When you’re on the road, what do you do, food-wise?

The biggest problem I’m seeing is that I’ll have to buy minimal cookwear and then sell or donate it before the next location. I’ve only got 2 backpacks and I’ll probably only be traveling by bus, usually, each location 4 to 6 months.

Jord

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Hey Jord-

The answer to this question is highly dependent on circumstances, location, who you’re with, and other such variables. It’s also a matter of priority and preference—and whatever you choose, you’ll be making some sacrifices.

It’s possible to travel with a lightweight cooking kit, but the tradeoff for that modicum of independence and functionality is that you’ll have significantly less space in your bag for other things (clothing, laptop, sketchbook, toiletries, etc).

The main problem with packable cooking gear, though, is that in most cases you’ll need some kind of local infrastructure to make full use of it. Pots and pans are great if you have a consistent and sufficiently powerful source of heat, but relatively useless if you don’t have access to a stovetop or usable fire pit.

Alternatively, carrying your own cook-worthy power source (like some kind of portable butane or propane stove) limits you by both taking up a substantial amount of space in your bag, and by keeping you from using some modes of transportation due to the fact that your bag is now a combustable safety hazard.

One alternative to carrying cooking supplies is to go all-in with prepared food: restaurants and meals that you can either eat without cooking, or prepare using the resources at hand (a microwave at the shop, a stove at your hostel). This option comes with a lot of caveats, however.

Yes, it’s a good idea to eat food made by locals at least a bit when traveling, to learn about new dishes, try new flavors, and support local businesses. But it can also be more expensive (depending on where you’re traveling), and it keeps you from cooking, which is a big bummer for those of us who enjoy the process and practice of it.

The happy medium that I typically aim for is to carry as little as possible with me, in terms of cooking gear, and to pick up decent, inexpensive, second-hand cooking equipment when I arrive, which I sell or donate again before I leave (usually donate).

Spending $20-50 on such equipment will generally allow you to utilize whatever other cooking-related resources you have available, will save you money that you would have otherwise spent on endless restaurants and take-out, and allows you to stay in-practice with your chopping and sautéing skills while in the area.

This approach pairs well with eating local dishes and then going home and trying your hand at replicating what you tasted, later, by the way.

Additionally, this approach allows you to add money to the local economy without taking anything out: you’re essentially renting equipment, because you’re either selling or donating it before you leave; so the cost of the equipment, minus what you get for it before you leave, is your rental cost.

I tend to buy used and then donate when I leave, whenever possible, which keeps costs low but also keeps environmental impact at a minimum. Your priorities may differ from mine, and it may be that you buy relatively nice gear which would justify selling instead of donating—options will vary from place to place and based on your personal situation and preferences.

One more point to consider here is that regularly swapping out equipment in this way gives you the excuse to learn new cooking techniques, but also how to use new cooking tools.

Each time you change location, you have the opportunity to question what you were doing before and improve upon it.

This means that you can try using new gear, try out new techniques, see if you can make your favorite dishes using one pan instead of a pan and a pot, using one knife instead of an array of tools, maybe using only the oven that came with your rental flat rather than trying to find a stovetop to use, as per the usual.

This is an opportunity to convert a limitation into a catalyst for growth and creativity. Don’t be afraid to try new things and to remix what already works.

Also keep in mind that this advice applies to everything, not just cooking.

Each new home is an opportunity to experiment with new ways of living, thinking, and seeing the world. Each new milestone, each new beginning, is a chance to make use of what you learned in your last home and to establish novel habits and rituals based on the outcomes you want to achieve.

You can make such changes at absolutely any moment, of course, but there tends to be a lot less psychological friction if you can pair changes of this kind with other changes that are already happening because of a move, a change in employment, a new relationship, or anything else that shakes up your status quo.

Taking the time to semi-regularly check in and tweak your lifestyle settings is a reliable way to make sure you’re not stagnating or passively observing the interesting and potentially educational things happening in the world around you.

Travel can expose you to a lot of wonderful and inspiring new-ness, and these sorts of practices can help you remember to apply what you learn along the way.