and wonder which country has the best olives or olive oil?

We aren’t traveling to any far away lands any time soon and we are feeling twitchy. We will explore new areas nearby so our lust for seeing new places and understanding of the history of the people will keep us going. American history will have to appease us for now. We watch the history and travel channels with longing. We watch the food network to dream of foods we might enjoy in far away lands in the future. Maybe we should go to Italy for a cooking class as we explore the Amalfi Coast.

Is a Maine lobster as good as an Australian lobster or a South African lobster? Some of us may think that getting on an airplane may be the only one way to find out.

Are your taste buds sophisticated enough to distinguish the variety of spices used when cooking in Bali, Laos, Vietnam or Thailand? Dubai? Brunei? Do you want to walk through each market in every country and see what they have to offer that may be different? Do you dream of being invited to dinner in the home of a local?

On one trip we walked into a pub in Scotland and saw a cabinets of pies that reminded us of a skit David Letterman used to do years ago - we laughed. But, as your eyes glaze over you have to wonder if this is the pie that will taste like the one your mother, grandmother or Aunt Millie made?

Do you spend your life chasing after the perfect meatball sub that reminds you of pleasant college years? Are you willing to travel the world in search of it?

When you see the pumpkins’ growing in the fields and the squash arrive in the markets do you start planning the baking of that pumpkin pie? Can you smell the aroma wafting through the house? Does it remind you of home or that perfect bowl of pumpkin soup you had in Australia.

We love our fellow travelers and their kindred spirits. Our experience has been that our fellow travelers are open and open-minded. They have passion about the world that surrounds them. We enjoy being around people who know how to feed their souls with travel and new experiences.

We hope to see you along our journey.

Please click on our photos and rate their quality.

Recommend our blog if you feel it is worthy.

We’d love for you to send us an e-mail and tell us where you are currently traveling and describe the foods you have been enjoying. We’d love to experience the foods with you.

Or please send us an e-mail and tell us about the foods you are dreaming of eating and experiencing on your next jaunt.

Please enjoy our photos of food and beverages from around the world.

Until next time.

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Photos

Australian Lobster
Dongara, Australia

Turk Beer
Turks and Caicos

Delicious Soup
Bangkok, Thailand

Presidente Beer
Turks and Caicos

Caribbean BBQ
Turks and Caicos

Fresh Fish
Grilled in Malaysia

Rambutan
The King of Fruits-Malaysia

Soup
Arequipa, Peru

Hot and Sour Soup
Bangkok, Thailand

Coca Cola
Bangkok, Thailand

Shopping in the market
Exploring Thailand

Fresh Vegetables
Many markets around the world are similar

Cooking Class
Kanchanaburi, Thailand

Fun with Food
Eggrolls for everyone

Peppers drying
in the Laos sunshine

Yummy Steak Dinner
1st meal after months in Asia

Comments

[CC]

yumm mee!
I think my salivary glands are activated! Sounds like you've found a way to channel all your travel energies...for now! Most interesting and enjoyable travel food for me? A fresh avacado straight off the tree in Mexico, something like a prickly potato but I don't recall the name, a fresh and simple meal of black beans, eggs and tortillas in a small village in the Sierra Madres, eating camel in Algeria. If there was more time...(and money)! I will have to share the guinea pig item with Darren - he'll probably say "there is finally a good use for them!" LOL Love, C

[Sonja Massey]

Great Blog Addition
Great opening quote!! We are right with you.....always talking and dreaming about our next trip. And, of course, the food, wine and beer are a huge part of each travel experience. The food and travel channels are favorites. Coincidently, we just got home from a short visit to Boston and the Finger Lakes area in NY state. Judging from your last blog we were in the New England area at about the same time you were. This is the second time our travels have almost crossed. We are destined to meet up somewhere someday. Sonja

[anca a]

live to eat as well
I like good food so I can't imagine a travel anywhere without experiencing local food. Food is prat of our life whether we like it or not so, why not enjoy it? I've always tried to at least taste local food in my travels - sometimes I liked it sometimes I didn't but this is the only way one can discover people, the world, new and exiting things: by trying! Nice pictures!

[D MJ Binkley]

Thank you
Hey, at least you are willing to give these new foods a try. You don't have to like all of them!

[Marsha Mulder]

food
Yummmmm! Enjoyed seeing all that food again. Marsha

[Stephanie and Andras]

Love it
As a culinary travel scholar this blog entry gives me hope that there will indeed be an audience for my work whenever I get around to publishing ;) The act of literally ingesting foreign culture with our senses has implications that leave me curious ever day, and nothing makes me more nostalgic for home that the flavors I grew up with. But where are all the food photos from Boston!? Don't forget some love for your hometown in your global food endeavors!

[Anastasia78]

Bon appetit!
My most memorable experience with food while travelling: Eating curry off a banana leaf with my hand in India. Its one of those meals and one of those moments I could never re-create. Anastasia78

[Khairi Sulaiman]

That not durian
That is rambutan

[D MJ Binkley]

Thanks for sharing
I was told it was Durian, thanks for letting me know. I like to be accurate.

[cabochick]

Great Blog!
Experiencing foods of all kinds is the reason I enjoy travelling so much. Great pictures!

[D MJ Binkley]

Thank you
We think a like.