With so few people traveling around the world during the pandemic, we’ve decided to re-post this article from 2017 because when it’s safe to travel again, our foodie clients will find this interesting!
During our consultations, My Vacation Lady will frequently ask our clients if they consider themselves to be foodies. If you look up the definition of Foodie it may give you a definition of a person with a particular taste in food or a gourmet or gourmand.
Our definition may be a bit different but still on a similar track. Our definition of a foodie is one who is a bit more adventurous with food- someone who would try local food trucks, street food, all the way up to gourmet restaurants. A lot of our clients like to include a bit of the foodie in them during their vacations and honeymoons- both sampling the local food and eating at 5 star restaurants.
So how can you eat like a local when on a vacation?
- Take a cooking class. Who wouldn’t want to try making pasta or pizza in Italy? Some of the cooking classes we can arrange for our clients are small groups or even private classes. Some might even be in the chef’s home or restaurant kitchen. Our most recent clients took a cooking class in Iceland!
- Check out a local farmer’s market. Check out the produce and the homemade specialties that they are selling. Buy some of the local spices so that you can bring home a taste of your vacation.
- Check the tourist board’s event calendar for food and wine festivals. If you know that you want to vacation or honeymoon in Sicily, September might be a good time to go and you might be able to catch the Cous Cous Festival. August is Chocolate Heritage month in St Lucia where you can sample all things chocolate. October is the Aruba Eat Local Restaurant month and for the entire month, you can explore Aruba’s culinary heritage with locally inspired dishes (at reduced rates!) Every November, Turks and Caicos holds it’s Conch Festival where local restaurants serve their best conch dishes in every form imaginable as well as its annual Caribbean Food and Wine Festival in Providenciales. What began as a 1 day food and wine festival in St Croix has grown into a premier food event. It’s now a week long event held in April.
- Go off the tourist path. Instead of walking down the main street in Waikiki, check out the side streets a few blocks from the beach or better yet, go into Chinatown in Honolulu. Some of the small “hole in the wall” places are the best places to find local cuisine. Also, when in Hawaii, try a plate lunch!
- Talk to the cab drivers, the tour guides and the front desk people at your hotel. Ask them where THEY go out to eat. If you go to the concierge they may send you to the ‘endorsed’ restaurants but if you ask the cab driver, he may have some great little gems that they will go to.
Whenever you’re vacationing try to enjoy some local food and learn a bit about the culture. It’s a big world out there and travel can really open your eyes open to the world around you!
My Vacation Lady is an award winning travel agency specializing in personalized service and customized vacations and honeymoons. We can help change an ok vacation into a vacation or honeymoon experience!
