When Traveling Look for “Normal Food”

Go where the locals eat…of course that’s a given.

Be a native…not a tourist…another given.

Experience the culture around you…yes.

But what happens if you are traveling with kids, or picky people, or you’re just homesick?

Getting caught up in the “now” is exciting, but sometimes familiarity is what you “need”.

It doesn’t matter if you are traveling across town, across the state, or across the world…familiarity brings us all a warm comfortable feeling.

Yes…

I am saying that if you are traveling abroad in some Third World country and you spot those “golden arches” to stop in and fuel up on home.

“But that’s not what I want?”

Maybe…

But it’s what you need.

It is okay to take a break from being a native, and feed the kids something that they know and like.

We all need comfort and familiarity (to an extend) while traveling.

Everybody does…

EVERYBODY….

We all have favorite little places that we have to go to when we get home, or reach our traveling destination. A lot of the time, those little spots happen to be centered around food…as in restaurants.

Once in a while you’ll get extremely lucky and find your favorite local joint somewhere else.

I’m not talking chain restaurants.

I’m talking about a local spot that is only found in a single town or area (even if they have a few locations within that area).

Bunk Sandwiches did just that…expanded out that is.

Bunk is a Portland, OR joint that has a few restaurants around the city. The food is off-the-chain crazy delicious.

READ MY RESTAURANT REVIEW OF BUNK HERE

But now they have opened another spot outside of the city…way out of the city…

New York City.

Why?

Chef Tommy Habetz is taking it back to his NYC roots.

But honestly the “why” doesn’t matter.

What matters is the fact that when someone from Portland, OR is traveling on the East Coast and is feeling a little homesick, that they can swing into Bunk and fill up on a taste of home.

But Bunk is just one example…

If you are lucky enough to find your favorite place to eat while out exploring the world. Great! Stop and eat there at some point during your trip.

You have to do it…even if it is just to compare menus and prices…

…even if it’s fast food.

Travel is hard, and you can’t take home with you, but maybe you can find a little piece of home out there waiting for you. 

When Traveling…Never Toss Out the Idea of Local Joints

Sure…

Some of them may seem sketchy, but if you see a long line wrapped around the corner, it’s probably a safe bet that’s where you’ll want to spend your money on some delicious eats.

But if you’re a local…stay local…

As in when friends and family come into town to visit you. Take them to your favorite “eat ‘em up joint”.

My wife and I, for example, LOVE this Portland area burger place…

Killer Burger!!!!!

Hands down the best burgers anywhere.

But it’s not like that TV show “Cheers” where everybody knows your name, because that’s a television show and people’s names were scripted in.

We are known though…pretty well. Killer Burger loves us (just a little less than we love them).

But…

Not by our names…

I’m known as the “Lemon Cake Guy” and my wife is known as the “Photographer”, which is something that stuck after we partnered with KB for my Lemon Cake Initiative (a story telling project).

The point is that every town and/or city has local restaurants that cater to the local traffic. Doing touristy things are fun, but to become immersed in the culture you have to do as the locals do.

Killer Burger fits the Portland scene. It’s everything that Portland strives to be.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE RESTAURANT REVIEW

Question of the day…

Why is there a fry sticking out of the top of my burger?

The truth is that we forgot the candles. So the fry represents the candle on a birthday cake in honor of my grandma’s birthday. We didn’t have cake either…burgers are better (in this case at least).

http://chrisallreddesign.com/

Family Travels and Cheap Ideas

"Family Travels and Cheap Ideas” is a combination blog of some of the things that we do as a family, and ideas and tips for low cost family fun.

My name is Chris Allred, and I am lucky enough to be married to my best friend and photographer, Kari Allred. We have two kids (a teenage son and an adult daughter), and even though Kari and I spend a lot of time doing things as a couple now that the kids are older, family time is still very important to us.

Something to know about me is that I hate spending money. I say that I’m frugal, but Kari simple calls me cheap; either way it’s true, and so this blog should hopefully inspire you to get out and do things with your family regardless of money or not. Feel free to do what we do, but make it your own. Ideally you’ll take an idea from this site and mold it to fit your family and your area.

Also…please send us your photos, stories, and ideas of family fun from your corner of the world. We’ll be happy to share as long as they are family friendly.

Here is a family photo of us from my old company webpage (we're not really farmers).

http://chrisallreddesign.com