rogeruktm

robjame, I spend a lot of time planning my annual rail trip. I spend tons of time in checking timetables and local attractions within a general area. Last year on arrival at Heathrow, I took the bus to Woking station to board the train to the Dorset village of Wool. The following day I visited the tank museum, a military museum. Later I made my way to York to visit the WWII POW camp "Eden Camp", the Rail Museum, a visit to Whitby and this was followed by other similar pursuits. That is what I enjoy and I don't expect other to understand it. It might have to do with my dad who served in WWII, and after his death if feel a certain bond by these visits. I do visit non-military sites as well though In the past I have done castles and manors and standing stones, the one on Orknie were something else.

mjsilver

"You either eat to live or live to eat."

I've seen this quoted so many times, and I've always thought it's silly. EVERYONE eats to live -- if you don't eat, you don't live. And very few people live to eat. I love eating, and cooking, and if I'm in France or Italy I hope to have a few really excellent meals -- but I do and think about lots of other things!

travel2live2

Although travel and food are my obsessions I have other passions as well. I am very well rounded and skilled - you should see my CV! These just happen to be the two things I love to do most! There is absolutely nothing weird about it.

What is the difference between someone who travels for food and someone who travels to see sports, for example? I could not care less about seeing a hockey game in Europe (but would go along with someone for the trip). Speaking from experience - my husband loves to travel to watch hockey! But that is just one small part of our trips.

Each person has his/her unique passions and pursuits. I believe it is important to follow them or you are short changing yourself. And I follow mine wholeheartedly! Although I must eat to live, obviously, I am in the live to eat category. It is what I do.

Aduchamp1

The answer to the original question it all depends on where we going.

When visiting Italy and France food becomes an critical component. When we visited Belize, Costa Rica, and Guatemala, food is where you find it.

Next year we are going to Madagascar and I do not know what to expect in any aspect of the trip.

We know a lot about food but we are not foodies, whatever that may be. Living in New York not only do we eat just about every ethnic food we can find but are selective on what we buy for the house. Still, food would never stop us from visiting some where.

travel2live2

Not quite finished. To me food is one of the best ways of learning about difference cultures. The history of food is absolutely fascinating.

One of my goals when traveling for food is to learn about regional foods and ingredients. I then replicate meals at home and can, in doing so, re-live certain events or feelings from the trip.

I mentioned before that food is multi-sensory. It is also sensual. There is nothing more beautiful than a well-aged slab of pristinely-marbled beef or the smell of lemongrass or the pleasure of the perfect white peach or biting into a fresh tomato with the juices running down your chin. (Except, of course, experiencing these joys in Europe with the history, scenery, culture, architecture, etc. that go along with it!) I appreciate food very, very much.

robjame

Well said travel2 and I share your husband's passion for hockey - I guess that makes me very well rounded

Go Leafs Go!

Yes Foie Gras Yes!

ira

Hi R,

>I do a solo trip in Great Britain. I am on the go and the last thing I think about is food.

Well, that explains it.

Have you ever considered a visit to Italy or France, or Spain or Greece?

travel2live2

Go Leafs go, alright! They have always been my DH's favourite team, ever since he was a little guy. I know one of the players extremely well (he retired a couple of years ago) as his family's farm was only a few miles from our farm.

rogeruktm

Hi ira, Been to France a little as well as Holland, but my love is Great Britain. Will not be seeing Sheila this trip, but I am meeting friends in London for dinner on my one night there. Looking forward to it.

Christina

Some people have an intense interest in food and want to spend a lot on it just like any other interest or hobby. Why are some people interested in ballet and others are not, some in art, others not, etc. I am very interested in classical music and spend a lot of time on that in Europe and buy the best tickets, but most people are not. I even planned a trip around hearing a certain performer in Switzerland last year (Martha Argerich, I've gone to London specifically to hear her at the BBC Proms, also.). Coincidentally, I sat next to a nice English couple who said they plan their summer trips around specific classical music festivals, also, and were in Verbier for a week just to go to this festival. Of course, I enjoyed other things on these trips, but that was the main point I planned around.

