Budget Travel's Best Travel Movies of 2011

I got my Budget Travel magazine last week, which means it's time for another travel-related post. The magazine has become a bimonthly which makes me sad, but thankfully I'm still a fan. In honor of the upcoming Oscars, this month's issue had a feature about the best travel movies of 2011- and I'm sad to admit that I haven't seen a single one!

You can see their picks here, more than one of which is on my to-watch list (I'm eager to see 'The Way' after my experiences in Spain), but it made me wonder just what travel movies would make my list. To be honest, there are just too many good ones out there to choose (at least Budget Travel had the advantage of being limited to one year) but here are a few of my favorites (based on scenery, not necessarily storyline):

He Eats, She Eats: How to Prepare Squid the Galician Way

Disclaimer: If you're squeamish around tentacles, look away now! Otherwise, please read on for a 100% tasty way to prepare squid!

I can just tell this post will be crazy-popular, because everyone loves squid, right? Of course I'm kidding, but I really do love squid and I hope you'll stick with me a read this post because anyone can love squid prepared in this simple (and totally non-rubbery!) way.

Deliciously simple squid in Spain

I guess I should say almost anyone, since this is another one of our His-n-Hers meals. Matt can't get past the idea (nor the smell) of squid to give it a try, but I just know he'd love it if he did. Squid has a very meaty, protein flavor that isn't fishy at all, and this recipe allows that rich, savory flavor to shine. By cooking the squid quickly and at high heat, a soft - not rubbery - texture is achieved - and all without a bit of breading or frying oil in sight!

Have Sweet Tooth, Will Travel : A Few of My Favorite Sweet Spots from Around the World

After sharing Lonely Planet's favorite dessert destinations with all of you last week, I got all inspired to create a list of my own. As you all know, one of my favorite things about travel is the opportunity it affords to try new foods  - and these foods always seem more memorable if they come with a hefty dose of sugar! Here are a few of my favorites from the past few years:*
*This list is by no means exhaustive, but it is delicious!

1) Flapjacks, Tom's Cakes, Cambridge, United Kingdom
In addition to being a the creator of traditional pastries and intriguing cakes (like their Lemon and Elderflower loaf), Tom's is the official purveyor of the world's most excellent English flapjacks (okay, official = in my opinion). I discovered Tom's while visiting my brother at university and have made countless pilgrimages since that inaugural visit. Thanks to my wonderful brother, Tom's flapjacks have made regular appearances amongst my Christmas presents for the past few years. Sadly, I'm not sure how I'll get my fix, now that his PhD is over!

2) Tarta de Santiago, Santiago de Compostella, Spain
The Galician city of Santiago is probably better known for the 700 km walk many people take to get there, but it should be famous for this fantastic dessert. Adorned with the symbolic Cross of St. James, this pastry is beloved of pilgrims, tourists and locals alike. It's light, sweet, and heavily flavored with almonds, which, in my opinion, makes it just about perfect.

3) Cookies, Levain Bakery, Upper West Side, New York City, NY
When I first tasted Levain's Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie, I was pretty convinced that it was the best cookie ever...and it was, for about the five minutes that passed until I tasted their Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookie. In any case, Levain makes some of the best cookies ever - even in the face of tremendous popularity and hype. And that's pretty impressive. Almost as impressive as the gargantuan, behemoth, 6-ounce cookies they serve.

Book Bite: A Natural History of the Senses (Diane Ackerman)

It's about that time again, ladies and gentleman. It's been so long since we had a Book Bite that I've decided to share one of my favorites. Like most bibliophiles, I probably have at least one or two hundred 'favorite' books, but this one really is one of my favorite books... of all time. In fact, I liked it so much that I pilfered my tattered, dog-eared, and well-traveled copy from a hostel in Astorga, where I stayed while on Spain's Camino de Santiago last summer.

What book was so awesome it incited me to thievery on a religious pilgrimage? Diane Ackerman's A Natural History of the Senses. In my defense, it was one of several books left by pilgrims for other pilgrims to enjoy, so it wasn't outright theft - though that doesn't make the book any less un-put-downable!

