How Food Enriched My Experience of Traveling to Himachal

Food to me used to be just a thing to stuff my stomach whenever it growled. However, in the last few months, my perspective about foodstuff transformed upside down. It might have happened because I started sitting with new kinds of people. These are the people who are called travelers by the world, but I call them friends. Just being with a few traveler friends has changed my perspective towards life. I have changed the way I used to live, love, and laugh. Never in my life have I loved food the way I do now. The food, from being something to stuff my tummy to being the love of life, has become an inevitable part of my existence as a traveler and a social being.

Last month, I had gone to Himachal for a biking trip with a group of eleven people. We had six bikes with two people on each Bullet. Earlier when I would travel to any place, I would order anything from my set selection of foods- Dal Makhni, Paneer, Chicken Butter Masala, and Naan. However, while talking to one of these traveler friends one day, I realized that I might have wasted quite a few trips to various destinations just because I did not try new foods. I have been to various cities in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala, and West Bengal. And wherever I would go, I would try to find out foods that I am accustomed to eating. I do not want to say that I regret my choices, but my experiences could have been more enriched than they were had it tried new cuisines.

This time when I was out for biking, I made sure that I ordered everything that seemed unfamiliar to me. Doubtlessly there were failed experiments, worthless orders of foods, and successful trials as well. However, the only thing that still tickles me is remembering the feeling of sensation that I would get whenever I had to wait for my food to come. I would wonder the smell, the texture, and the look of a cuisine even before it came just by visualizing its name and ingredients.

Many times, I would be right or wrong regarding my anticipations, but there was hardly a time, when I would be disappointed with the taste of food. Even with the failed experiments, I don't mind spending a few bucks here and there. Trying and testing new cuisines enriches my understanding of the journeys. Even now if I try to recall how I felt at a particular location, I can relate the memories to the food I ordered. My reminiscences of my vacations have become even more colorful than before just because I have the recollections of local cuisines in my mind and my camera.

I had ordered, a bowl of smoky chicken salad, for instance at a quaint café in Dharamshala. While I ate the gorgeous salad alone, I remember I was thinking about all the good things that had happened during that. While eating, someone had come to my table asking about how my food was. I remember myself feeling excited about telling the other guy about the texture of the chicken. Since I was on my own at that moment, I was more open to talking. I had read a lot about solo trips, and how it brings people closer to you. Although I was traveling with a bunch of people on that trip, I was sitting alone just by chance. However, it gave me a taste of how it feels like being on your own when you do not have your friends around you. I immediately thought that I would rent a Car soon and set off for a solo trip. My next target now is to visit any state in India all alone and have a taste of how it feels like being all alone for a few days, with my new foods of course!