How to Beat the Travel Blues as a Foodie

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How to Recreate the Magic of your Holiday Through Your Food

As a foodie, nothing brings on the post-travel blues like coming home from an incredible adventure, knowing that you’re unlikely to be able to find your new favourite dish from your new favourite restaurant that is potentially thousands of miles away once you’re back at home.

Even though I have a lot of allergies, I like to think I’ve mastered travelling with dietary restrictions which means I finally get to participate in foodie culture. It also means that I feel personally victimised by enjoying the most incredible meal on the wrong side of the world. To be totally transparent I’ve never managed to perfectly recreate my favourite meals (you just can’t beat how good things taste when you’re stress-free, thousands of miles away from your problems with a nice view!). Having said that, I’ve managed to get pretty close so I wanted to share some of my best tips on how to cure the post-travel blues as a foodie.

How to Travel With Dietary Issues

Hey Owlets,

I feel like as British people what to eat on holiday is somewhat a point of contention. As a nation we have a bit of a bad reputation for knowing what we like and sticking with it; there’s obviously a reason why there’s so many McDonalds’ restaurants in tourist hotspots around the world. However, if you’re one of those people that struggles with food allergies then eating anything abroad can feel incredibly daunting, even if you stick to the typical bland foods. As a travel obsessive I’ve always been one of those people that likes to visit new places and try to local cuisine. 

Two years ago I discovered that the reason I’ve always been ill growing up was due to a gluten intolerance, and a big part of my holiday suddenly because a minefield; when I was on a cruise it was just easier to eat on the ship in the morning then skip lunch or just bring my own snacks, which meant I missed out on one of the best ways to experience local culture. Since finding out I can’t eat gluten I’ve started to get more confident in trying to experience local cuisines, so I wanted to share my experiences in the most visited countries, as well as share some tips that could help you on your next holiday. Obviously my experiences are all going to be from someone who doesn’t eat gluten, but I’ll try to mention what I’ve noticed of other allergens too.

Pho, Bristol UK- A Really Honest Review

This article includes a paid advertisement but does not affect my experience or honest opinion

Bristol is one of the best cities in the UK for foodies. Full to the rafters with eclectic restaurants, cool bars and creative street food outlets, it’s the ideal city to visit if you want to “taste the world”. If you’re lucky enough to call the city home but have food allergies then it’s torture. Being gluten free and allergic to squid, I’ve been poisoned a fair few times. Despite living in such a diverse city, I usually don’t bother going to restaurants because it’s not worth the risk - that goes doubly for Asian restaurants which tend to have a whole host of ingredients that I can’t come into contact with. Having said that, the great reviews of Pho on Corn Street (particularly from those who suffer with allergies) tempted me to give it a go. If you also struggle with complex allergies, then I suggest you keep reading to find out if Pho live up to their reputation.

A Foodie Guide to County Cork

Contains Sponsored Content

Hey Owlets,

When asked to name a few of my favourite trips over the past few years one of the first things to come up is my cruise to County Cork. It wasn’t just the cruise itself, but the areas of the county that we visited, the brilliant independent retailers, the kindness and willingness of complete strangers to make sure we enjoyed our trip, and the food of course. County Cork is known for being a very foodie place to visit and it didn’t disappoint! We went for the cruise and stayed for the food! Fair warning, I hadn’t yet gone gluten free when we took this trip, so be prepared to hate me when I talk about the farmers market sandwich we had, because I’m jealous of my past self too.

Travel Mishaps: Everything that Happened

Hey Owlets,

It’s fair to say that over the last few years I’ve come a long way from being a totally clueless 20-year-old. I’ve been fortunate enough to clock up a lot of miles travelled over the last few years, and during this time I’ve also learnt a lot. Having said that, it took a lot of trying my best and in all honesty a lot of stupid situations and me putting my foot in my mouth! I feel like we all need a bit of a laugh right now, so here’s some of the stupid things that have made me laugh, made me want the floor to swallow me up, or just stuck in my mind over the past few years.

Review: Llanerch Hotel, South Wales

*gifted stay

Hey Owlets,

If you've been keeping up with my Instagram you'll know that I've been doing a lot of travelling recently. While I love getting to explore sometimes you need a little quiet time in between to reset, so my boyfriend and I headed to Hensol to spend some time at Llanerch Vineyard. The beautiful five star hotel is tucked away in a quiet corner of South Wales in the kind of place that you would never find if you weren't looking for it.

