Extended Stay America

Travel Far Eat Locally

Travel Far Eat Locally

Travel far eat locally... that sounds like a motto for something doesn't it?  But it's really part of our philosophy about how to travel... what we've been trying to tell you about how to make travel better and more meaningful.

No matter where you are, if you eat locally you will be helping the earth and the local economy.  Green movements all over the world are telling people to buy and use produce grown close to home...  Foods that are flown around the world use up valuable resources... the planes that fly them add to the carbon burden of the earth.  

But it's more than that.  When you are far from home, if you eat locally, you'll be adding to the local economy.  The travel far eat locally philosophy helps local communities everywhere, but it is especially helpful for more remote and exotic countries.  

And even though modern technology has made it possible to whisk foods around the world quickly and keep them fresh... you will never have it as fresh as if it has been produced locally.

Local food will taste better and be cheaper.  Regional specialties might be foreign to you... but you're traveling to learn about that foreign county and its food and culture... so go ahead... experiment.  Eating local specialties will give you insights to the local culture that you can't read about in guidebooks.  Try something local that you've never even heard of.  You might find that you LOVE it.

Sampling new foods is one of our favorite parts of traveling.  We love everything from street stands to hole-in-the-wall cafes to bistros.  Two and three star Micheline restaurants are usually out of our budget, but you can travel far and eat locally and well without fancy menus and multi-star rankings.

Italy doesn't seem like a place where you would have to get too adventurous does it?  I mean, everyone knows what pasta is.  But in Venice we tried Seppioline Nero on the advice of an old travel buddy.  It was probably better that I didn't know ahead that it was squid in its own ink sauce... I never would have ordered THAT.  But you know what?  I loved it... and I order it at least once every time we go back to Venice.

You could ask your hotel for eggs or pancakes for breakfast in Laos, but it's so much more fun to try the noodle soup that is traditional and spice it up with bits of meat and vegetables and chilies.  And instead of toast... have some of those delicious spring rolls on the side.  The memory takes me right back.  Bacon and eggs would never do that.

Of course, you always want to pay attention to how clean the local place looks.  And if a local restaurant is serving up some sort of exotic meat, you should make sure you're not eating something endangered.  That could happen in Asia and Africa.  

OK...  one local delicacy I've never been convinced to try is Mopani worms.  Go ahead and double dare me.... it's just never gonna happen on that one!  So set your own parameters, but stretch your appetite a little too.... I like that motto... Travel far eat locally.