About five years ago, San Francisco Chronicle travel editor John Flinn published a column called " A few things I've learned in a quarter-century-plus of travel ." I enjoyed his insights so much I saved the article as a text file -- and I recently stumbled across it again on my laptop. Here are my...

Traveling often implies a few things about food. In Thailand, for example, it's assumed that visitors are interested in diversifying their palates and will order Thai iced tea, pad see ew or panang curry , eschewing plain old burgers and pizza. And so, it is a given that most meals will be eaten at a...

Stroll past the dozens of stalls serving food to the fascinated tourists excitedly pointing at giant, steaming woks of noodles, dried sticks of skewered insects and whirring blenders filled with local fruits, and you'll find the experience to be an exquisite assault on the senses. Bright lights above each stall harshly illuminate the menus, which...

One afternoon late last year, I went out for lunch at a restaurant not far from the south Thailand guesthouse where I’d been staying. My landlady ran the place, and on this day she seemed particularly pleased to see me. “We have new English menu!” she exclaimed, presenting me with a glossy list of entrees....

Eating healthy is important to us. I’m a relentless “do it myself” sort of girl. I was raised freezing and canning a lot of our own food. I make most things from scratch. It’s really important to me to feed my family healthy things so that the children grow properly and so that healthy eating...

photo credit: Sippanont Samchai on Flickr I've spent the past few weeks traveling around, catching up with old friends. I've been through Paris, London and am now sitting in the Yotel hotel in New York City. As I was thinking back, deciding what to write about - the moments that burned brightest were the meals...

Image credit This month marks the beginning of student-travel season in Europe, which means that -- at any given moment -- continental McDonald's restaurants will be filled with scores of American undergraduates. Quiz these young travelers, and they'll give you a wide range of reasons for seeking out McDonald's -- the clean restrooms, the air...

Image credit I have a confession to make: I’m falling in love with Anthony Bourdain. After twelve years without a television to share my life with I discovered his shows when we were wandering in New Zealand. The food. The locations. His sass. I was smitten. Then, I began to read, you know he’s a...

In the final entry in my series of posts on the subtle but interesting variations in how European cultures celebrate Christmas, I take a look at one of the finest places to spend the holiday season, England. It’s not just a beautiful country with a joyous approach to the holiday; it’s also the spot where...

I spent some time talking with local residents of Monteverde, asking about the history and traditions associated with their Christmas holiday celebrations. Everyone got so excited that they started talking over one another, but I had a translator, so I think we captured everything they wanted to share with me. Here is some unique insight...

One of the great things about Europe is its magnificent Christmases, when the frosty air is infused with a spirit of joy and celebration. From Scotland to Slovakia, a smorgasbord of culture is on display as each country celebrates with its own unique traditions. This is the second in a series about the Continent’s various...

“C’mon, try it.” They floated in a thick, dark sauce. The nails had been cut off, but the rest of each finger stared back at me without eyes from the plastic plate, livid in vinegar. Truncated joints just below the feathers’ line. As I kept staring at my prospective dinner, I wondered how low a...

Growing up in the Midwest, my Thanksgiving was the traditional spread of turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie, devoured at a relative’s home in suburban Chicago. But I grew up to be an inveterate traveler and spent the holiday in many places—one of the best was the historic, colorful Belgian city of Bruges. Several years ago...

Engineers at UCLA are working on converting an iPhone into a small laboratory. Weighting less than 2 ounces, the iTube attaches to your phone and analyzes a food sample in about 20 minutes using a colorimetric assay test. The user grinds up a small sample of food with hot water and places it in the...

You've got a favorite restaurant that few people know about. Or it's a cool location with a view that's only meant for the locals. It's fun to have secrets. CNN had this article: The rise of 'secret tourism.' The story talks about event organizers who build anticipation and unique experiences by keeping visitors in the...

Growing up in the Midwest, my Thanksgiving was the traditional spread of turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie, devoured at a relative’s home in suburban Chicago. But I grew up to be an inveterate traveler and spent the holiday in many places—one of the best was the historic, colorful Belgian city of Bruges. Several years ago...

For this week I would like to stay away from my usual “reflective topics” and investigate something much simpler: food. I started thinking of travel and food as I stumbled upon this article on Asia’s 10 greatest street food cities . As I am currently in Bulgaria and have seen many countries and sampled much...

Once upon a time in Okinawa people were so healthy and happy that many of them lived more than one hundred years. The legend says it was because of their special diet, the very active lifestyle (Okinawa is the motherland of Karate) and the strong sense of community that keep everyone together. Still today Okinawa...

Cost/Day- 60 euros After a few months on the road, it takes something fairly odd to catch a vagabonder off-guard, but seeing a man herding sheep from the back of a scooter certainly threw me for a loop. The sheep didn't seem flustered by the portly man zipping in and out of the herd, hurrying...

Plane food doesn't have the best reputation, and people love to complain about it . One family even sued American Airlines for killing their father with a chicken dish on a flight from Barcelona to New York. But don't get too attached to your mystery meat and stale dinner rolls. Celebrity chefs have taken to...