Need help in deciding where to go?

Food and the traveling family

From the beginning of time - well not really, just from when we had kids but it seems a long time ago - food and travel have been uncomfortable companions. I have to confess that food is not the easiest subject at home either, it's just more complicated abroad, especially when there's a language barrier as well. But food is part of the thrill and adventure of traveling and even more so when you're doing it as a family!

We've traveled a lot, to many countries on six continents, and there's always that early nervy meal where you determine if you'll be eating packets of soup and yogurt from the supermarket each day, or getting excited by the local fare (incidentally, we love foreign supermarkets and finding interesting items and surprises).

One thing I've learned in seventeen years of parenting (I like to think I must have learned something by now) is that if your kids are bored or unhappy, eventually you will be too. So you might as well find places to eat that they're happy with. That doesn't necessarily mean fast food or junk food places, but it does mean letting them  look carefully at the menu when deciding if you'll be patronizing a particular place or not. In Antigua, Guatemala, the kids' favorite place was Bagel Barn - old fashioned cream cheese on bagels was enough foreign food culture for them. (Our favorite was Cafe Condesa where we'd sneak off in the break between Spanish lessons for coffee each morning; their cakes were wonderful too.) And then in 2007 when we were going to be in Asia for six weeks, the kids mutinied over noodles after about four days, and celebrated their triumph in Lijiang when they discovered a restaurant serving melted cheese sandwiches...

Sometimes you'll be lucky or learn your way around. In Cartagena, Colombia, we stumbled upon a small neighborhood place just down the road from our Spanish school. The daily lunch special - going for about $3 each - was a bowl of soup, a big main course of meat or chicken, and a delicious fruit drink, one of the city's specialties. We liked the food so much we ended up eating every lunch that week of school (Monday through Friday) at the same place. Although you could say that's pretty narrow thinking on our part, sometimes when you have a winning card, you should play it. Especially with children in 95 degree heat. (The big supermarket Exito was the best air-conditioned place of all we found in Cartagena so we stopped in several times a day. Especially after our son discovered little yogurt drinks with prizes inside.)

In Iceland, where the offerings on the road were quite slim because 'towns' are so tiny, we discovered that many places have a soup special - as much soup and bread as you like for a fixed price. As we spent most of our time freezing (it was summer and we probably expected too much of the weather), this was an answer to our prayers. Like when we arrived in Vik and couldn't get out of the car it was raining so hard, that soup was fantastic. And it fortified us enough to go play on the black sand beach for a while in a howling gale mixed with unrelenting rain. And therein lies a double lesson for the traveling family. First find out what meals are less expensive in your destination (many countries have a fixed price lunch that tends to be very reasonable); then determine what you're supposed to try wherever you are - in Portugal for example they are reputed to have 365 ways to cook bacalhau.

Also, sometimes you're going to have to work a little harder to find out what's actually in a certain dish - don't take it for granted. In Oaxaca once with friends, one of the kids ordered a hamburger which came with a piece of ham in the bun. The waiter was astonished we were even surprised. In Cozumel, we ordered a grilled cheese (sandwich) and received a big piece of melted cheese. In Colombia, looking for grilled chicken, we ordered rice and chicken (instead of chicken and rice) and got a plate of rice with tiny pieces of chicken scrambled inside.

Like you I'm sure, we've had our share of thrills and spills and absolute mystery. In a small village in  Basque country of Spain in 2001, we just could not communicate with anyone, and had no idea of what we were ordering (it was fish, and very good). Later on the same trip, our middle son, then 5, enjoyed the calamari in Santiago de Compostela so much that by the time we started paying careful attention, he'd begun to choke and turn blue. One of those awful parent/child moments that seems to last a lifetime although it is over in 30 seconds. And then there are those unavoidable times, like being in the jungles of Tikal, Guatemala, and having a child who just cannot find anything to eat, with the next restaurant at least one flight away.

