Installment #50 in Monolisticle's Ongoing Campaign Against the "Internet of Endless Listicles."
You’re traveling. In Bangkok. Or Paris. Or Munich. Or Latvia. Or wherever. And you’re hungry. In fact, you’re not just hungry, you’re “hangry.” And the people you’re traveling with aren’t just hungry, they’re “hangry.” And in their “hangry” condition, they just want food. Any food. Anything that will make the hangry go away. Then one of them pulls out his phone, does a quick online search, and says, “there’s a McDonald’s right around the corner.” You’ve officially entered Foodie Hell.
And that’s how it happens: good people making bad food decisions.
It happens to the best of us. Even the most diehard foodies. Way too many times I’ve been in a situation (in some amazing foodie city in the world) where lunch or dinnertime rolls around, and I—or the group I’m traveling with—find ourselves simply choosing the best of whatever restaurant option is close by, or convenient. Or whatever we can find in a quick online search. (Only to find out later that we were just two blocks from some significant eatery—frequently one that would have cost a lot less than the one we chose out of “convenience”. Ugh. It’s one of the bitter banes of a foodie’s existence).
So: the first thing I do when planning ANY trip—business or pleasure—is to make a Foodie Map. “What’s a Foodie Map?” you ask? A Foodie Map is a map designating all the eating establishments in a particular city that you hope to eat at.
“But hold on,” you say. “Why not simply pull out your phone and search for the best restaurants nearby?”
Because, for one, it's unreliable. And two, it can take FOR-EV-ER to cross-reference different search results. Even then, still, who knows what you’ll get? (And did I mention you are in Bangkok, or wherever, and everyone you’re traveling with is hangry, and one of them is lobbying for McFrickinDonald’s?!!!).
Take a deep breath. It'll be okay. Because, thankfully, you're armed with your handy foodie map. So you don’t have to waste time in the moment trying to compare reviews, or scramble to find something good nearby—because you’ve already done the work. Ahead of time. And reliably. (Way to come through, food hero, you just saved lunch—perhaps the best lunch you've ever had!).
So then, how do you make your own Foodie Map? Obviously, you can create a digital version. But I like to have a printed version that I can keep in my pocket and whip out in an instant. Or in case of spotty cell service. Or low battery. Or because I left my phone in the last tuk-tuk I rode in (who hasn't done that?).
Simply print out a map of the city you're about to visit, and use a pen to mark the restaurants on the map. Make sure to include restaurants all over the city so that no matter where you are when hangry happens, you'll have great options to choose from (after all, the reality of most travel is that you don’t always know where you’ll be in a city when mealtime comes around. And often, plans change).
So there it is. No good foodie worth his or her truffles squanders any opportunity to explore the culinary delights of a new city. Certainly not this foodie right here. And with your own personalized Foodie Map, you’ll never have to, either.
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