One thing about travel is pretty certain – and that is, just like when you’re at home – a large part of your budget will go towards keeping body and soul together. In other words, food costs.
Most smart travellers know that to rent self-catering accommodation – a rental apartment or a hostel for example – can save you a fortune. Eating out can be ridiculously expensive.
And health is an issue too. When you’re on a vacation to one of your dream destinations, you want to be as full of energy and get-up-and-go as you possibly can be, Eating revolting, cheap snack food just isn’t going to do it. At best, you’ll feel listless and at worst – well, let’s hope you didn’t skimp on travel insurance.
So, we want the impossible, right? We want food that isn’t expensive, that isn’t going to take ages to shop for and won’t take much of our precious time to prepare. Oh, and it has to be good for us too.
It’s not impossible at all. What is going to make the matter more difficult is a) going only to supermarkets b) expecting to buy the brands you do at home and c) buying junk.
By saving money on our day-to-day foods when we’re travelling, we can actually become healthier, even lose weight, enjoy delicious food, experience shopping and eating like a local and, if we’ve been suitably frugal, save up for delicious meal out at an authentic local restaurant to really set the cap on our foreign travels.
So, do you think that you could survive for a day on quick and easy meals (plus picnics and sandwiches) using these ingredients?
- Milk (regular), (0.25 liter)
- Loaf of Fresh Bread
- Rice (0.10 kg)
- Eggs (regular)
- Local Cheese (0.10 kg)
- Chicken Breasts (Boneless, Skinless)
- Beef Round (0.15 kg) (or Equivalent Back Leg Red Meat)
- Apples (0.30 kg)
- Banana (0.25 kg)
- Oranges (0.30 kg)
- Tomato (0.20 kg)
- Potato (0.20 kg)
- Onion (0.10 kg)
- Lettuce (0.20 head)
I know I could. Less in fact. I don’t want the chicken or the meat. I’m not certain I’d want the milk either. But here I can see cheese on toast, scrambled egg, fruit salad (or fruit as a snack), baked potato with melted cheese, onion and tomato rice, tomato and lettuce sandwich…
How much would these ingredients cost me in London? Or Miami? Or Mumbai? Or Casablanca? ($6.52, $11.11, $10.47 and $4.44 respectively).
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ARTICLE BY:
Jackie
JJ is originally from the UK and has lived in South Florida since 1994. She is the founder and editor of JAQUO Magazine. You can connect with her using the social media icons below.