One of the best things
about traveling around the world is trying so many different types of
foods. Each country has its own popular
food staples such as poutine in Canada, doner kebabs in Turkey, pad thai in
Thailand, paella in Spain, Pho in Vietnam, sushi in Japan, giant hot pretzels
in Germany, curry in India, waffles in Belgium, tagine in Morocco, and much
more. There are all types of places to
get food at whether it is at a restaurant, café, street cart, marketplace,
supermarket store, train station, airport, vending machines, homemade by
someone, or other ways. It all depends
upon your budget.
You can go to a nicer
sit-down restaurant or a smaller family-owned restaurant. If you do decide to go to a restaurant and be
served, be sure to research the country’s tipping policies beforehand. Every place is different but, most other
countries do not require or accept tips.
It’s better to be well-informed first.
Cafés are popular all around the world.
You can get coffee, drinks, bakery, sandwiches, and much more at
them. They are also popular with
tourists because they sometimes offer free WiFi or a WiFi code or computer use
if you purchase something. I have been
to airports and train stations are really big and have a huge variety of foods
and eateries to choose from. Western
Europe is popular for this. In Zurich,
Switzerland, the train station was really big and had a Christkindle Market set
up in it with a giant Christmas tree that was draped in Swvarski crystals and
had so much food to choose from. The
airport in Singapore and Shanghai was one that stuck out with such a huge
variety of food to choose from.
My favorite ways to get
food are from street carts and marketplaces.
Street cart food is typically very cheap and delicious. Thailand is known for its street food. You can get a bowl of pad thai or fried rice
where you choose your ingredients and they prepare it in front of you for only
$1. You can get four spring rolls or Som
Tum (green papaya salad, my favorite!) for only $1 as well. You can get a giant bowl of hot and spicy
noodle soup with meat and vegetables for less than $2. There is so much to
choose from such as pastries, thai hot dogs or meat balls on a stick, seafood,
and more. I loved thai coffee that uses
sweet and condensed milk for around 50 cents or thai green tea lattes from
7-Eleven for a few cents (yes, 7-Elevens are everywhere in Southeast Asia and
they have everything that you need there!).
Marketplaces are a great way to find cheap foods to try. Pretty much every country will have an
outdoor or a covered marketplace. You
can find food, souvenirs, hand-made crafts, clothing, and much more at
marketplaces. Some of my favorites were
in Thailand, Guatemala, India, Morocco, Taiwan, and Japan. Nishiki marketplace in Kyoto, Japan is very
well-known. When I was there, I saw a
film crew walking down the aisle and filming a t.v show. There is so much to see and taste. They let you try a lot of things such as
candies (I loved candied fruits like apple, cantaloupe, papaya, and berries),
pickled foods, dried seafood, nuts and seeds, sake, teas, and more, all for
free. There is a lot of unique foods to
choose from to buy such as baby octopus on a stick, sushi, Japanese donuts,
roasted chestnuts, stinky tofu, seaweeds (my absolute favorite!), green tea
candies, strange looking fish, barbequed eel (delicious!), and much much more.
My absolute favorite
thing to have when I travel is a smoothie made from fresh local fruits. In Indonesia, I would stop at my favorite
smoothie shop multiple times a day and got to choose as many fruits and
ingredients (chocolate, avocado, milk, caramel, etc) that I wanted in my smoothie
for only 50 cents each. Or, you can get
a giant mixed tropical fruit platter for 50 cents. They had everything from melons,
strawberries, kiwi, mango, banana, apple, grapes, papaya, and pineapple, to
guava, mangosteen, jackfruit, starfruit, passion fruit, rambutans, and
lychees. This is the same in Thailand,
where the smoothies and fruit plates are also extremely fresh and cheap.
The reason I mentioned
vending machines is because some Asian countries such as Japan and Korea are
known to have interesting food choices in their vending machines such as sushi,
sandwiches, and more. In many countries,
you will come across very kind, welcoming, and hospitable people who use food
and cooking as a way to show love, appreciation, and acceptance. I have had homemade meals cooked by wonderful
people all around the world. Some were
friends that I stayed with, friends of friends, hostel owners who lived in the
building, or family homes I visited for the day. Some of my most memorable homemade meals were
cooked by wonderful people in Croatia, the Philippines, Macedonia, Guatemala,
and Fiji.
If you are afraid that
you will miss the comfort of American fast food (which I’m not quite sure why
you would!), don’t fret, there are fast food places everywhere in the
world. You probably already know that you
can practically find a McDonald’s almost everywhere you go but, you may need to
adjust your usual order. Fast food
joints offer different foods depending on the country. It’s always interesting the read the
menus. In India, the menu is mostly
vegetarian but has some chicken and fish on it.
