When it comes to millennials and traveling, our obsession with the unknown has escalated to the point where it’s now a major priority. And that’s pretty awesome, since travel provides opportunity for personal growth, a change in mindset, and an increased exposure to the food customs of cultures far different from our own.
Photo by Laura MacAulay
But after all this traveling to remote lands, it’s difficult to transition into our Average-Joe jobs/school and fall back into our daily routines.
I recently had the opportunity to do a semester exchange in Australia, and from personal experience, one of the best ways to avoid a post-travel identity crises is to *drum roll* keep a food journal.
Photo by Laura MacAulay
Why a food journal? If you think about it, one of the few common things that humans share amongst all cultures is food. We all eat and drink, and it’s the constant activity that’s done each day of our travels.
So maybe when we cozy up in our hostel beds at the end of an exhausting day of spontaneous adventure, pen and journal in hand, the meals we had that day might spark up those memory areas of the brain to spill the beans on every important detail that made that day so awesome.
Photo by Laura MacAulay
Trust me, about two months after you get back home, all that you did abroad will seem like a far-away dream that feels way too good to be true. When you go through every detail you can include in your journal, you’ll be lapped up in satisfied nostalgia.
From the açai bowls that fuel the day for all of the sea kayaking, hikes up to the lighthouse, surf lessons and nights out at Cheeky Monkeys in Byron Bay.
Photo by Laura MacAulay
To how amazing the Great Ocean Road drive was, especially because you snagged a pic of the best avo toast breaky ever that you mowed down on in Torquay.
Photo by Laura MacAulay
Nor will you forget the feeling of cracking open a succulent bottle of cider after a day of beach hopping on Magnetic Island.
Photo by Laura MacAulay
And once you’ve had the chance to reflect upon all the memories that have revolved around your food experiences, you’ll not only regret not writing down or taking pics of those endless “barbie” dinners with your best mates, that party-in-your-mouth Kebab you had after a night out in Cairns, or the delightful dinners you cooked up with your roomie. You’ll find yourself constantly recording the details of your future food experiences during your next adventure.
You’ll find that this habit of recording food experiences will be so useful to your nostalgic pleasure centres that even when you have arrived home to the sanctity of North American norms, you will seek out neat coffee shops in unfamiliar towns with friends and family, so that the adventure endures.
Photo by Laura MacAulay
So for all those who will fall privy to the trend of travelling, keep all of this in mind, so that when months and years after you fell in love with a friend group or an amazing city far from home, you’ll be able to relive it all through the pictures, words and videos you’ve recorded about your incredible food experiences.