Let me be honest with you: I have never once cared about the countdown. The ball drop, the confetti, the chorus of “Auld Lang Syne” sung by people who don’t know the words — none of it moves me. But tell me there’s a market stall in Kyoto selling handmade soba at midnight, or that … Read more
Let me be completely honest with you: I have rearranged entire vacation schedules, booked last-minute flights, and once ate four consecutive lunches just to experience a single food festival. If you recognize yourself in that confession, November is quietly one of the most underrated months on the food travel calendar. While most people are saving … Read more
I have a confession: I have never once booked a flight for the weather. I have, however, booked flights for a bowl of hand-shaved white truffles, a chocolate sculpture the size of a small car, and street food so good it made me genuinely emotional on a sidewalk in Southeast Asia. If you plan your … Read more
I plan vacations around meals. Not around museums, not around beaches, not around “must-see landmarks” — around food. Specifically, around the kind of food that only exists in one place, at one time of year, made by people who have been perfecting it for generations. And if you share this affliction (it’s not a disorder, … Read more
Let me tell you something about myself: I have booked flights to cities I’d never heard of based entirely on a single dish someone described to me at a dinner party. I have rearranged entire itineraries, missed museums, and cheerfully skipped UNESCO sites because a market vendor waved me over with a spoon. Food is, … Read more
Let me tell you something about myself: I have absolutely rerouted a flight layover to eat one specific dish in one specific city. I have also — and I’m not proud of this — built a three-week itinerary entirely around the question “what food festival is happening where, and when?” July is the month where … Read more
Let me tell you something about myself that will surprise exactly no one who knows me: I have booked flights around restaurant reservations, planned road trips based on regional cheese availability, and once spent four days in a country primarily because I heard their street food scene was otherworldly. So when June rolls around and … Read more
Let me be honest with you: I have booked flights specifically around food festivals. Not “oh, there happens to be a festival while I’m there” — I mean full-on reverse-engineered my entire travel calendar so that I land in Singapore during the World Street Food Congress and not a single day before the Pad Thai … Read more
Let me tell you something about myself: I have absolutely booked a round-trip flight to Europe based entirely on the existence of a cheese tasting. No regrets. And if you’re the kind of person who considers a restaurant reservation a legitimate travel itinerary, then May is your month. The best food festivals May has to … Read more
Let me tell you something about myself: I have absolutely booked a transatlantic flight because a chef I admire was doing a pop-up dinner. I have rerouted an entire road trip for a regional barbecue competition. And I have — not once, but twice — planned a vacation around a food festival only to discover … Read more
