Lost Explorer...

After all of the months that COVID-19 has kept me very close to my home, many weeks not venturing outside of a one mile radius that I would walk to get some exercise, I knew that I was mourning the loss of travel. I recently began to identify more specifically what aspects of travel I enjoyed that are not possible right now. I miss exploring. I miss the adventure of the unknown. I miss the challenge of successfully navigating a new place and the impromptu conversations I would have along the way. I miss trying new things. I miss the myriad of information I learn about the place I am traveling, ranging from history to climate and transit. I miss the feeling of anticipation of an adventure and the energy that bursts forth as I embark on a trip. 

I have enjoyed using my time to set a routine around my home and neighborhood, but I cannot deny that nothing has replaced the excitement that I experience when on a trip! 

Earlier this year, I dedicated umpteen hours to planning a trip to Peru. In my usual style, I researched where I wanted to eat, forever worried that I will miss out on an opportunity to discover what "authentic" and unusual foods I can try while outside of the country. Then, I looked into how to travel most efficiently and cost effectively from city to city, decided how many days to stay and which part of the city I wanted to find a place to rent, using access to public transit as a primary motivator for that decision. Then, just like that, I began to hear rumblings that there was a big virus causing reduced traveling as people were being discouraged from running around the world. Remembering back to those days, I was optimistic that it was something that would clear up before my trip, but little did I know that a worldwide pandemic was beginning. Of course, the trip was canceled as travel was not allowed at that time. I remained optimistic and assumed that I would be able to take my next trip in the fall, as certainly life would return to normal after several months. The trip that I had planned to France was for September. The world was in no better shape in September than it had been in March. Therefore, again I had no choice but to stay home. 

So here I sit in my living room on election night 2020, a room I have spent more days occupying than any other place this year. When trying to see the silver lining in being at home this year, I do see the beauty in having found more gratitude for my home and enjoying the moments of stillness and. Standing in my kitchen and sipping a cup of coffee or sprawled out on the living room floor with a book without urgency to be anywhere else has afforded lovely moments of peace. Nevertheless, I eagerly await resuming my roaming around the globe, or at least around the city. 

Food As A Passion

As I began to discover my strong interest in food, I had to rectify a little lifelong issue...I have some food intolerances. When I was a child, I would become sick, an experience that was similar to food poisoning, every so often. Initially, my parents believed that I had some stomach bug. However, they began to observe a clear pattern. The "sick" always looked the same, my body wanted to purge something, but without any fever or other symptoms. Eventually, I had allergy testing completed and it was confirmed that my body did not tolerate chicken or pork, and also garlic and maltodextrin. Although somewhat an annoyance, it was not very difficult to avoid these foods when I lived at home and I became accustomed to subtly avoiding those foods when I was eating with friends or, on the rare occasion at that time in my life, eating at a restaurant. However, as a adult becoming infatuated with the cuisine of other cultures, this revealed a new challenge. How would I ever find out what authentic (and well known) foods tasted like if if I had to be avoiding food? Could I never understand the lure of Ramen? Or dumplings? Also, how would I avoid an accidental exposure to these foods if I was in another country or simply in a restaurant with people who did not speak fluent English, as is the case in many restaurants in Los Angeles??? A few years later, I also was diagnosed with several autoimmune diseases and so I stopped eating gluten, a recommendation made in order to avoid excess inflammation. I knew that it was worth it in hopes of improving my health, but what a limitation to put on someone who loves food! 

Frustrating as it was, I was not deterred by these parameters. It did encroach on my freedom to try "anything", but it also created an opportunity to have interesting conversations with waiters and chefs as I advocated for myself. Also, it motivated me to try cooking a number of things at home, which resulted in learning about food on another level. 

During the experience of cooking, I gained an undeniable appreciation for the effort of creating and cooking and this allowed me to find a new creative outlet. Initially, I followed recipes with carefully researched substitutions. I Googled the best way to make homemade sausage and how to get the best outcome when using turkey rather than pork. I learned about the importance of gluten in baking and why it is so challenging to create gluten free bread that is not dry and dense. I learned about the importance of various aspects of any recipe to obtain balance and how to counteract a mistake, such as adding too much salt. Rather than this being daunting, it became a fun challenge for me and fueled my passion for food. As I learned more and had more experiences, I also became less intimidated that I would have an accidental exposure to the allergens when I was eating out. Primarily, it stoked the fire and excitement that I had to continue learning more! I began to believe that I could cook anything! Nothing was too large of a challenge!