Travel Writers, They're Just Like Us!

Those of you who don't read gossip rags might not get the title reference (was that a confession? okay, maybe...), but today's story is ripped from the pages of the latest issue of Budget Travel.

If you've been with the Traveling Spoon for a while, you know that I love my online Lonely Planet articles and my Budget Travel magazines. I grieved a little when my subscription ended this past fall, but thankfully my sister, Rebecca, stepped in and ordered me up another year as a Christmas gift (it's thanks to her that I got my first subscription!).

I'm a frugal girl, and the only thing I love more than a great travel tip is a great money-saving one. For that reason, the magazine is a goldmine (even though their idea of cheap sometimes differs from mine) and I never fail to find a useful tidbit to share or an article of interest to savor. This issue had me looking no further than the masthead!

Each month, the magazine does mini-interviews with some of its staff members and tags the answers to the names on the masthead. Usually, it's a brief answer to a question like 'What's your favorite foreign phrase?' or 'the strangest food you've ever eaten?'. This month's is, somewhat predictably, about travel resolutions for the new year. Some of them are ambitious and some are entertaining, but what struck me most was just how many of them were ordinary.

I guess I've always just assumed that travel writers live in a magical land where every day is a vacation day, where phrase books actually do help you learn to speak like a local, and where you always get the top score on those where-I've-been Facebook quizzes. But judging from their resolutions, the staff at Budget Travel are just like the rest of us: filled with big dreams about where 2012 will take them - and just as bad about not taking their vacation days! Here are a few tidbits to make you feel a bit better if 2011 didn't quite deliver on the jet-setting adventures you'd hoped for:


What's your travel-related resolution for the new year?
"I'm going to squeeze in as much travel as I can - even if it's in last-minute, three-day installments."
"I'm going to make it up to Canada. I was born in Seattle, but I've never been - and I wore out all my excuses in 2011."
"Mark my words: I will finally take all of my vacation days."
"To take a solo culinary trip to Italy and eat myself silly. No pasta noodle will be safe. Hide the garlic." (sounds like a woman after my own heart!)

Lost in Translation

Maybe it was because I'd just received an e-mail about Lonely Planet's Lost in Translation contest, or perhaps because I had just returned from a particularly numbing visit to the dentist (and needed of a bit of cheering up), but last night I spent several happy minutes browsing Engrish.com.

As a former English major and an avid traveler, nothing gets me laughing like a good bit of Engrish - it may not be very politically correct, but these little gems of grammatical guesswork certainly are entertaining!

Opening Soon: Chinatown Disney Cafe. Order, if you dare!
(Photo courtesy of Engrish.com)

While I laugh at the awkward toilet signs and tear up at the unintentionally embarrassing t-shirts, my favorites are the mis-translated menus. They're not always the most amusing, but they're often the most bizarre - and they remind me of the brief time I spent as a menu translator in Germany. Since German shares a lot of similarities with English, my job wasn't nearly as humorous as the creators' of Engrish.com, but it certainly had its moments.

How patriotic!
(Photo courtesy of Engrish.com)

I stumbled into the work on the recommendation of a German friend who, as a more-than-competent English-speaker, had done a lot of translating herself. She was looking for a partner and I found the work so interesting that I couldn't resist. My German is conversational, at best, but I certainly knew enough menu words in both languages to make the translation easy. I would pore over the menus for a few minutes or hours (depending on how much help was needed!), submit my corrections, and then enjoy a delicious meal on the house.

On my first job, I got 'paid' in fried carp - fresh from a local pond - and the rich flavor and tender flesh was a revelation . I knew, then, that I had found the perfect job; I made my own hours, found the work fascinating, and often got paid in food - what more could a hungry girl want?

Goodness knows why people keep having a bad reaction to this dish!
(Photo courtesy of Engrish.com)

Sadly, my return to the States cut my 'career' - and my source of free dinners - abruptly short. Although it was never intended to be a wage-earning job, I'd certainly recommend it as an option for starving students abroad!  In addition to earning me a seat in restaurants I'd never have been able to visit otherwise, it also provided a bit of income and an entertaining experience that, now, can only be relived by scrolling through pages hilarity ridden pages of Engrish.com. Go on, eat up and enjoy!

For when a little crap just isn't enough
(Photo courtesy of Engrish.com)

Have Sweet Tooth, Will Travel : A Few of My Favorite Sweet Spots from Around the World

After sharing Lonely Planet's favorite dessert destinations with all of you last week, I got all inspired to create a list of my own. As you all know, one of my favorite things about travel is the opportunity it affords to try new foods  - and these foods always seem more memorable if they come with a hefty dose of sugar! Here are a few of my favorites from the past few years:*
*This list is by no means exhaustive, but it is delicious!