I don't like that quote about food either and don't agree with it at all, like most of those quotes putting people into two opposite camps. I'm not a foodie and don't hardly ever reserve restaurants and have never paid over about 50 euro for a dinner, and I don't dwell on food a lot as folks on here do, but I do like a nice satisfying dinner and enjoy eating in its place and in moderation.

Aactually, to me there are two kinds of dwelling on food, one is the foodie kind and the other kinds is people who eat a lot, all the time, and talk a lot about all the junk food they eat and how much they eat on vacation, how they like to snack all the time and thus like to rent apartments so they have access to food all the time, etc. The idea of melted chocolate bars in a cup (as people describe certain hot chocolate in Paris) almost makes me sick to my stomach, and I never eat street crepes, which I also don't like. I just don't eat a lot of junk food a lot, and don't overeat hardly ever, and don't like a lot of sweets and fatty things. But I am not indifferent to food so that I don't notice it or care about it.

Regardless of the type of dinner I have, I do enjoy spending a lot of time on it, and relaxing and experiencing a place. I doubt if anyone is doing so many important things on a vacation nonstop that they can't spend more than a few minutes on a meal. That is actually a completely different point than the foodie thing -- not even wanting to relax and enjoy meal time. YOu can't even eat decently if you really are spending only a few minutes on a meal, it is impossible. It's not good for anyone to eat so quickly, either.

GSteed

Culture change...Time is the essence of 'good' food. 70 years ago, my mother, her mother and my aunt would spend a morning making a batch of doughnuts. I can still taste them; warm and dusted with powdered sugar. Some batches came with cinnamon! They were gone by noon. The bread was the same..always hot and smothered in butter! Of course, father earned enough that mother didn't work. I am spoiled, I still am seeking those foods of my childhood. All are measured/judged against those benchmarks.

afterall

Travel2 - well, yes, but you can be fascinated by the history of food and the mark it's made on it's culture without making the proximity of a gourmet restaurant a must-have.

You can be sensual and still not be too bothered whether you are eating the latest concoction or std fare as long as it takes good.

The hardest thing, of course, if you don't speak the lingo and only have the time or inclination to visit the best known places, is finding somewhere to sample local specialities without having to "make a meal of it".

When it happens by accident it's brilliant, but to chose a destination purely on the basis of food seems totally bizarre to me.

But then as another poster said, to choose a destination for the music and performing arts would be bizarre to others, though somehow it's OK if it for museums. Everyone must like museums I 'spose!!

Oh, finally, the old canard about the UK having crappy food is at least 10 years out of date.

Good question OP!

Cowboy1968

I do not understand people who plan their trips around restaurants.

But: No one will understand me for visiting the train museum in Madrid, and not visiting the Prado.

For me everything is just fine, as long "foodies" or "non-foodies" do not start to nanny each other. Or assume that you will miss something if you do not eat there, visit this, see that.

travel2live2

It is not planning food just around restaurants - it is enjoying the local culture and their unique produce and ingredients. I did not say it has to be restaurants in particular - just food. Like trying fresh truffles after a hunt. Or wild boar shortly after it has been butchered at an agriturismo (we've done both). And it does not have to be OTT gourmet, either. (Although gourmet is how I cook normally but lots of that is experimentation, trying new things and developing new skills.)

Some of my best meals have been unplanned - happening upon them. I love going into a tiny unnamed restaurant in Italy that does not have a menu, for example. You just eat what they bring. It is brilliant. Peoples' generosity and hospitality is outstanding and that is part of it as well. It is the EXPERIENCE.

When we travel we do not plan every single meal of every single day before our trip - I think that would be absurd. We choose a few restaurants we really want to try (as I said, I am a chef and find it natural to see what trends are in different locales). I always ask to see the kitchens - that can be very telling and interesting as well. Love it.

As a gardener I also love to see gardens when traveling. I know people who travel thousands of miles to do so.

I agree with the poster who said that having 3 Michelin starred restaurant food every single day would be overkill.

