Navigating Food Abroad: Tips, Mishaps & Healthy Hacks [Ladies Who Travel]

The Ladies Who Travel dish on food adventures around the globe, sharing their triumphs, disasters and discoveries while exploring how we eat abroad.

• Food tours offer cultural context, local knowledge and social connections for solo travellers
• Different dietary approaches require varying levels of preparation when travelling overseas
• Cultural misunderstandings can lead to surprising meals, like vegetarians being served chicken
• Exotic food experiences from jellyfish salad to fresh snake add adventure to travel tales
• Health considerations while travelling include carrying medications, protein supplements and activated charcoal
• Local markets provide authentic food experiences and direct economic support to communities
• Home dining experiences with locals create meaningful connections beyond typical tourism
• Strategies for healthy eating abroad include meal-sharing, cooking occasionally, and adjusting meal times

Take some comforts from home on your travels – your favourite tea bags, breakfast bars or snacks to help you find your feet in a new place before discovering local food options.

⭐️ Guests - Melissa (QueenslandTravelGuide.com.au) and Shelly Marie (SoloHerWay.com)
📝  Show Notes - Episode 60

🎧 Listen to next

• Episode #47– Pack Like a Pro: Essential Tips, Tricks + Travel Hacks
• Episode #52 – Travel Safe Travel Smart: Real Tips for Every Type of Traveller
• Episode #60 - Lost in Translation: Hilarious English Mix Ups on Your Adventures Abroad

Chapters

• 0:00 Food Adventures: Ladies Who Travel
• 5:12 Food Tour Benefits and Solo Travel
• 9:23 Unexpected Food Encounters Abroad
• 14:54 Memorable Meals and Favorite Cuisines
• 22:48 Markets, Local Dining, and Health Tips
• 31:50 Final Food Tips for Travellers

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

It's time for a monthly Ladies who Travel episode, and this one's all about food. From mystery menus to unforgettable bites, we're dishing out on how we eat when we travel the good, the bad and the truly unexpected. Grab a snack and get ready. This one's tasty. Hi and welcome to the Global Travel Planning Podcast. I'm your host, tracey Collins, who, with my expert guests, will take you on a weekly journey to destinations around the globe, providing travel inspiration, itinerary ideas, practical tips and more to help you plan your next travel adventure. Hey everyone, and welcome to episode 65 of the Global Travel Planner podcast.

Speaker 1: 0:45

This week, the ladies who travel are tucking into one of our favorite topics food and travel. Whether it's delicious discoveries, surprise ingredients or total menu confusion, we're talking about how we manage and enjoy food while we travel. So, from fussy eaters to full-on foodies, we've got all stories. I think I'll be the fussy eater. Eaters to full-on foodies, we've got all stories. I think I'll be the fussy eater, and this episode is going to be packed with laughs, lessons and a few cautionary trails, as always. So should we do the intro? So, hi Shelley, hi Melissa, how are you?

Speaker 1: 1:14

guys doing Hi everyone, I'm good, I'm good, hi, I'm doing great.

Speaker 1: 1:19

So I will say that we are recording this episode a few days after the last one, because Melissa is going off on a little bit of a trip next month, so we're going to struggle to record. So we're all in the same place as we were when we recorded episode 62, I think it was. So let's kind of kick off with. Actually, what I do want to say to start with is mainly because I left it to the end of last episode, and I want to say at the beginning is guys out there, get in touch with us, let us know what you think. Is there something that you want us to talk about? Is there something that particularly resonates with you? We love to hear from you. So get in touch via Speakpipe and we can get back to you. We'll give you a shout-out. And also I will say as well if you'd like to support the podcast, I do have a link so you can become a sponsor of the Global Travel Planning Podcast every month, and that costs from as little as three US dollars a month. So we really appreciate the support. Right, come on, then.

Speaker 1: 2:15

Let's talk about eating while we're on the road. I'm going to have a first confession is that I put weight on this last trip. So I need to go to Japan, because that's my go-to place to lose weight, because I'm not great when I go to Japan. So let's talk about what? About your eating styles, melissa? Let's start with you. What are you like when you're on the road? Are you adventurous or you're a bit cautious with what?

Speaker 3: 2:36

you eat. I'm somewhere in the middle, I reckon, like I don't. I love giving food a go, but I don't eat seafood. I don't. I'm not a vegetarian like Shelly, but I don't eat a lot of meat, um, and I've been extremely ill from eating overseas before, so it does make me really cautious. But yeah, so I'm somewhere in between. I want to give it a go, but I just don't want to be sick at the same time.

Speaker 1: 3:01

I totally get that one. What about you, Shelley?

Speaker 2: 3:04

I'm extremely adventurous, but I don't eat meat. But I will give anything a go. I love food. That's my first passion.

Speaker 1: 3:18

So yes, Well, I love food, but I'm the picky eater out of the group, so there's a lot of things that I won't eat. I don't particularly like any seafood. In fact, if I started telling you a list of things I don't eat, you'd take the whole episode. So, as my mum and stepdad usually say, just tell us what you will eat, tracy, because it's not that much. So I can struggle when I travel and I also do get stuck into kind of patterns of I'll eat the same thing. For example, in Japan, I must've had an egg sandwich literally every single day from the seven 11. Um, so I will get stuck in those patterns and keep eating stuff.

Speaker 1: 3:57

So when, like what I don't do which I'm wondering if you guys do is I don't tend to, apart from doing food tours? Now that is something that we, I guys, do is I don't tend to, apart from doing food tours? Now that is something that I do do, and I'll talk about that in a second. But do you plan food stops in your itinerary? Do you research restaurants and where you're going to eat? Shelley, do you do that?

Speaker 2: 4:17

Absolutely, absolutely. Before I even take off for a country, I look to see if there's a special restaurant, if there's a special market I need to go to, if they have a specialty food that they only prepare in that region. I'll watch YouTube, I'll really look into it and then I go for it.

Speaker 1: 4:41

Wow, well, I know you are kind of the food scholar.

Speaker 2: 4:43

That is your kind of go for.

Speaker 1: 4:47

wow, well, I know you are kind of the food scholar, that is your kind of, so I guess that that kind of knew what answer was going to come from that that you really are into like doing that research. I have to say I'm not brilliant at doing research. I tend to do a food tour to find out what's going on with food in an area. What about you, melissa? Do you research food? I'm definitely, I'm definitely not a foodie.

Speaker 3: 5:02

I like to eat food and I love to try, like you know, the food options. No, I'm definitely not a foodie. I like to eat food and I love to try, like you know, the local dishes and all those things. But I won't research, I more walk past and go oh, that place looks like it's got a cool vibe, or look at that view. I'll actually probably pick somewhere for the vibe or the view over actually what's on the menu. But, like you, I do like doing food tours and it's actually kind of not because of the food. Like I like doing food tours because they tend to show you around places and you're talking to locals and so yeah, and you get kind of like an orientation of the city. So I kind of like doing food tours, like on my first day or something yeah, I would recommend it.

Speaker 1: 5:41

it's actually because it sounds a bit weird when I say that I'm so picky that, but I love food tours, and exactly for those two reasons actually. One is that you get to find out the great places to eat because you'll get recommendations, and you'll get recommendations of what to eat as well, but also you learn about the history and the tales and the stories of a city or an area when you go on a food tour and I've recently done a whole load with with Devour. So always a shout out to Devour for inviting me on their food tours because they're amazing and I've learned so much, I've tried so many different foods. I get a little bit more adventurous on a food tour because you can have a little taste yeah.

Speaker 1: 6:17

I haven't ordered a whole meal and then you can go. Actually, I really like this. I might not have done it if I actually went into a restaurant and saw on a menu, I'd go. I don't want to spend so much and then not like it.

Speaker 2: 6:27

So I tend to find that the other point, too, tracy, is when you're traveling solo, food tours are excellent way to meet up with either other solo travelers or just meeting other people, because if you're a solo traveler, you know you're looking around the town, like you both said, you're trying new foods. Food brings people together. It's a common interest, so it's really a great way to meet people.

Speaker 1: 6:59

Oh, absolutely agree, and I would recommend doing it on the first few days of your when you arrive somewhere as well. And it's actually true what you're saying, because we've met a lot of solo travelers who've taken food tours when we've been out and it's great. Honestly, I they're just. We highly recommend them and I think people should do more of them. And it's really interesting when we do a food tour, 99% of the time the people who are on the food tour will say we always do one. This is one of the first things that we do. So what about? Have your eating habits changed? From traveling like do other things that you will like, you know cuisines that you will try now, like for me, a Japanese restaurant is a bit of a no-no because I'm always a bit unsure about what to eat, and that's my fault. I should learn more and I will next time I go to Japan. But has it changed? You know your eating habits and what you'll well you eat at home when you get back.

Speaker 2: 7:48

For myself. It's kind of fun because as I travel throughout all these countries and either I'm eating out or I'm with friends and I'm learning the different dishes, the cultures, the different ingredients, then when I come back to my home base in the States my, you know with my family and my friends I will try to replicate the dishes, sometimes extremely successfully, sometimes not, but it's. It's fun, because then you could relive it and then you could tell them the stories. You know where you ate it, you know what's behind it, so it's kind of like a little souvenir.

Speaker 1: 8:34

Yeah, I love that. I love that idea. I do. I must admit, I do make some dishes if I particularly like it. Or I'll say Doug, let's find out how to make this so we can do it at home as well. What about you, melissa? Are you the same?

Speaker 3: 8:44

Yeah, I am a bit the same. You know I love coming home and you know getting excited and inviting people over and you know, trying to make some dishes or, yeah, get really excited and, like Shelley, sometimes it turns out great, sometimes not so good.

Speaker 1: 8:59

Absolutely, but it's all worth trying. And there's lots of countries you can go to now and you can do cookery classes as well, which are great, and that's something I desperately want to try. Even though Doug does all the cooking, it's like I'll take him. He can go there do the cookery tour and I'll I'll try the food. Okay, so what about? I mean, we talked about in the last episode about kind of language mix-ups and kind of lost in translation. Have you ever ordered any food or drink somewhere, being surprised with what you received?

Speaker 2: 9:30

Well, this is kind of funny from a vegetarian standpoint, and I don't know if you have come across this, even if you're not vegetarian. So I have gone to many countries and I'll say, oh, I'm vegetarian or I'm pescatarian, because I do eat seafood. And they'll go, oh, okay, and then they will present me with some kind of chicken and I'm like no, I don't eat any meat. But a lot of countries or a lot of cultures, for some reason I don't know if it's a translational thing or a cultural thing or what but they don't consider chicken meat. So they're like, oh, no, it's not meat, it's chicken. And I'm like okay, and I'm like okay. So many times I haven't seen a dish with either croquette or something you know that has contained chicken in it, just because they don't consider it meat.

Speaker 1: 10:38

Okay, that's an interesting one. Just say that I think when, when we met up with you well, I was with my friend Terry when I met up with you in Puglia last year you ordered something in the pizza restaurant which was a bit of a surprise, which and I caught it was raw meat. I think it was raw sliced. I can't remember exactly what it was, but I know, yeah, and none of us were, well, we were pretty and you obviously couldn't eat it, and I know Terry and I were like no, not, not for us.

Speaker 2: 11:06

That was a bit of it yeah, yeah, it's like a, it's a like almost paper, paper, paper thin, and it's marinated, and then it's it's a delicacy and it's marinated, and then they put onions and so they it was a restaurant that I frequent so they wanted to bring it over special, but yeah, I don't need it.

Speaker 1: 11:27

They knew, but I mean, I weren't, weren't that keen. I have to say so, it was one of those. What about you, melissa? Has there been anything that you've kind of ordered and went?

Speaker 3: 11:35

oh, we talked about this last week, about the whole crisps and chips and that kind of thing. I've been really surprised, like when I've ordered you know as an Aussie ordering chips with a burger or a sandwich or something, and then you get actually like potato chips or crisps, depending on where you're from, and I was like, oh, that's a bit strange, like yeah, it's kind of those more sort of yeah translation issues that I've kind of been surprised at more than anything.

Speaker 1: 12:04

Yeah, no, that's absolutely true. What about? Is there anything like weird that you've eaten when you've been traveling? Now, I know it's not weird and it's quite normal in a lot of cultures to eat things like insects and bugs. Now, um, I haven't tried any yet, but I have eaten things like crocodile. Um, I'm trying to think of some of the strange things, but crocodile, I guess, is one of those ones that I've tried when I lived in Africa.

Speaker 3: 12:27

But what about you guys, anything strange or unusual that you have eaten, being with people like I will not in terms of meat because I'm extremely fussy, but you know, like in South America, guinea pig, I've been like in Vietnam on a food tour and my daughter actually ate what was on it, like there was snake.

Speaker 1: 12:49

Oh yeah, I've been a snake yeah, all right, okay, wow okay. I did live in France for a while, so I've had the frog's legs and and that sort of kind of, because they're quite adventurous, um, uh, but I think I'd draw the draw the line at man saying that eat snails. So I'm kind of saying I don't eat bugs but actually I enjoy, I love, snails. So I don't know what about you, shelly, anything I guess, being vegetarian kind of makes it a little bit.

Speaker 2: 13:19

I do eat seafood and I was at a celebration for a graduation and they had sesame. What was it? Sesame jellyfish salad. You can see Tracy's face right now.

Speaker 1: 13:39

It's not enthusiastic about what you just said.

Speaker 2: 13:41

No, well, it was funny because it was at this huge table and like they had they had to have had 50, 60 dishes, and so it looked very appetizing, but I wasn't really sure what it was and so I got my chopsticks. I was eating it and one of my friends leaned over and she goes you're not gonna like it. And I was like it's like well, what is it? And she's like well, just taste it, you're not gonna like it. I'm like it's not meat, right. And she's like no. So I did, and it wasn't my favorite, let's just put it that way. But now I can say yes, I have had sesame jellyfish.

Speaker 1: 14:19

Yeah, yeah, I can see that now that Melissa or I would have gone for that one. So what about, um? I don't know if either of you guys have got any allergies or intolerances or I mean food preferences. Obviously, like, for me it's to avoid fish, and when I was in japan, we stayed in a ryokan and we did have a dinner and a breakfast there and I remember saying, uh, please, no, no, no fish. And they were brilliant. She kind of. She brought out a meal for me which was kind of adapted to to not having any fish, and a lot of people expect with shellfish and fish that it might be an allergy.

Speaker 1: 14:52

For me it's just a preference, um, and in the uk and I say this all the time because I know, um, we get a lot of inquiries about this. There's it's very good in the uk in that you will always be asked if you have any allergies or intolerances before you order, but obviously that's not the case in lots of different places around the world. Um, so how do you? Do you have any kind of um? Do you have any issues? Are these allergies, intolerances or anything, or is it maybe just preferences, melissa um I don't have anything like official, but I do um.

Speaker 3: 15:22

I do tend to get low blood sugar if I don't eat nutrition like nutritious food during the day and sometimes like a balanced diet. And sometimes it can be a bit tricky when you're on the go, you know it's easy to pick up like pastries or croissants and sandwiches and then that can be like a bit too carb overload for me and then my my blood um sugar drops and then I get really shaky and sick. So I am the way what I do to overcome that is, I travel with um like protein powder and I like I always put that in my water during the day so I'm kind of drinking that all day and it kind of keeps me quite good. And sometimes I'll even buy like protein bars and things like that, just if you can't sort of get that balanced diet throughout the day. The other thing this might be a bit TMI, but I can get really constipated when I travel.

Speaker 1: 16:15

Well, it happens and we carry stuff. If I go and travel with that, he always gives me everything for diarrhea or constipation, because you don't know how you're going to react to a diet and that is like you know.

Speaker 3: 16:27

I know we don't want to, you know, go into our toilet habits, but I think that's a really, really common thing, that people either go either way when they travel.

Speaker 1: 16:35

So you really have to be careful, yeah, absolutely, and take stuff with you. What about you, shelley? Do you? I know, obviously, being a vegetarian, that's one thing, but do you? Do you also have any allergies or intolerances, or is it kind of again the preference not to eat any meat?

Speaker 2: 16:50

um, I don't I don't really have any allergies. Um, I try to like melissa. I always keep snacks whether it's nuts, protein bar, cheese stick, something, something with me all the time. I mean no matter what. Um, but also on the aspect that you were saying, I got very, very ill one time I won't name the country from a fruit. The night wasn't clean and it was like one of those carts and they just cut the fruit and they put it in the bag. So I carry activated charcoal. So I carry activated charcoal and I never carried it before until that trip, but I was sick for a good week because it was really, really bad. So here you're thinking you're eating something like really healthy and nutritious and hydrating and so you just have to be like really mindful if they're wiping off their board of the knife or, and so you just have to be careful.

Speaker 1: 17:59

So carrying stuff like that is important yeah, yeah, I definitely agree, and it's things like, um, you know, if fruit's being washed in the water and the water's not not clean. It's things like that you've got to think about and I, I must admit, I've been pretty lucky in that I've not had, um, an upset stomach. I didn't didn't have an upset stomach in India, didn't have an upset stomach in Sri Lanka. I've been pretty good. Those are countries that kind of you know that you need to be prepared.

Speaker 1: 18:24

Bali I've always been pretty lucky at as well, and Doug actually, but Doug's extra careful because he has a medical condition so he has to be very careful about what he eats. But it's absolutely true, I think you need to think about, kind of, what you need to take with you and make sure that you've got things that just in case you do get sick, because unfortunately, um, we, we one of our other friends, when we were in India, got very, very sick, was very ill, and it was when we were actually having to travel from on a train and a bus and it was really unpleasant for her um, and it was really touch and go about whether she went in hospital because she was so ill. So you've got to, yeah, you have to kind of um think about those kind of think about those things when you're packing and what you're going to take. So you've got that kind of medical stuff I always take. I mean, I'm pretty famous for taking tea bags.

Speaker 3: 19:09

I was waiting for that, and if you weren't going to mention it, I was that she takes her own tea bags.

Speaker 1: 19:18

I also do and I always take breakfast bars as well. We always have and I always take, you know. I just like to have those with me all the time, because if I wake up in the morning, if I'm in a hotel and we haven't paid for breakfast and it's not a part of it, then I'd like to be able to just have a cup of tea and a breakfast bar, so we're not having to rush out because we're starving. So I tend to do that as well. Right, let's talk about favorite meals that we've had on a trip. I know this is really hard, because I was thinking about this for me and I was thinking there's so many places and so many meals that are kind of standouts for me. So what is the best meal you've ever had on a trip?

Speaker 2: 19:53

shelly you know, I thought about it and I could only narrow it down to two countries. Yeah, okay, so italy and thailand. Okay, two countries that I mean. I could go on with the list, but if I had to pick two countries, I would say Italy and Thailand.

Speaker 1: 20:16

I have to say I'm with you on Italy. I did a lot of food tours in Italy last year and actually just the food just blew me away. It really did. It's so tasty. I also like Malaysian, but I love Moroccan food. I just haven't been in Morocco. I have to say there's a lot of sweets that you can have, but if you avoid those, which we did and stick to the tagines oh, it was just so much vegetables. I love veg, so that was really good for me. So I just had vegetable overload and I could eat a tagine just about every day. Again, it's one of those things that I absolutely love.

Speaker 1: 20:56

On this last trip I am going to throw that in here because we didn't expect it we were actually in Gaul and we went to this restaurant. We were walking down the street and this couple we were looking at a menu. Outside this there was a Middle Eastern restaurant and this couple went. We've eaten here every day. The food's so good and we went. Well, okay then, wow, wow. That's a, that's a good recommendation and, honestly, we had one of the tastiest meals Doug and I've ever had.

Speaker 1: 21:17

We didn't go back because sometimes when you go back, it's not as good as you remember, and they actually do have a restaurant as well in Colombo, but we didn't go. But we're still talking about that, and that's a few months ago. And I'm just going to throw one more in. There is, if you're ever in Paris and want Moroccan food, if you go into the Marais district, le Marché des Enfants Rouges, there is a very, very good Moroccan little kind of takeaway. You can sit in the market and have your Moroccan tagine there. So that's my kind of one tip if you're heading to Paris, what about you?

Speaker 3: 21:49

Melissa, what's your favorite? I struggled when I was trying to get the best meal, like I mean, I'm sure I've had lots of amazing meals, but yeah, I like what um Shelley said. I just love the food in Thailand, like I just I could eat it like breakfast, lunch and dinner. It's so good, so fresh, so flavorsome, and I've done a few food tours, um, in Thailand as well and, yeah, I just love Thai food. Oh, I do too. What about?

Speaker 1: 22:11

food markets do you look out for the markets? I just love Thai food. I do too. What about food markets? Do you look out for the markets? I mean, I know when I talk to people about travelling to London everybody wants to go to Borough Market and again that's kind of TikTok, because everybody sees the strawberries dipped in chocolate on TikTok so everybody wants to go and try those. But are there any kind of food markets or any standout food markets that you guys have been to that you go? Oh, these places you need to go and visit.

Speaker 3: 22:36

I've been to a few, like in Cambodia and Vietnam, and probably for different reasons than what you're thinking Like, I just find it a real eye-opener to see how the locals you know how they eat and how they prepare their food. You know, it's probably not the way I would prepare food and it's a bit shocking and a bit like wow, but that's just. You know, in vietnam and thailand, where I've been, but um, you know, and then doing the, the markets, I'm like the floating markets, like in the river and, um, in the mekong, and that's just incredible, just seeing how locals live. So I think local markets are a great way to get an authentic experience. You know, not not the tourist markets, I mean, they're fun too but if you want to like really see how the locals prepare and their food and what they eat, then the authentic markets, local markets, are great yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 23:27

What about you, kelly?

Speaker 2: 23:28

I think to what Melissa said. I love night markets. That's one of my favorite things to do when I'm in Southeast Asia or even Malaysia or anywhere that there's a night market. I just love night markets.

Speaker 2: 23:46

But I will say, when I was in Australia Tracy, where you're at, they have a beautiful Sunday market and I went every single weekend because the fruit and the vegetables and just everything is homemade, and you were talking about Middle Eastern food, there were homemade falafels there. There were, and it they were made where you can bring them home and cook them, so they weren't like all greasy and fried, um, they had like, uh, fresh mushrooms that were like growing on the on the log, still kind of like in the pouch grow. I mean it was amazing. Every week I went, you know, they had something fresh. So, yes, I love the local markets and that's one thing. I do research when I go because, like yours was on a Sunday, but there's often in Italy, in Puglia, several markets are on Wednesday, so the big market will be on Wednesday and then they'll have a smaller, just maybe vegetable and fruit market on Saturday. So that's what I look wherever country I'm in, I look to see where the market is.

Speaker 1: 25:08

It's good, because then you, because you don't want to miss it, the worst thing you do is you're only there for a few days and you've actually missed it, I'm actually going to give a shout out as well here to Like Local.

Speaker 1: 25:16

So when I was recently in Vietnam and Cambodia, I was invited by Like Local, who are a company who work with the locals. So basically you go to a local's home and you get to have dinner with them. In fact, doug prepared dinner a meal with the mom in the house in Ho Chi Minh City, which was a real surprise actually, because she expected that I was going to be the one in the kitchen and I was like no and of course it's unusual in Vietnam for men to set foot in the kitchen and prepare the food.

Speaker 1: 25:45

So she was videoing Doug taking photos. She was on to all her relatives going you won't believe it, this man's doing this food. It was so much fun. And then we got to sit down with the family and have dinner and talk to them about and obviously we did say lost in translation using a lot of Google Translate but talk to them about their lives as well, and you know what a privilege to be able to do that.

Speaker 1: 26:07

So that was something that I would really encourage anybody to do, and I will put a link to like local as well, because you're supporting the local economy. And that's the point as well. About the markets, you're talking about um going there, because often if we're staying in a hotel and we're doing, we do, we might do stuff we're not putting money into the economy there's, it's going to the hotel chain or it's going to what a big restaurant chain or something. But if we actually can do those sort of things, then we're directly supporting people in that and they're actually going to a big restaurant chain or something. But if we actually can do those sort of things, then we're directly supporting people in that and they're actually going to benefit from tourism, which is ultimately what we want, and ultimately, it's a lot healthier.

Speaker 2: 26:42

Yeah, it's a lot healthier and you save money yeah, absolutely it's.

Speaker 1: 26:46

It's except if you go to borough market, which is quite expensive because it's very popular with tourists, but it's, it's a lovely place to go, I wouldn't. I just would say don't go on a saturday, because I get that all the, because it's very popular with tourists, but it's a lovely place to go. I just would say don't go on a Saturday because I get that all the time. It's like Borough Market. I went and I couldn't get moved. I'm like well, did you go on a Saturday? Yeah, it's going to be really busy. So that would be my tip if you're planning to go to Borough Market in London.

Speaker 1: 27:05

Now, what about let's end the episode with kind of what are tips about eating well abroad? Because I think I I have to watch, because I put weight on very easily and I have to say this last trip, even though I was doing a lot of walking, I seem to have crept a bit. I think probably when I was in the UK, more than that, my recent travels, I managed to put a bit of weight on um, but what do you do to kind of keep healthy and kind of eat healthily and watch, watch the diet when you're traveling? Do you plan, plan it out. Do you think carefully about what you are eating, or do you do what I do and seem to just go for it? What do you do, melissa?

Speaker 3: 27:39

Yeah, okay. Well, if I'm traveling by myself, which is a lot of the time, I tend to try really hard to have two meals. So I'll try really hard to push my breakfast out to quite late, and so then that can kind of count as breakfast lunch, and then I probably tend to eat my dinner a lot earlier. So I try to just have two meals. But if I'm traveling with somebody else and I mean we've done this as well, I think, tracy, when I've traveled with you, like try and share a meal, because you know a lot of the time when you're at a restaurant or you know even a cafe, it comes out and it's quite big, and or when I was travelling with my family, like my partner and daughter, we might get two meals between the three of us. So try and do a little bit of that, which I know is a bit boring and stuff. But it's not always about the money, it's about not coming home 10 kilos heavier.

Speaker 1: 28:25

Yeah, well, that's about spot, I think. Nine and a half, I think that's where I'm at. Well, I'm going to be seeing you, so you won't be able to tell. But yeah, doug, and I do that a lot We'll share one meal, or I'll get a starter and he might get a main course, because we find some places you can get, you know, huge portions. How do you?

Speaker 2: 28:45

deal with that as a solo traveler, shelley? Well, if I have a place to cook, I try to cook at least four times a week. I'm not a huge risk eater, so you know I will have like espresso, maybe a biscotti, and then you know, I'll pick up something, a snack, during the day and then I'll cook at night. But, that being said, if I'm out and about, my go-to is usually just either going to an aperitif, uh, and making that my meal, I mean, or I will just order an appetizer and a drink. I don't usually order like meals, and if I do, I'll order something like, you know, fish, or I'll order something that you know is mostly protein and in vegetables. I try to, you know, not over indulge. That's why it's sometimes in Italy it's a little bit difficult because they expect you to eat a whole pizza by yourself, which that was impossible for me, but, uh, it would last me a couple days, but yeah.

Speaker 1: 30:01

I know I think we went out for aperitivos and some of their aperitivos were huge gripping meals. I was like I was a bit surprised. I was like, wow, that's a lot, dude that was.

Speaker 2: 30:09

That was like I always uh, tell my friends I'm like that's the meal before the meal. So for me, if I'm going out by myself or meeting friends, I'll just have that. I'll have the aperitif and maybe a panzerotti or something small, and then that's it, I'm done. I mean, I let them go out and have their big meal or whatever, yeah. I'm good.

Speaker 1: 30:35

Okay, so as always, we end the episode with the kind of one tip that we'd share. So what would be the one tip that you would share for anybody traveling abroad when it comes to eating well and wisely?

Speaker 3: 30:48

Well, my tip and we did cover it is I always like to look for a food tour on my first day, for many reasons. You learn a lot about the food and learn about the city that you're in.

Speaker 1: 30:59

Yeah, that's perfect. What about you, Shelley?

Speaker 2: 31:01

Find a local market, buy some fresh fruit, buy some fresh vegetables, buy some healthy options to keep in your mini fridge. If you have a place to cook, cook a little something in elaborate, but you will feel less sluggish and more have more energy to go out and tackle the day.

Speaker 1: 31:23

Perfect, and I guess my, my one is gonna is gonna be just to take some things with you that you know you can eat. So for me, obviously, the tea bags is a big thing, because I love tea. So if there's something that you really like to take tea bags or a breakfast bar or something, so that even if you arrive in a place for the first couple of days, you've got something until you find your feet, find a supermarket or places to eat. So that's something that I always do. So take some stuff of your own. And obviously the one thing as well I will say, um, is just take things with you for health reasons. So take some medications with you, because the last thing you want to do is have be sick and not be able to find a chemist or a pharmacy where you are. So always take some supplies. So have a little first aid kit. I think that's that's essential.

Speaker 1: 32:09

Anyway, great to talk to you guys, as always, love talking about food. Yes, and we're going to talk to you guys, as always, love talking about food. Yes, and we're going to talk in our next episode. Actually, we're going to talk a bit more about wellness and how we look after ourselves when we travel, because that's really important. I'm now going to look after myself by going to the gym a little bit more, but doing some Pilates, I think, after this trip but we'll talk about that, and I know you guys are really good at at doing that whether that's a shorter trip or a long trip still, how you kind of look at your self-care and look after yourself mentally and physically when you're traveling, because I think that's important, um, but, as usual, you can find the everything we talked about in some photos in the show notes at global travel planningcom.

Speaker 1: 32:46

Forward slash episode 65, and also we have the ladies who travel section on the website as well, so you can go and find all our episodes. Do get in touch, though, via SpeakPipe. We want to hear from you guys. Yes, make love. Yeah, absolutely Otherwise. Thanks so much as always for joining me, you guys, and we'll end the episode, as we always do, with happy global travel planning. Happy global travel planning.

Speaker 2: 33:09

everyone Happy global travel planning.

Speaker 1: 33:14

Thank you for joining us on this episode of the Global Travel Planning Podcast. For more details and links to everything we discussed today, check out the show notes at globaltravelplanningcom. Remember if you enjoyed the show, please consider leaving us a review on your favorite podcast app, because your feedback helps us reach more travel enthusiasts, just like you. Anyway, that leaves me to say, as always happy global travel planning.