Hello everyone!
It's Friday again and it's time for me to post The Wander Lover Series: Worry. Story. Glory. for this week… and in fact, this is gonna be the last series of The Wander Lover because I decided to stop publishing this every week.
I will come up with some different feature in the next few weeks so bear with me, please! 😀
Meanwhile, I am excited to introduce you the last travel blogger that I'll feature in the last series here: Nathan Aguilera from Foodie Flashpacker.
And as you probably know based on the blog's name: yes, he brings up the topic of being a foodie and somewhere between a budget and luxurious traveler! 😉
Nathan and Foodie Flashpacker: The Easy Way to Recognize The Blog and Its Content
As you may probably get the idea of the contents on Foodie Flashpacker, then you're right… Because as Nathan explained, he wanted a name that immediately summed up what we would expect to find on his blog.
And this one does that, as we expect it's going to be largely about food and flashpacker. Flashpacker itself is a term that, if you're not familiar with, it means somewhere between budget and luxury. And that, my friends… is what you'll find on Foodie Flashpacker! 😀
Four years ago, Nathan quit his job and sold everything he owned and left his home in Oklahoma City to set out on what he was going to be a six-month trip around South East Asia.
Well, the next thing we know, it's been four years and ever since, he has eaten his way across nearly 60 countries over four continents.
He's considered himself as a solo flashpacker, as in he travels solo most of the time and his traveling style is rather something between budget and luxury. He doesn't sleep in dorms, but neither he stays at Hilton or the Four Seasons. Typically, he books private apartments through AirBnB if not stays in a mid-range hotel.
The Main Focus of Foodie Flashpacker: Food and Wine!
Okay, so the first reason why Nathan started his blog was to help him structure his time when he was feeling burnt out from traveling.
However, the main reason why he continues blogging until this very day is because he loves the community and he also loves to write (although mood plays the biggest role over here! 😛 ) despite the fact that he also enjoys sharing information about the places he visits with his readers.
If he could choose any specific topic that relates to his blog the most, that would be about food, wine, and food and wine! 😛
His blog is a guide for anything related to foodie travel. From local dishes, the best places in town, wineries you should visit. Anything related to traveling with food in mind!
And no kidding! When I checked out his blog, no kidding… He's got almost everything from the best restaurants to Chiang Mai even a post about Albanian food. Impressive! 😀
And the good part is that he actually talks about a lot of food in any kind that makes it relate to most of us. So, well done!
One word that sums up what travel means to Nathan: EXPERIENCE
The Worry: No Wifi
When asked about what he would worry the most about traveling to somewhere new, Nathan's answer is quite way too predictable for us Instagram generation. 😛
Could you guess the answer? Well, no wifi is the answer!
His explanation next kinda made me laugh due to the typo he's done.
I'm currently thinking of visiting Cuba and the lack of readily available wife has me a bit concerned.
And when I read his answer, my urgency to be a troll making fun of him was so high I was like, what? What does it have anything to do with readily available wife? *lol*
But I love his further explanation as he emphasized that he doesn't really worry about safety for most of the places he visits. According to him, anywhere can be safe or unsafe and the media is quick to highlight the occasional issue rather than show us a fair assessment of the place.
When I read this statement, I really want to say Amen so hard because I've joined a lot of traveler communities and I often find some post about the question whether this/that country is safe. And honestly, this kind of question starts to annoy me because like Nathan said, the question is rather based on either propaganda or some unfair judgement.
And by the way, Nathan wants to let you know that he's currently living in Mexico and he has never felt unsafe there despite what the media told you about it! 😉
He also wants to share some tips to handle your worry whenever you're planning to travel somewhere new: distract yourself, read a book, research your destination. Worry isn't likely to help you much.
The Downside of Visiting a Mainstream Tourist Attraction Spot
Traveling to a fair number of places, it is only normal that he has found some places disappointing despite what you could see in the picture on social media. However, most of the places have actually nothing to do with the place.
One of the places to note is Cinque Terre as he visited it and left feeling disappointed because not only was it busy, but the food was also bad and you couldn't get a good photo without a million people in it.
I feel you, because this is why I've posted this. The disappointment like this is real! 😛
But despite everything, Cinque Terre is gorgeous. Nathan admitted that he just hadn't factored in the reality of visiting one of the world's most popular travel destinations.
That was the disappointment, so what about the most memorable traveling experience?
His answer is swimming with red dolphins in the Red Sea of Egypt. According to him, it was amazing!!! 😀
The Recommendation Places to Visit in Each Category
Nathan has got so many recommended places as he has divided each into categories.
For example, for best beaches he would choose Thailand or the Philippines. For best food, Italy and Vietnam while for best nature, he wouldn't hesitate to recommend Iceland or the Azores of Portugal.
But for him personally, if he had to pick one place to live and die and he could never visit another country, then the answer would be Spain. It just has everything to live and die for.
Amazing food and wine, gorgeous beaches (and people!), islands, city life, culture…. And for that, he loves it!
What's Next for Foodie Flashpacker?
Currently, Nathan is looking into Cuba and he will also be exploring cities in Mexico during his stay there. In May, he will be headed back to Europe for the summer! 🙂
The BeauTraveler on Foodie Flashpacker
The first thing I landed on Foodie Flashpacker's homepage, there are two things that I like the most about it: the blog layout and the logo!
As for the blog layout, it's really simple and so easy to direct to any content you prefer such as the specific destination, food, or even hotel reviews. As for the logo, well it actually explains everything that the blog aims for.
My only question is this: since Nathan has mentioned that he has traveled to nearly 60 countries in 4 continents, then why is it that he's got only contents for 3 continents, is he planning to post anything about America soon on his blog? Hmm.
And of course, as Indonesian, the first thing to do when I saw a blogger writing some content about my country, I will check it out to see the outsider's point of view about this messed up country that I ironically love because there's no place like home. 😛
Apparently, Nathan has been to the infamous 3 places in the central part of Indonesia: Bali, Lombok, and Flores.
For whatever reason I don't know, I am still yet to gain interests to visit Bali, so when I checked out his Indonesian page, what intrigues me the most is Kanawa Island. I mean, Labuan Bajo is on my bucket list but I've actually heard the name of Kanawa Island the first time from Nathan's blog.
How embarrassing is it? And what kind of Indonesian am I? That's the real question. HAHA.
But, like I mentioned earlier, I'm impressed with the complete posts he's got about various kinds of good in the countries he has visited. But one of the posts that I like the most from his blog is one of his most recent posts: Four Lessons Learned From 4 Years of Solo Travel.
I love how he used the 4 years of solo travel as a way to reflect what he has got and learned through his experience. Well done! 🙂
If you want to find out more about Nathan on his blog Foodie Flashpacker, feel free to check out more of his blog here.
Okay, anyway… Since I told you that this is gonna be my last series of The Wander Lover, so I hope you have enjoyed the whole series that I started since last year. I'll be coming up with more and more exciting new features in the next few weeks.
Meanwhile, thank you so much for all bloggers who have contributed in this feature. Stay safe and cheerio! 😉
Great to know about the foodie flashpackers. And I totally resonate their worries of not having a wifi. That is something even I check for when looking for my own accommodations. And I always go for something in the middle budget – not hostels , not the five stars