Hi Sasha,
I completely agree.
I’ve done much better when I’ve gone camping–but that doesn’t work on a global adventure.
In Chiang Mai, Thailand, I stayed at the same guest house that always did breakfast and lunch special for me. Made it easy. In Seoul, Korea, I had a student guide that showed me alternative menus and resultant experiences for different price ranges.
My experiences were almost like the narrative.
This is a difficult question. To me, it means living within the food tradition and food availability of the host community. Example, do not demand or expect chicken when your host depends on that chicken for eggs.
Problem is, pilgrim,
If one comes as a tourist–and doesn’t stay long–one doesn’t find out.
You can do some homework and go as a traveler.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume that posters on a food board are likely to do their research about eating and food options, etc. when planning a vacation.
Hi Pilgrim,
Reminds me of those Lonely Planet guides–great way to start. I actually got some grounding and more personal suggestions from the owner of my favorite Mandarin restaurant in Silicon Valley–and met some fellow travelers later on in Chiang Mai, Thailand from that same Silicon Valley restaurant.
Hilarious
Hi Natascha,
Sure, but the fun for me has been to deliberately “unplan,” and get away from fellow tourists as much as possible–or–rely on someone to be my guide when I get there–or–both. Or find a knowledgeable travel companion.
I’ve already seen posters on Hungry Onion that could serve as great food loving traveling companions with cultural and ethical concerns–though I’m not planning to go anywhere until this Covid 19 subsides a bit more.
A worker at a Pasadena Thai restaurant said she thought I’d find Chiang Mai had changed the wrong way the last few years.
Ha! This was me in college, except it was egg sandwiches. There were times where I ran out of paycheck before I ran out of month, especially at the beginning of the semesters when buying the required textbooks would drain anything saved.
For 3 dollars I could eat all week (3 sandwiches a day, i.e. 21 sandwiches) by getting two loaves of smashed bread at the Sunbeam refuse store and a 24-pack of cheap eggs at a discount grocer.
Not the most nutritious, but it worked.
I can almost guarantee that your approach is similar to many others,’ as you seem to confirm in your second paragraph. Rocket science it is not.
Egg sandwiches sound a lot healthy. Although… to my friend’s credit, peanut butter is a lot easier to store and apply.
Maybe not, when the poster mostly posts about Upper Michigan pasties, pancakes, raw vegetables and cookware.
I still do this to some degree while travelling . In Rome, I was buying snacks and drinks at the grocery store , rather than 3 meals out each day. My breakfast was included at my hotel, and I’d alternate between a nice lunch or dinner, and any other food I ate was from a grocery store, a bakery or a scoop of gelato.
This is why I always seek the opinions of locals. They’ll generally lead you to a place that is local, produces good food, and hopefully “ethically.” My ethics put people first. I want to help some local folks to make it and excel. I’ve noticed that, when traveling, others who steer me, steer me right. When I screw up, it’s usually my own fault, not a recommender’s. I go to Ecuador, what do I know about cuy? Jack sh–. Ask. Eat the best cuy you can. Not what you know but who you know.
I liked mixing them. One week eggs, the next PB. 24 eggs meant I had some next week too, so it was time to buy PB with the bread. I made more microwave egg samiches. I still love ‘em. The store I went to also had fake Buddig meats for $.25 a little bag. That was livin’.
My experience with this is a mixed bag. I certainly agree it’s something people should try if they are comfortable with it. If it’s a place where I can communicate enough to engage with locals enough (not just local hospitality service workers) then this is an excellent option. I find in some locations where I can’t communicate effectively, the recommendations are usually to hospitality or tourist biz workers who the recommendations are a mixed bag. Some still give sincere, quality recommendations while some steer you to their friend’s business of questionable quality (or is built to be a tourist trap in itself). Cambodia is on such example for me - half the spots were great! And few places where sketchy and completely unremarkable.
And you often get steered to places that the locals think you will like, i.e. the more Americanized (or whatever-ized) ones.
When i was running out of money at college i would buy a 2 pound bag of rice and a 1 pound bag of split peas. I could usually find a hot sauce or a duck sauce packet in my cutlery drawer so i was good for 13 or 14 meals.
It might not have been ethically produced but it was filling!
I dunno. My dad traveled extensively for work in days long before the internet - or even guide books for those places.
His MO was to get in a cab and ask the cabbie to take him somewhere typical and local to eat, where the cabbie himself thought the food was delicious. Or he’d ask a clerk at the hotel, and so on.
He says he was never steered wrong. (And then he became a human Zagat guide for anyone who went to that place after him - friends, family, colleagues, clients, anyone they knew.)
But then - he’s not American, if that was the qualifier for getting a bad recommendation from a local.
I have gotten terrible recommendations from hotel concierges, but I put that down to them having a set of places that will work for the average visitor. I’ve gotten much better recs by asking the front desk where they eat, vs where they send people.
Yes, that too. If they don’t believe you want the full blown authentic experience (hole in the wall, not being an issue, etc.), they usually give you something a little more middle ground.
@ZivBnd - I’ve had lean days in college, but never remembered rice and split peas! Lots more fluffernutter sandwiches for me. But your story does remind me of my first trip to Japan back in the late 90s (or maybe 2000?). It was quite a splurge for me already, so I had to eat cheaply. I could perhaps “splurge” on one meal a day at a decent restaurant (decent = not fast casual). I had full itineraries to hit a lot of different sites across Tokyo, and I ended up buying a lot of lunches and foods I could take with me and packable foods (hello, conbini egg salad sandwiches!) from the food halls. It was hardly a situation where you could be choosy based on ethical eating preferences.