It offers foods like the McVeggie, McAloo Tikki (potato patty), and the
McSpicy Paneer (fried cheese patty). You
won’t find any red meat on the menu but you will find the Filet-O-Fish and the
McChicken. Although, most of their
choices are fried, a common thing among all Indian foods. I was surprised to see so many fast food
places in Central America. All of the
capital cities (which are huge, over-crowded, and often quite dangerous) are
filled with more fast food joints than I have ever seen in the states. You will recognize many of the establishments
but there are a lot of them that are popular only in that region. They will have their own versions of KFC, and
burger and pizza joints. The most
commonly seen American fast food joints are KFC and McDonalds. The funny thing about fast food places in
foreign countries is that they are treated very differently than in the
states. What I mean by that is that they
are often treated like actual nice restaurants, even at Pizza hut! Some of the nicest fast food places that I’ve
ever seen were in developing countries like Guatemala and India. They are usually much cleaner and have more
eye-appeal than those that you will find in the U.S. When I was in Antigua, Guatemala, I would go
every day to McDonalds and get a chai tea latte and sit in their pretty outdoor
courtyard that had a water fountain flowing.
If you go to a Taco Bell, KFC, or a Burger King in the states, you
usually just want to get your food and get out.
Like I mentioned before, 7-Elevens are everywhere in Southeast
Asia. I loved this! They had pretty much anything that you needed
because they were treated like a little grocery store. Many of the 7-Elevens even had their own
dining area to sit and enjoy your food which they will heat up for you
there. In Taiwan they offer frozen
dinner-like foods which they will heat up for you, in the Philippines, they
love steamed buns and varieties of hot dogs, and in Thailand they offer
marinated boiled eggs.
Since our bodies are not
use to the bacteria in other countries, travelers often get ill in some way
from the food or water. I have been
lucky to not have ever gotten sick from anything that I ate or drank but, I am
someone who tends to be quite cautious about what I consume. It’s usually a rule-of-thumb that as long as
it gets heated up or boiled, you will be fine, but you never really know. It’s hard for people to know exactly what
made them ill when they do get sick. It
depends on where you are. When it comes
to the water, people usually say not to drink or brush your teeth with it but,
you can ask around and if other travelers say that they have been drinking or
using it, then you will probably be ok.
Get a feel for the area that you are in.
If everything around you and outside is very dirty and doesn’t look
sanitary, then play it safe and use bottled water. Many developing countries will sell giant
bottles of water for a few cents because they know that tourists want
them. Be sure that the top is sealed
shut before you open it first. When I
was on a small island in the Philippines after the typhoon hit, I was sure to
use boiled water for everything and drank bottled water, in India, I always
used and drank bottled water, and in Dominican Republic I was sure to use
bottled water too.
On my way to India,
everyone I encountered kept saying “you’re going to get sick so be
prepared. Expect it and deal with
it!”. This made me very leery about
eating in India. Finding something to
eat in India was probably the toughest for me, for several reasons. I am a pretty healthy eater to begin with so
authentic India cuisine isn’t in my usual diet.
About half of the country is vegetarian, or just doesn’t eat red meat,
so you would automatically think that the food must be pretty healthy. Granted, Indian cuisine is delicious and I
respect everything about it, I just had a hard time finding healthier options
because the majority of it is either fried, breaded, cooking with lots of ghee
(clarified butter that is commonly used), or has some sort of heavy yogurt or
cream in it. I do love masalas and
curries so I did go to some restaurants but I tried not to have it too often
due to all the ghee used in it. My favorite Indian dish is mushroom
masala. It’s delicious. Another reason why I was hesitant to buy
prepared food was because of the off putting lack of sanitation in the
establishments. It’s hard to look past
the dirt and mice running around in most places. Or the strong smell of the surroundings in
general. A general rule used is that if
you can’t see the kitchen, don’t eat there.
I resorted to eating mostly bagged snacks like nuts, seeds, dried dates,
and whole grain crackers. I also ate a
lot of bananas because they have the peel on them and don’t need to be
washed. I missed having smoothies. They say that you shouldn’t have anything
that has ice, water, or fruit that is washed in water in it. There aren’t many healthy drink options to
buy there but I did find a mango juice drink that was bottled and available
everywhere in India. It’s called
Maaza. It definitely has its fair share
of sugar but it is delicious and has a good amount of vitamin C in it. I lived off of those. Lassis are a common fruit and yogurt drink in
India but a met an Australian girl on the plane who said her group of people
that she was with and herself all got really ill from drinking a mango
lassi. I did buy a lot of fresh coconuts
on the streets where they open it in front of you and it only costs a few
cents. So yummy. Many people also get stomach problems because
of the amount of spice in some Indian food but, I absolutely love spicy food so
that wasn’t an issue for me when I did buy hot food.
Some countries to visit
if you love are a big foodie are: Turkey (they are known for their smorgasbord
of food everywhere), Germany, Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, and
Italy. 
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