1) Flapjacks, Tom's Cakes, Cambridge, United Kingdom
In addition to being a the creator of traditional pastries and intriguing cakes (like their Lemon and Elderflower loaf), Tom's is the official purveyor of the world's most excellent English flapjacks (okay, official = in my opinion). I discovered Tom's while visiting my brother at university and have made countless pilgrimages since that inaugural visit. Thanks to my wonderful brother, Tom's flapjacks have made regular appearances amongst my Christmas presents for the past few years. Sadly, I'm not sure how I'll get my fix, now that his PhD is over!

2) Tarta de Santiago, Santiago de Compostella, Spain
The Galician city of Santiago is probably better known for the 700 km walk many people take to get there, but it should be famous for this fantastic dessert. Adorned with the symbolic Cross of St. James, this pastry is beloved of pilgrims, tourists and locals alike. It's light, sweet, and heavily flavored with almonds, which, in my opinion, makes it just about perfect.

3) Cookies, Levain Bakery, Upper West Side, New York City, NY
When I first tasted Levain's Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie, I was pretty convinced that it was the best cookie ever...and it was, for about the five minutes that passed until I tasted their Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookie. In any case, Levain makes some of the best cookies ever - even in the face of tremendous popularity and hype. And that's pretty impressive. Almost as impressive as the gargantuan, behemoth, 6-ounce cookies they serve.

Lots of Food and Travel links!

I don't often do link round-ups, but I'm always collecting articles and links that I think might be of interest to my readers and, since things have been so busy lately, I just know that I won't get around to sharing some of these in greater detail. Of course, that doesn't mean you shouldn't enjoy them and check them our for yourselves!

Food:
Ever wonder why grocery stores use those chalk board-look signs? Here's an interesting look at the psychology behind the supermarkets.

Can't get enough of those fried strips of starch? All you ever wanted to know about French Fries, you can learn at the Frietmuseum in Belgium.

Schedule some gastro-tourism with help from the Tasting Table's new site,  U.S. of Eats: An Atlas of America's Best Food Travel Destinations.

Travel:
How creative are these train ticket-style invitations? Have party, will travel!

Destination: Dessert! Lonely Planet details their favorite spots for sweets around the globe (I particularly enjoy reading everyone's opinions and contributions in the comments!)

Budget Travel's 15 Places Your Kids Should See Before 15. How many have you seen?

Lonely Planet uncovers the World's Best Long Walks. What are you waiting for? Lace up your boots and get going!

Free Kindle Book from Lonely Planet!

A few weeks ago, I shared some tips for finding free books for your Kindle or e-reader. I check the Amazon offerings every couple of weeks and, though the selections are sometimes a bit uneven, I've managed to find a few gems and have stocked my Kindle with over 200 books! I'm always e-mailing friends with links to books I think they'd like and found a good one to share with my travel-obsessed readers today - from none other than the lovely Lonely Planet!

I'm not sure how long the offer will last, but if you check now, you can get their 5 of USA's Best Trips completely free. I haven't read it yet so I can't speak to its value, but at that price, I think it's worth taking the chance!

Lonely Planet: Unpacking Pre-Flight Rituals

Getting some help packing for Spain - sadly, the little guy (a gift from Matt!) had to stay behind

I read an interesting article earlier this week on the subject of pre-flight rituals and the role they play in our travel plans. The article came from Lonely Planet (surprise, surprise), and discussed the results of a poll they'd posted a few weeks ago. The poll turned up some interesting and unexpected results (apparently one traveler always indulges in a good old American cheeseburger before leaving the U.S., while another watches Fern Gully to guarantee safe travels) and a few more common choices (9% of those surveyed like to touch the plane before boarding, while 7% never take off without their good luck charm), but what surprised me the most was the realization that I don't have a single travel ritual. Not one. In all my years of flying, I don't think I've ever approached a flight the same way twice!

Travel Tips: Best Books to Read Before You Roam

Image by Alan Levine

One of my favorite lazy afternoon things to do when I'm house-, or in this case, hotel-bound is to browse travel websites. Maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment, but somehow gazing at photos of far-flung locales and reading about the adventures of others helps me to momentarily forget my own stationary condition.

If you hadn't guessed, from all the content I've highlighted on this blog, one of my go-to sites for e-tourism is Lonely Planet. Their articles are thought provoking, their photos lovely to look at, and even if you don't agree with all of the opinions they put forth, you can be sure of finding some lively discussion and debate both in each article's comments section and in their Thorn Tree forum.

