Awhile back, I read an entry on a social media site about how many of us who travel need to stop talking about it publicly. The entry stated something to the effect that we are making it uncomfortable for those who neither have the time nor the money to travel, and that many who would like to go places and do things just can’t, for many reasons.

I’d like to speak to that.

With a trip to the grocery store, and a look through some recipes on line, you can start some virtual travel, right there in your kitchen.

Ever wanted to go to Greece? Look up one simple recipe for a Greek dish, with one or two ingredients you know you like, and make it. That’s a start.  Perhaps you envision Paris–stop off at your grocery store’s cheese section, and ask about French cheeses. Look at the wine section, and find a French wine, pick up some grapes and sit on your deck. What do you like about that cheese? What do you *not* like? Is that wine too sweet? Too dry? Think about what you like or don’t like. Read about French wine and cheese. How is it made? This is part of travel…learning about the place(s) you’re going.  With more education, and more adventure in tastes, you’ll find yourself “travelling by taste” again and again.

It’s not just overseas–I may have grown up in Northern Virginia, but I didn’t eat a corn dog until I was 15! Didn’t try biscuits and gravy ’til I came to Missouri. Never had chili verde (green chili sauce? That’s a thing? Says I) ’til I moved to Colorado after college.  Didn’t try the exotic, er, Rocky Mountain oysters (for the uninitiated, bull testicles–tastes like chewy beef), until I was 23. Tried bison meat, in a burger (tasty!) when I was 40.

I travel because I think it’s important. I come from a mother who felt it was an education, not only for us, but to be good ambassadors for our own country. My immigrant father felt it was important that we know as much as possible about the world, personally.  We were exposed to many different foods, at home and abroad, and were admonished to “mind our manners, as we were guests in (country)!”

Can you travel overseas? If you save your money, a few dollars at a time, yes. Eventually, you will be able to do it. I have no doubt.  And I encourage everyone to spend the money to get a passport, if for no other reason than it’s another good form of government ID. But in the meantime, see the world from your dining room table. Buy a world map, download recipes, find some fascinating foods to make. What do the immigrants in your neighborhood, or school, or office eat?

Let food be our joy, and our connection.