I recently had the joyous opportunity to take my first flight in almost a year and a half. It wasn’t just the joy of traveling (which I do love), but the impending excitement of seeing family I hadn’t hugged for so long! I was a walking, talking example of “giddy” as I told anyone who would listen from the Alaska Airlines Lounge greeter to the TSA security officer how excited I was, where I was going, and why!
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My flight planning was easy. I went into my cache of Alaska Airlines miles for the quick trip from PDX to OAK. But what about more complicated travel planning? If you’re planning your first trip of 2021 or thinking about 2022, you may be wondering about the best way to make those reservations so your time and money are protected.

I travel a lot (a couple of domestic trips every month and a couple of international flights each year), but I like to rely on the expertise of others who plan travel for a living. 

Here are some tips I’ve collected from travel experts, as well as a few from my own experiences:

Be flexible on your dates. Contrary to past advice there isn’t one day of the week that’s best to buy your airline tickets. But if your dates are flexible, booking your travel to fly on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Saturday, may save you some money since those days typically have the lightest passenger count.

Set up alerts and search for deals. Subscribe to one of the air travel search sites, like Scott’s Cheap Flights or Google Flights to search for your favorite destinations. You can also set up alerts for places you have your eye on and get a heads up on great deals. Scott’s has a limited Free version and a Premium membership for $49 annually where they’ll send you deals more often, including airlines’ “mistake fares.”  Other sites I’ve used to search for flight options and deals are 
Kayak, Expedia, Monondo, Kiwi. Sometimes I use these sites to see which airlines are headed to my destination, then I go directly to the airlines’ sites and compare the routes and deals. I prefer to book directly with the airlines when I can because if I have to make any changes it is easier to deal directly with the airline than with a third-party booking site. Although sometimes the deals you find on Momondo or Kiwi are too good to pass up!  
 
Consider alternate airports and one-way tickets. Sometimes you can find great deals booking in or out of larger airports. In addition to searching for flights from your home airport, look for flights from other major airports to your destination or even alternate destinations for great deals, then purchase separate tickets (or perhaps a train ride) to get you to your final destination. For instance, if I’m headed to Sicily and my home airport is Portland, OR, I might see a great deal for flights from San Francisco to Rome. If the deal is good enough, I would then buy separate tickets on regional airlines. Caution…there are some risks to this type of travel. I advise carrying on your bag or making sure you have plenty of extra time for connecting flights if you must pick up your checked bag. If your connection is on another airline, it could be in a different terminal and the airlines won’t watch out for you if one of your connections is canceled. This strategy is best for those who like to carry on their bags.

How far in advance should you book your flight? Although there aren’t hard and fast rules, experts like The Points Guy and Cheap Air recommend:

• For domestic flights – book about one to four months in advance.
• For international flights – book about four to eight months in advance.
• Using your miles or points – airlines typically release award seats about a year before your flight and then again, a couple of weeks before the flight, if they still have unsold seats.
• Book farther ahead for summer and holiday months no matter where you’re headed or how you’re paying. 

Work with a pro. Sometimes you need the peace of mind that comes from working with a professional travel advisor; your time is valuable and your life is busy (isn’t true for all of us?!). There are reasons to work with a professional in many areas of your life, from taxes to home repair. For travel, I highly recommend contacting Mary Cecchini and her team at Living Big Travel.

Protect your investment. Look for refundable flights which will be more expensive but might end up being worth it if your trip is canceled. Keep in mind that most “refundable” flights will give you a voucher for future travel with the airline, rather than cash; just be sure to read the fine print. But the best option, even when we’re not in the uncertain times of cancelations due to COVID-19, is to always purchase travel insurance. Most travel insurance companies offer a wide range of choices covering theft, baggage loss, flight delays, and cancelations. Some even offer the pricier option of “cancel for any reason” insurance. Here are two great resources – an article from Money.com recommending travel insurance companies and Travel Insurance 101 from Living Big Travel. Another great resource is a recent post about buying travel insurance in today’s changing market from Nomadic Matt. 
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I hope some of these tips get you where you’re going safely and efficiently, and that you have a joyous trip!

​Do you love to travel? Do you get excited about exploring new countries and learning about the culture through food and meeting local people? 