One of our family delights is to find bakeries or local ice cream to indulge ourselves. One of my all time favorites were the pasteis in Portugal; for the kids it has been paletas - frozen fruit popsicles - in Mexico. And the fruit drinks in Cartagena, Colombia were truly amazing. Recently in Mozambique in the beach village of Tofo, we discovered 'Black and White' - a hole in the wall shack with 3 menu offerings (chicken and rice, beef and rice, fish and rice). Don't be put off by first impressions - for less than $2, we got a huge plate of the most delicious grilled chicken and rice, and would eat there every night if we could.

For further interesting reading, please read Gideon's blog about food in Turkey: http://travelwithkidz.wordpress.com/2010/09/13/a-small-note-on-turkish-food-and-travel-with-kids/

Spotlight on: Karnataka, India

India is a vast country - so varied that it takes books to describe it.

Most visitors travel to either the South or the North. In the South, the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Goa are most popular. In the North, visitors head for Rajasthan after seeing Delhi and the Taj Mahal in Agra. But India is much much more. Today we profile the state of Karnataka.

Karnataka could be described as India in a nutshell. This large state is usually missing from itineraries of first timers to India, but should it be that way?

Highlights of Karnataka:

Ancient Ruins - Hampi is a Unesco World Heritage Site and could be the greatest archeological site in India. It was once the capital of an enormously wealthy kingdom, and today the huge ruins are surrounded by lush greenery strewn with huge boulders, in a  very rural part of India. Even for someone with no interest in history, Hampi is spellbinding - from the ancient coracle boats still in use on the river to the wonderful hiking to the ancient temple with its temple elephant, Hampi is a wonderful sight to see.

(Karnataka has many other ancient ruins too, a number of which are World Heritage Sites themselves).

Safaris: Nagarhole is regarded as the best safari experience in South India. Home to many herds of elephants, it is also home to the elusive tiger, as well as other fauna such as the great Indian gaur (bison), crocodiles, bears and even the Malabar squirrel, the largest squirrel in the world. Excellent accommodations and safaris by jeep or boat are possible.

Palaces: Mysore has one of the most amazing palaces in India. On Sundays it is lit up by 100,000 bulbs, a sight to see. Mysore is a medium size city, with great temples and markets, but without the congestion of India's huge cities.

Coffee: Coorg is India's great coffee growing region, and the coffee from Coorg is one of the best in the world (illy buys large amounts of Coorg coffee). Coffee and spice plantation tours, one of the largest Buddhist Tibetan temples outside of Tibet and beautiful scenery all characterize Coorg. Kids will love the elephant experience nearby at Dubare.

Best of all, Karnataka sees very few foreign tourists. Most tourists to Karnataka are Indian, and one has wonderful opportunities to meet vacationing Indian families.

Upcoming Quivertree Destination - Iceland!

At Quivertree we are constantly on the lookout for new and exciting family destinations -as long as we've traveled there ourselves, as a family, and been awed or excited by what we saw and did. One such destination is Iceland, which we will be introducing in the near future.

This is a country really like no other. Firstly it is virtually empty with just 300,000 people, 2/3 of who live in Reykjavik. So you could drive many a mile seeing almost nobody. Secondly, despite being incredibly developed, modern and high tech, Iceland is wild. It is filled to the brim with natural wonders: active volcanoes, huge waterfalls, lava fields,  geysers, thermal pools, valley glaciers, Arctic light till midnight in summer, the list goes on and on.



Iceland is not a 'typical' destination. It does not have thriving, large cities with markets, particularly interesting food, famous ruins or a memorable culture. But for families with a sense of adventure, it is an amazing, memorable  country. Where else can you stop your car along the side of the road and climb a volcanic crater, then skidoo down a glacier, and finish off by sailing in a lagoon surrounded by giant icebergs?

This is the land of Fire and Ice and it is Europe's ultimate adventure playground.

Feel free to contact us with any questions at (800) 235-9941 or (778) 986-6727.

We're here to help you!

Sincerely,