Cheerio folks. I guess this post is long overdue and I actually don’t remember why I didn’t talk at all about the combo I am usually most interested in until now. Travelling and Food.
Because: Travelling + Good Food = EPIC EXPERIENCE
I am being honest to you and myself and admit that my travel bucket list is full of food. Or put that in the language of Lonely Planet:
If my travel bucket list were 10 people 7 would serve me a specific food.
And that’s okay for me. Stefan is more or less the same. He’s not as crazy as I am about it and he definitely can’t get lost for 2 h at Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s but he understands or at least pretends to understand. I haven’t figured it out yet.
I guess I don’t give the show away if I tell you that food-wise we had some pretty epic experiences. My idea of an ideal day of foods whilst travelling is always balanced out in a way. I mean I really don’t want to miss out on any food I want to try and I certainly love to eat out. But a) eating out is expensive and 2 people eating out 3 times a day for 4 weeks… you do the math and b) my stomach doesn’t like it either.
The portion sizes are too much for me and also let’s face it I am actually not going to order oats when I can have pancakes neither would I order a salad when I can have a burger. So pancakes and burgers three times a day… bring on the heartburn relief! So a mix of both seems ideal! Let me show you what I mean.
This means for example starting the day simple and light. If we had a kitchen this would be homemade oatmeal or if we didn’t have a kitchen, overnight oats out of paper cups topped with trail mix. Yes sometimes you have to be a little creative!
This might also mean a two slices of Cinnamon Swirl Bread (which I had to recreate) or even when the cravings are all out of the place a Whole Foods Rice and Bean Bowl with half a bottle of Hot Sauce. Both were accompanied by a mug of steaming hot coffee. Look at the Alice mug!!! Isn’t it adorable <3 <3 <3 ?
This could be followed by some epic burger action during the day! I finally got to try Bison. It was delicious.
Or even by a dinner for the champions out of a vending machine (all you could get for our last three bucks) or a take away pizza gulped down on a motel bed.
But we also made breakfast a big feast from time to time. Like the one time in Seattle when we had a huuuuuuge plate of pancakes and french toast or the other time in Las Vegas when we had brunch for 5 hours raiding the buffet (mainly Stefan) and raiding the bottomless Mimosa bar (the both of us). We were definitely a downside for the people who calculate the prices 😉
Those days most probably would lead to a smaller dinner “at home”. Like a ‘all we wanted to buy’ platter from Pike Place Market in Seattle after a small lunch of a cliff bar, some trail mix or a small salad box.
But the most epic meals were actually those when we just hit the supermarket and bought ALL THE GOOD STUFF we don’t get at home. Like Angus Beef that cost only a fraction of what we would have paid in Germany. Or ground beef for the best burgers I had in some time packed with cheese, salsa and guacamole! Oh and I do realize that I have a strange habit with hot sauce. I can’t take only a bit. I drown my food in it. Seriously it can’t be hot enough.
The fridge was always well stocked and one of the first purchases was a large cooler bag from Trader Joes. At some points it was beyond full! Especially after I bought like 5 kg in trail mix and chocolate, toffee and peanut butter chips for bringing home. ↓ This wasn’t all!
We made epic sandwiches for taking on our hikes and on the road!
But after a day of oatmeal for breakfast and healthy lunch sandwiches we were also not shy to devour a pint of Ben & Jerry’s and the have a bowl of cheesy nachos and guacamole on top after dinner. My understanduing of balance!
We are definitely not eating like this in real life. But on vacation it’s a must! Though when I think about it I wouldn’t mind me some B&J right now 😉
See what I mean? See what I did? Yes, right, I tortured myself with writing that post and I must have some food now….
So but jokes aside, all in all we had a good mix of everything. We didn’t miss out on anything but neither did we come back with an additional 5 kg and a wasted stomach. Travelling + Good Food = EPIC EXPERIENCE!
Out of everything above, what would you like to have now? B&J’s S’mores! The whole pint!
How do you eat on vacation?
That cookie in your first picture… I need it 🙂
Okay this is actually from Borough Market in London 😛 Always an important stop on my London bucket list!
i am salivating!!!! i follow much of the same mindset, minus the vegas buffet. THAT made me sick!
Oh fail! I only ate a little at at time and so it I felt okay-ish later. But we only had a very small dinner that day 😉
Oh my goodness this post makes me so happy! And hungry!! Hehe!
For me travelling = food. The best way to explore a place is to dive head first into the local food. And there is no better place than the supermarket. We literally spent over an hour going up and down each aisle of the tiny supermarket near us here in Aus as I just wanted to explore everything!
And a five hour brunch…. Only in my dreams! Maybe one day we can get together, explore and eat. I think we would have a blast! 🙂
This sounds so familiar! You should have seen us in the US supermarkets!
I am sure we would have a blast! I recall we once lived on the same continent… it could have been easy 😛
I know! Don’t I just like to make things difficult 😛
Complicated is my middle name!
I most want the mimosas right now. I know you understand.
I think half the fun of traveling is trying out new foods and restaurants so I’m right there with you. I also adore your approach to balance because it’s much like my own. Decadent meals follow by light meals or snackish platters. Sweet treats followed by lots of fruits and veggies. I will order a salad out though because sometimes I crave me some greens.
You know Meg, I really like you! Put Mimosas on our to-do list 😉
I guess as soon as you don’t fuss too much about what you can eat you’ll balance it out anyways. And when you overdo it one day you’ll most probably don’t overdo it the next day.