​Travel and food are my passions too, but in the interest of stemming the COVID-19 virus, all that adventure is on hold for us right now. We are being responsible citizens and staying close to home, maintaining “social distance” if we must venture out, and washing our hands for at least 20 seconds (which we should have been doing before the Coronavirus!).
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So how do we satisfy our culinary travel bug and still do our part to prevent the spread of this virus? Here are six suggestions:

​1. Catch up on food/travel movies and shows. There are so many ways to see the world without leaving your couch. Sadly, with streaming you’ll miss out on the actual sipping and tasting, but you can save that for your next “real-time” adventure. Or do a "virtual" watch party with friends. Here are some of my favorites:

• Chef’s Table. Renowned chefs from all over the globe share beautifully told stories behind their craft.
• Parts Unknown. Sadly, this Anthony Bourdain favorite has left Netflix but I’m including it here anyway since it’s rumored to be moving to the new HBO Max service launching in May. At first, I thought “another streaming service?!” but with so many of us staying home for now, maybe more choices are a good thing.
• Salt, Sugar, Acid Heat. This Netflix series is based on the 2018 book by Samin Nosrat, Berkeley-based cook, author, and teacher. Samin takes us on walks through local markets and into the kitchens of cooks in Japan, Italy, Mexico, and the U.S.
• The Chef Show.  Filmmaker Jon Favreau and Chef Roy Choi team up following the success of their very fun 2014 move, Chef, about a chef who travels the country serving Cuban sandwiches from his food truck – I highly recommend it! On The Chef Show, Jon and Roy travel the country to cook with chefs, celebrities, and barbecue pit masters.
• Somebody Feed Phil. This is just good entertainment. Watch Phil Rosenthal, the creator of “Everybody Loves Raymond,” eat his way around the globe.

​      Here’s a few I haven’t tried yet, but are in my queue:

• Street Food. A look at the best street foods throughout Asia and the people who make this their livelihood.
• Ugly Delicious and Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner. All David Chang’s restaurant ventures are spectacularly successful. I can’t wait to watch him search for unique flavors around the globe and have fun with celebrities like Seth Rogen and Kate McKinnon.

2. Read fiction and non-fiction about travel, culture, and cuisine. Below are some great food and/or travel books. There are so many more, these are just a few to get you started. Some I’ve read, and some are on my Good Reads shelf. If you’re not familiar with Good Reads, it’s a great way to stay connected with friends who love books, follow your favorite authors, and look for new books to read. I usually order my fiction books in Kindle format from Amazon, and often order hard copies of the non-fiction as I’m more inclined to refer to them again. But since we know Amazon is probably doing just fine right now, how about supporting your local independent bookstore if they have online shopping? One of the best bookstores in the world, Powell’s, is only a few miles from me, but they are closed due to the Coronavirus. They have an amazing selection of new and used titles. Please support them or your favorite neighborhood bookseller!

• My Life in France, Julia Child. Some many wonderful stories of Julia’s time in France.
• The Art of Eating, M.F.K. Fisher - includes five of her best works.
• A Year in the World, Frances Mayes of Under the Tuscan Sun fame and others.
• Hungry: Eating, Road-Tripping, and Risking It All with the Greatest Chef in the World, Jeff Gordinier. Read the adventures of food critic @thegordinier as he travels the world for four years with René Redzepi, the renowned chef of Noma.
• A Cook's Tour: In Search of the Perfect Meal, Anthony Bourdain. I’m thoroughly entertained by any book from Bourdain, but this one has my favorite travel stories.
• The Man Who Ate Everything, Jeffrey Steingarten. Sprinkled with a few recipes and memorable characters, the travels of the former Vogue food critic are always entertaining.
• Food Journeys of a Lifetime, National Geographic. Eye candy for travel and food; need I say more?
• Ultimate Eats – The World’s Top 500 Food Experiences…Ranked, Lonely Planet. This is just fun to look up where I’ve been and where I want to go.
• Unforgettable, The Bold Flavors of Paula Wolfert’s Renegade Life, Emily Kaiser Thelin. Part biography, part cookbook, this beautiful story is an homage to the woman whose immersion into Mediterranean culture brought the flavors of that region to American homes.
• Louisiana Eats!, Poppy Tooker. New Orleans is one of those cities with a unique “sense of place.” If you love NOLA as I do, you’ll enjoy the stories and recipes behind the food legends of the Crescent City.

 
Don’t forget food-centric travel blogs, magazines, and newsletters. Some of my go-to sites are:
Saveur Travel, Afar, Travel and Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 Great Food & Travel Blogs, and while not food-focused, you can learn so many helpful travel hacks from Nomadic Matt, @nomadicmatt.

3. Cook and bake. As we’re spending more time at home, there’s less time commuting and eating at restaurants. I don’t recommend the hoarding we’ve seen going on at grocery stores, but I do recommend the nesting some people seem to be doing. Instead of spring cleaning, how about looking online or in your cookbooks for some of the favorite dishes you’ve had during your travels? The first that comes to mind for me is the Chicken Khao Soi dish I couldn’t get enough of when in Chiang Mai last year; I ordered it everywhere from the Night Market to our hotel restaurant. I may try this recipe from Bon Appétit since it looks doable for me. Just looking at the photo of the big bowl of spicy, curry noodle broth makes my mouth water. Or perhaps I’ll try my favorite treats from Lisbon, Pastel de nata, also called Pastel de Belém, named for the monks in the Belém monastery where the decadent, creamy Portuguese custard tarts were created. There’s nothing like popping them in your mouth, warm and fresh out of the oven. But perhaps I should leave them to the experts and enjoy them next time I visit Lisbon. Maybe I’ll bake chocolate chip cookies instead!

4. Support your local restaurant. As we all know, the restaurant industry, along with the travel industry and so many others, is struggling right now. Many restaurants have already closed their doors; some may not come back, but let’s hope most can survive and emerge on the other side of this. Many restaurant employees survive on tips and this is going to be a difficult time for them. For those restaurants that are able to remain open, please support them with take-out orders, delivery, or the purchase of gift cards or merchandise. I heard that the founder of Fresh Books, the accounting software program I use, pre-purchased lunches from a local restaurant. He knows he’ll use the lunches when they are open again and this gives the business support when they really need it. 

5. Meet new people – virtually or at a distance. Do you have an elderly neighbor you don’t know? How about introducing yourself, while keeping a respectable distance, and ask if they need anything? Even the healthiest senior citizens should be self-quarantining, along with the rest of us. If they don’t have family or friends nearby, they may need assistance with groceries or outside chores. Maybe they need help learning how to use a food delivery app! Make yourself useful to others; you’ll be surprised how good you’ll feel while doing good. 

6. Plan your next trip. I love planning travel almost as much as I like traveling! Well, maybe not that much, but I do enjoy the process. We don’t know when it will be safe to travel again, but we know that someday the world will open up to travelers again. It may be a different world, but those of us who love (need?) to explore it will find a way. If your style is DIY for your trips, order a couple of guidebooks, or do some online exploring. If you want to create your own custom trip for your family or friends, but prefer a professional to do the planning, check out one of my favorites, Living Big Travel. If you like the idea of exploring local markets around the world with a chef and choosing ingredients for the meal you’ll make together, check out some of the Global Palate Adventures tours. At this point, we’re planning to go to Barcelona and Croatia in September 2020, we hope. If not, that’s just more time for planning future trips! For now, stay home and stay safe! 

You don’t have to be as brave as my friend Becca, who tried the famous incredibly stinky, Durian fruit, but do venture out of your comfort zone.

My side trip was two nights in Hong Kong, a city I'd dreamed of for years. Two days was not enough time. I hope to go back soon!

There are many reasons each of us intentionally leave our homes for one night or many. Duty, luck (good or bad), or simple wanderlust take us out the door and out of our comfort zones on business trips, long weekends, road trips, and global adventures. There is a WHY behind each type of travel.
I consider myself lucky. I travel frequently for work, and I enjoy it. I travel less frequently for vacation, but I feel privileged to be able to do both.
When I was little, I couldn’t imagine living and dying without visiting every country on the planet. Now I’ve accepted that perhaps visiting EVERY country might not be possible, but I plan to do my best to make a dent in the list.
For me, travel is part of constant learning and discovering. Learning about other cultures, how people live, speak and dress; and of course, how they eat. Food is a daily activity in lives all over the world. Food is a way to learn about other cultures through taste, touch, and smell, and can forge bonds, even when the spoken language is a barrier.

Some of my top travel WHYS are memories involving learning, food, and friendships.
 
WHY do you travel? Whatever your travel WHY, I hope it creates memories that make a difference in your life.