Why I Travel for Food and Why You Should Too Food travel has become increasingly popular in recent years, and I have enthusiastically joined the trend. Did you?

I have always been a foodie. I do the things that every foodie does at home. I regularly attend food and wine festivals, prepare elaborate five-course meals for our friends, watch Top Chef and fantasize about a different career as a chef.

However, I didn’t start changing my eating habits until about five years ago. I had no idea at the time how many advantages traveling for food would provide. I can assure you that, now that this very important lesson has been learned, food will always be a big part of our trip, no matter where our adventures take us.
Table of Contents: Why Travel for Food As I mentioned, I finally combined my love of food and travel about five years ago, just as my husband and I started traveling together. We had heard good things about the Stellenbosch region in South Africa and were beginning to become interested in wine tourism.

1. Food Travel Awakens the Senses You might be wondering how powerful food can be. It’s easy. All five senses are involved in eating. We not only taste our food, but we also touch it, smell it, eat it with our eyes, and watch it cook in the pan as we do so. Since we are in a higher state of consciousness whenever we interact with food, it stands to reason that consciously experiencing food while traveling will intensify the memories you form.

2. Food Takes You Back to Your Vacations Have you ever noticed that even the tiniest whiff of something you ate while on vacation instantly transports you back to the moment you had it? I’m transported to a Mendoza tasting room when I taste Malbec from Argentina. The aroma of lime and galangal immediately brings back memories of our Thai cooking class in Chiang Mai.Even the sight of choclo, which is really big corn, makes me excited for Peruvian food’s intense flavors. Ask my husband; the term “big corn,” as I refer to it, causes me to get overly excited.

3. Food is Strong

Food is strong. It has the power to define your memories and shape your journey. Food is also an essential component of community and life. We are who we are as a people because of it.Without it there is no genuine travel insight. We remember the most the occasions when we gather at a dinner table with newly formed friends, are invited to lunch with a local family, or take time for a picnic in a vineyard.
Not necessarily because of the food itself, although a good meal is always a plus, but rather because those are the times when the most lasting memories are created.