Adventure Travel Blogging

My father came to the US as a student enrolled at Berkeley in 1939 and met my mother when she was working in a soda fountain. They married, moved to Turkey where she learned to speak Turkish and cook Turkish cuisine. They moved back to Los Angeles where I was born and raised on delicious Turksih dishes all my life. Three common delicious dishes that were always on the table in Istanbul when we visited relatives, and frequently served at home in California are below.  When my sister learned to make the walnut chicken dish, she made me--her younger brother--hand squeeze the oil out of the walnuts to drizzle over the dish before serving. These recipies are delicious and easy to make for a complete and authentic Turkish dinner, especially because all three dishes can be served at room temperature.  Walnut Chicken One whole roasted chicken or 6-8 roasted chicken breasts – skin removed...

When I was 15 I moved to a small town in the Pampas of Argentina as an exchange student. Knowing absolutely no Spanish upon arrival (besides hola and la cucaracha- neither being the most helpful), I found numerous other ways to communicate with my local family and hosts- my favorite being through food! Learning a culture’s culinary traditions is by far and away one of the best ways to gain new perspectives on who people are and where they come from. My host mom and I immediately hit it off as I started learning to cook some of Argentina’s favorite dishes from her. One of my favorite dishes, that I still love to bake with friends and family, is Empanadas. Empanadas are the beloved comfort food of much of Latin America and come in numerous sizes, shapes and delicious flavor variations. The name Empanada comes from the Spanish word “empanar” or...

Two of our alumni travelers just returned from a customized Manu Wildlife Safari adventure in Peru and share their thoughts on several aspects of the trip below: "FAVORITE EXPERIENCES: The one day KM 104 hike up to Machu Picchu via the Sun Gate was the perfect way to enter the site for the first time. Hardly any one else on the trail, plenty of interesting info from our guide as we hiked. Great experience as one finally gets to the top and suddenly looks down on Machu Picchu. The macaw clay lick was also exceptional...a very unique wildlife experience. ON GUIDES: Both our guides William in Manu and Reuben in the Sacred Valley were excellent...Reuben in particular. I really enjoyed the fact that they shared information about their own lives and experiences with us. Both shared their experiences with the Shining Path, for instance. Lots of jokes and laughterON ACCOMMODATIONS: The...

A relevant food, lifestyle and culture report from the Hartman Group of Seattle, WA, reports on the growing consumer importance of "local" when it comes to the source and quality of food preferences.     Although this research is about the purchase and consumption of food at home, it speaks to us and our style of traveler who also appreciates experiencing farm to table when traveling on a Wildland Adventure. When we travel we go to the source to discover the origins of foods and to learn local recipes from families and celebrity chefs. This fosters a more sustainable kind of tourism in which we engage culinary experts, meet farmers and boutique wine makers, enjoy meals in local homes, and any number of special dining experiences in local eateries even including street foods like "mussels a la Istanbul" when traveling in Turkey.     We always seek out opportunities to feature...

This October I went on a mother/daughter wine and culinary trip to the Basque Country of Spain. My mom and I had never been to Spain together and thought this trip would be perfect for us because it contained two very important things... wine and food. First off, flying is not on my list of favorite things to do. However, I do love spending time with my Mom and drinking wine. So, I jumped on an airplane for what I knew would be a trip filled with new and wonderful experiences.  Since this was a wine and culinary tour there wasn’t the rush of adventure as in zip lining or wildlife safari’s - the adventure for me was seeing a new place with my mom, trying new foods and seeing the wine making process. My favorite thing that we did was in San Sebastián; a really fun cooking class where we...