Traveling

Some people travel for art, some for religion, some to relax, but my family travels for food. Of course, there are other reasons for taking off on a journey: visiting family, graduations, funerals, weddings, etc. However, food is what we think about before, during and after our trips.

My family just started preparing to take a road trip from Colorado (I'm flying home) to Connecticut for my sister's graduation. The first thing my father assigned to me was to figure out our food; what we bring in the car, where and when we would stop to eat is now all up to me. Perhaps we think so much about food because of our interesting dietary restrictions (vegans and demanders of high quality fare) or perhaps we just take too much enjoyment from what we stuff in our faces.

I've heard others do it too, of course. My parents friends will come back with stories of suitcases filled with chocolate from Europe or funny tales of ordering something unexpected when speaking a different language. After reminiscing about meals long passed, they finally remember to show us the pictures they took, more than half of which contain the dishes they sampled.

Even coming home I find that all the pictures I have taken are of the foods I have prepared (not a single one of my family in sight). I think that the reason we talk about food so much is because eating is familiar, and while the local delicacies may vary, the process of eating does not. And when you travel to a foreign place, sometimes the process of eating is the only thing that remains constant.