We wing it a lot of the time. We often purchase fresh artisan bread, local olive oil cheeses, fresh fruit, etc. for picnic lunch and appreciate that as well. In other words, it is also about the experience. It can be just as good as dining at a fine restaurant. And I love it that sharing a few fresh products with the one you love amidst beauty and different cultures (perhaps in a garden!) can bring such joy.

ira

Hi C,

>The idea of melted chocolate bars in a cup (as people describe certain hot chocolate in Paris) ....

Don't knock it until you have tried it at Angelina's.
........................
T2 remarks,

>I agree with the poster who said that having 3 Michelin starred restaurant food every single day would be overkill.

Not to mention extremely expensive.

Clifton

Most of the time, we look at it like travel2live2 just described. As I'd said earlier, it's not so much that we've mapped out certain restaurants or anything. But we read about where we're going and what's the local typical dishes. So we knew going into Morocco, for instance, that we wanted to find the chance to try out tagines, harira and pastilla. We wanted to try real local tapas in Andalusia at some point after we crossed over on the ferry. That sort of thing. So when we got going, we lucked out and a local man in Marrakech saw us wandering in the souks and offered to show us how local families made their tagines in bread. They prepare the meats and fruits and spices in a clay pot and knead the bread dough and take it down to a local neighborhood "bakery" since it's too hot for everyone to have their own ovens at home. Kids and moms all bring their uncooked dinners in in the morning and workers in this sort of black hole of an adobe building put the ingredients in the coals, which they stoke all day. The coals also steam the neighborhood hammam right on the other side of the wall! It's really fascinating how integrated it all is into the entire neighborhood or villages' lifestyle. Later, he asked us back for a local style of frothy tea with rose petals, mint and honey (and of course, a look at his carpets, haha)

So anyway, we find it a lot of fun to feel like we're a part of something like that and later took his advise on where he has his lunch tagine. Lots of locals picking their meal in a sort of unassuming but clean little place hidden above a building, tagines being kept warm in their little cone shaped clay pots over individual charcoal burners until they found a buyer. We shared two - one with lamb with plums and tumeric; the other rabbit with apricots and figs. Lots of other unidentifiable flavors melded in. So, you know... it wasn't "planning" per se, but it was something we knew we wanted to try. I;m not saying it has to be a priority for any and every traveler, just an explanation and example of something we like doing to incorporate food into our trips.

travelgourmet

""You either eat to live or live to eat."

I've seen this quoted so many times, and I've always thought it's silly. EVERYONE eats to live -- if you don't eat, you don't live. And very few people live to eat. I love eating, and cooking, and if I'm in France or Italy I hope to have a few really excellent meals -- but I do and think about lots of other things!"

To which I ask: Have you ever been to a restaurant that just blew you away? That changed the way you think about food?

I always go back to my trip to French Laundry. I didn't have another meal that was anything other than "blah" for a long time. Same with a trip to Noma in Copenhagen. Or Clio in Boston.

A great restaurant can change the way you think about food. A very good restaurant cannot. That is the difference.

suze

The only time it becomes a problem is if two people are traveling together and feel differently about the answer to this question.

Sally30

Didn't read all the back and forth on the previous posts but back to the original question - I think there is a difference between planning your trip around food and enjoying eating. I usually don't make lots of reservations for a trip or eat tons of long restaurant meals but my husband and I are very opportunistic eaters. iF something looks good, we have to try eat. We've even eaten an entire meal to then pass a great take away shop and eat again! Our philosophy is that we might not find the shop again so better enjoy it while you can. Sure it leads to some bellyaches here and there but we've also had some great unexpected treats!

robjame

I think that some of us are content to be sight-seers, visiting the high points of a country and moving on.

Slow travel to others is living in the community and experiencing the culture as much as possible.

The later group prefers staying in one area, living in a gite or apartment as opposed to a tour.
(Using France as an example) when we stay in an area we eat the food of that region, drink the wine (cider), eat in the restaurants and cafes, visit the markets, learn the recipes and language, cook and that takes some planning.
Even those who wing it have probably done the research to choose the "right" places and we envy people who can spend longer at it than us. When I choose a wrong place I feel that I have missed more than decent meal.
I would go as far as to say that in France, if you aren't interested in food then you will probably never get a feel for French culture...cause they are.

Warning: There are a lot of generalizations and assumptions in the above.