Travel Tips: 8 Household Items You Shouldn't Leave Home Without

Have you ever watched the YouTube video in which a guy packs everything he needs for a month-long trip in a tiny backpack? Okay, maybe you're not that travel-obsessed, but I'm sure you've experienced that moment on the road when you wish you hadn't packed so much - or, at least, had packed better, leaving some luxury items behind in favor of a few, more needful things.

When preparing to walk Spain's Camino de Santiago last year, I painstakingly weighed each item destined for my backpack. A few ounces here or there don't matter much when you're flying to Chicago for the weekend or packing for a cross-country road-trip, but even that seemingly insignificant weight bears careful consideration when you're carrying all your worldly goods almost 600 miles across an entire country!

Though something of a pack-rat by nature, I strive to be a light packer, even on shorter trips - there's something freeing about taking to the road with a minimum of goods on your back - so I'm always eagerly collecting handy tips and putting them to use on my travels. I've gathered a few favorites (including some of the more unusual ones!) in this article for you to enjoy. Of course, I'm always on the lookout for more so share 'em if you have 'em!


Check out the 8 Household Items You Shouldn't Leave Home Without, here!

The Camino de Santiago - A Documentary by Joel Addams

A year ago at this time, I was in Spain finishing up my 600-mile journey on foot across the north of that beautiful country. I've mentioned this trip several times on the blog, usually from a culinary perspective (of course!), but this documentary gives a more complete glimpse of life on the Camino de Santiago.  It was directed by Joel Addams, a talented, Utah-based photographer whom I met during my first evening on the Camino, so the experiences of those in the film are very much contemporary with my own - some of the interviewees even became my traveling companions! The film does a good job of illustrating the many and varied reasons pilgrims are drawn to the Camino.  Not everyone walks for reasons of faith, but nearly every pilgrim comes away stronger and refined by their experience. This short documentary is a great place to start for those interested in learning more about this centuries-old pilgrimage route through Spain.

New on Yahoo: The Food of Northern Spain

An unassumingly delicious traveler's lunch: Wine from a monastery, mussels and the best churro ever!

A year ago at this time, I was still walking my way across Spain on the Camino de Santiago.  It was a remarkable journey, not just physically and mentally, but also gastronomically. So many of my best memories involve the foods I shared with fellow walkers - simple, hearty potato omelettes, startlingly fresh seafood, juicy, ripe cherries from a roadside vendor, and my first taste of fresh, boiled chestnuts...to name just a few!  I've collected some of my edible impressions in an article recently published on the Yahoo! Contributor Network. Writing the article was a great trip down memory lane for me and I hope, if you read it, you'll find it just as entertaining and enlightening.

The Camino de Santiago: or Why I walked my way across Spain

It may sound unusual, but there are few things I enjoy as much as walking.  Quite apart from the everyday transit from 'A to B,' I love walking as a form of travel and exploration.  I've traversed Germany by train, ridden a bus across Belgium, and even meandered through Botswana's Okavango Delta in a makoro, but many of my most memorable explorations have been fueled by nothing more than a sense of adventure and my own two feet; to borrow the words of the immortal Jane Austen, "I prefer walking."

The rapturously green French Pyrenees

My siblings and I used to walk ourselves to school growing up in England, and when I was sixteen, I spent a summer backpacking across the southern tip of Africa.  At eighteen, I planned an end-to-end walk of Great Britain (from Land’s End in southern England to John O’ Groat’s at the northernmost part of Scotland) and only military orders prevented me from trying it.  I’ve walked in the Yorkshire Dales, paced through the desert of southern Arizona and rambled through Bavarian forests.  Even now, in dusty Oklahoma, I prefer two feet to four wheels for most distances under 10 miles. At 26 years old, I’ve never even owned a car.

It’s hardly surprising, then, that I jumped at the chance to walk over 500 miles across the entire width of Spain, following a medieval pilgrimage route known as the Camino de Santiago, the Way of St. James.  This past summer, I had month of free time and the whole of Europe at my disposal, with my home in Germany as the starting point.  My brother was the one who suggested the walk – he’d done it himself in 2001, while I was trekking across Africa – and it took only a few hours of research for me to make up my mind.  Twelve days and many frantic hours of preparation packing later, I was on a flight to Pamplona armed with no more than the boots on my feet (not yet broken in!) and the bag on my back.