Lonely Planet was one of the first travel-themed websites I uncovered as a young teen in England, preparing to set off on my first African adventure in the summer of 2001. I was drawn in by the wealth of articles and gleaned a lot of valuable information from the forum, so it makes sense that I would return eagerly and often. They're always updating their content - essential practice for any travel site that wants to stay relevant - and recently added a new feature that I just had to share. If there's anything I love as much as baking and travel, it's reading and now LP offers a condensed list of Travel Books to Read Before You Go.

Grouped by region and country, the list is extensive and offers readings from genres as diverse as Social Anthropology, Memoir, Humor, Politics and Fiction. The list is by no means exhaustive, but it's a good place for a traveler to begin researching their destination of choice and a great place for a bibliophile to lose themselves for a year or two. I can just imagine an armchair traveler's intense delight at discovering this trove of titles!

We're visiting Matt's parents in South Carolina this weekend and I took advantage of the long drive to finish up French Lessons: Adventures with Knife, Fork and Corkscrew, another of Peter Mayle's delightful books about Provence. His books go down smoothly, like the fine French wines about which he writes, and I'm always amazed at how just a few lines can transport me to another place entirely. For a few hours yesterday afternoon, I wasn't sitting in traffic in storm-soaked Tennessee, but relaxing on a terrace in the sun-drenched south of France.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons I've always loved travel literature and, over the years, I've collected a few favorite authors and some favorite works. I had fun searching LP's list for some of these favorites (Paul Theroux, James Michener, Robert Falcon Scott, Somerset Maugham, to name but a few) but what surprised me most was just how many of the titles I hadn't read. Thanks to LP, my to-read list is now about a mile long, but I'm not complaining! If you've ever found refuge in a travel book or taken an armchair trip around the globe, you must read this list - search for your old favorites, discover new ones or use it to plan a future adventure.

While we're at it, what are some of your favorite travel/location inspired reads? I've always been a big fan of James Michener, but also love Frances Mayes' portrayal of rural Tuscany or Paul Theroux's account of hair-raising adventures on the Trans-Siberian.  Even with my recently expanded to-read list, I'm always looking for recommendations!

Where in the World?: How Many of Lonely Planet's 'Must-Eats' Have You Tasted?

Matt and I are still without a home address for at least a few more weeks, so while my beloved Budget Travel magazines are being delivered to my in-laws, I've been poring over more online travel and food articles. I unearthed this little 'best of' at Lonely Planet, where they detail seven 'must-eats' named for their geographical birthplace.

Of the seven (Buffalo Wings, Peking Duck, Yorkshire Pudding, Salad Niçoise, Nanaimo Bars, Mole Poblano and Singapore Chili Crab) I've eaten only two: I've already professed my love for Yorkshire Pudding, and the Anchor Bar, home of the original Buffalo wings, is just a drive away from my Mum's home in NY. Of course, they all sound delicious - particularly the Peking duck and chili crab!

Cornish Pasty in Cambridge

This article got me thinking about other foods that bear geographical appellations.  There are a few debatable choices, such as Champagne (not technically a food...) and a whole host of cheeses (Wensleydale, Stilton, Cheddar, etc.), but also some other legitimate entries that might possibly give LP's picks a run for their money:

Lonely Planet's Hotel Room Home-Cooking!

Getting a little tired of the Vegas posts? Me too. I still have a few that I want to write (including the all-important 'Best Free Things to Do in Las Vegas') but I'll take a little break and show you a great clip I discovered during our travels.

Though Matt and I have finally reached the end of our cross-country road trip, we're still sleeping in hotel rooms and living out of suitcases until we can find a new place to call home. After six weeks on the road, the novelty has worn a little thin and I think we're both eager to be settling down and establishing some sort of routine. One of the things I miss most is being able to cook - which is why I loved this video clip from the Lonely Planet e-newsletter. Our current hotel room actually has a little stovetop so I haven't had to resort to these desperate measures, but I give them points for ingenuity!

Lonely Planet's Best Countries for the Hungry Traveler

Fresh peppers in a Croatian market

Right before our move, I received Lonely Planet's March e-newsletter and was excited to see 'The World's Best Countries For Food' as their featured article.  Just glancing at the list made me incredibly hungry, and somewhat regretful that I've only visited a handful of countries that made the cut; of the ten listed (Thailand, Greece, China, France, Spain, Mexico, Italy, India, Japan, Indonesia & Malaysia), I've visited only four (France, Spain, Mexico and Italy).  There are some that sound extremely appealing - I love Americanized Thai food and have tasted some delicious Greek food, albeit outside Greece - but I'll have to reserve my judgment until I've had the chance to try them firsthand.

Of course, I do have a few favorites from my own travels and am always interested in hearing the recommendations of others.  While I don't generally pick my destinations solely on the basis of their food, I'll admit that it does play a part! So, how does my list stack up against Lonely Planet's? Well, here it is for your perusal: