Through the Food for Thought series, we continue learn more about other travelers’ journeys, and the role food plays. As we travel, we often make meaningful connections through a country or region’s foods. Sharing a meal, learning a new recipe we can take home with us, or exploring the traditions behind a particular dish become memories that can transport us back to a place. This week we are excited to talk with Shannon of A Little Adrift. Hers is among the first blogs we discovered as we were planning our first long international journey together in 2008. Shannon’s ideas on slow travel that supports local communities, and her focus on connecting to cultures through food have always struck a chord. A new interview in this series is published each Friday.

Meet Shannon

Shannon O’Donnell has traveled to more than 40 countries since she left to travel around the world in 2008. She has been featured as an expert on travel and volunteering in national and international print, radio, and television and was named a 2013 National Geographic Traveler of the Year.

She spends time in the United States each year to speak at Universities and conferences and she is a professional travel writer, trained public speaker, and author of the critically acclaimed book, The Volunteer Traveler’s Handbook.

Her blog, A Little Adrift, is a resource point to motivate and encourage other travelers through stories, advice, and photography.

Taco, Baja Taqueria

Food for Thought

The underlying idea of the “Food for Thought” series is that to truly experience a culture you must taste it. Do you agree or disagree? Why?

I agree that food is a wonderful lens through which to view the culture. The ritual of sharing a meal and eating together is such a integral part of our daily lives, that there are important cultural nuances and quirks to be discovered from tasting the integration of flavors, foods, and spices a place uses.

What food do you identify with “home?” Does it reflect something about your own culture or upbringing?  Do you crave it while you’re away?

I love macaroni and cheese (!), which must surely peg me as an American. But it’s a strong comfort food for me and I truly love the various ways and cheeses you can use to make the dish different. And yes, I definitely crave it while I am away. 🙂

Yangon, Myanmar

How has travel affected the way you think about food?

Food on the road is a ritual of its own, like the rituals a culture has to experience a meal, there is an art to traveling and eating that I do love. In many places I plot out my meals throughout the day to sample widely of the flavors and regional cuisines, and it never occurred to me that each meal could have such different customs. So, instead of merely waking and eating my three meals when I am back home, I often think of the piping hot soup I sipped in Myanmar for breakfast, or the delight of a bag of sticky rice and skewered veggies in Thailand. The entire process of eating is different, and because so many cultures vary their meals and customs, I now have the benefit of mixing and melding the ones I liked best!

Do you have a technique to try and understand local cuisine? (ie: Attending cooking classes or food tours? Hunting the best street food?)

I often will attend a cooking class in new place because I am an awful cook and I always hope this will help. Street food though is my go-to for new foods, and it was once I started traveling with Jodi from Legal Nomads that I really began to venture deeper into the street food cultures in each new place.

Four Seasons, Jordan

Tell us about a memorable meal that was so special it is forever ingrained in your memory. Where was it and what set it apart? What was served, and who shared it with you?

It’s just too hard to pick one, I often get flashes of memories when a spice or scent triggers a meal. That will snapshot me back to that moment in time, the laughter of the moment with friends, or the conversations with locals. Whatever the moment, food is a wonderful trigger for the many moments I have had on the road these past 5+ years.

What food have you tried in your travels that some might find shocking or surprising? Would you eat it again?

I am a long-time vegetarian (16 years), and yet my best friend dared me to eat a grasshopper in China . . . and I did. It was chewy and not very pleasant.

And just for fun, if you had to choose one country’s cuisine to eat for the rest of your life what would it be?

Hands down, Indian food.

Bedouin woman making shrak bread in Jordan

All images provided by Shannon from A Little Adrift.  Connect with her via Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Youtube and Instagram.