Afternoon Tea at the Courthouse in Knutsford, Cheshire

Hey Owlets,

If you watched my Instagram stories you will have known that I recently took a whirlwind trip to Manchester - when I say whirlwind I mean we left Bristol BEFORE 7am, we were in Manchester by 11am for Dad to buy his new car, and by 1pm I was making Dad hate me by accidentally directing him into a multi-storey carpark when he'd been driving his new car for less than ten minutes. However, I did make up for it as in the afternoon we were invited to review The Courthouse in Knutsford, so we stopped for afternoon tea on our way home.

Lunch at Lost & Found, Bristol: A Review

*

Hey Owlets,

Today I'm back with another restaurant review and it's quite a bitter-sweet one if I'm honest, as today's foodie trip was a bit of a tale of two halves. Lost and Found opened on Clifton Triangle a few months ago and I was invited to try it out.

Follow Me To: 48 Hours in Bath

Hey Owlets,

Today I'm back to share more of my travels with you and this time I want to do something a little different; I'm going to show you everything I did, but it's going to be more of an itinerary that you can use if you stay in Bath overnight. I'm lucky to live in a place that's very well connected so I'm used to popping to Bath for a few hours here and there and I thought I knew the city pretty well, but Visit Bath showed me some things in Bath that I never would've known existed, as well as some old favourites too.

Bar + Block, Birmingham Review

Hey Owlets,

I'm back with another restaurant review, and this may actually be one of the last for a little while. I feel like I've been flooding you with them recently and I have so much going on over the next month or so that I don't have time to go out for a meal! Today's review comes from a little further north than the last one, just off of Cathedral Square in central Birmingham.

I realise the first photo may not seem particularly relevant, but as soon as you walk into the restaurant you realise that it's an Instagrammer's paradise, in fact the manager had to stand there for a minute waiting to show us to our table as we took a photo of the sign.

May in Pictures

Hey Owlets,

I've not done one of these posts in ages, but in all honesty I haven't had a month that's been worth doing an "in pictures" post about until now. The first few months of the year are always quiet. It's hopefully been worth the wait though because not only is May a special month for me, but it's also been so busy that I needed a duvet day by the time we got to June!

A New Summer Menu - Cosy Club Bristol Review

*gifted visit

Hey Owlets,

I feel like I've been very heavy (pun intended) on the food content recently, but I've had the opportunity to visit some incredible places, and I had a few messages saying you enjoyed seeing my recommendations for where to eat when you visit Bristol/Birmingham, so your wish is my command!

Today's venue wins the award for the prettiest place ever! Cosy Club occupies the shell of an old bank on Corn Street and it's been restored beautifully - this is probably the closest you can ever get to eating brunch in a cathedral, and it's amazing.  The restaurant feels like it belongs in the building, with its decor and menus all echoing the gorgeous 1930s art deco style.

Dinner with a View: Salt and Malt, Chew Valley Review

* gifted experience 

Hey Owlets,

Living in Bristol for two decades, you'd think I would've found everything there is to see, but when I was invited for dinner on the bank of Chew Valley Lake, my first response was "there's a lake near the airport?" Salt and Malt is a small restaurant and takeaway less than an hour's drive from Bristol city centre, offering dinner with an incredible view. Unfortunately it's one of the few places that you can't get to without a car, but if you can drive it's worth the trip.

Follow Me To Spain in Wales: April Feria

Hey Owlets!

I don’t think I’ve done a “Follow Me To” post since I went to France in January, but the rain is getting warmer and my schedule is filling up so we must be getting towards summer! Today I wanted to take you to an event that I’ve never actually been to before. 

Restaurant Review: Don Diego, Birmingham

*gifted meal

Hey Owlets,

It's official - I'm an honorary Brummie now!! Well okay, maybe not, but a few weeks ago I managed to leave the comfort of Brum city centre, catch a bus alone, made it out to a suburb AND survived unscathed. I do love a good restaurant find, but I am very much guilty of staying within the safety net of the centre, so when I was invited for a girly blogger date at Don Diego in Edgbaston, I was a little nervous about getting there without the aid of a car or Uber, but it was surprisingly easy and well worth the trip.

Las Iguanas Relaunch Review: Bristol

Photo: Alicia Morris

*gifted experence*

Hey Owlets,

I feel like I've been bombarding you with food a little recently so apologies! Maybe it's the time of year but I seem to have been given the chance to eat in a lot of lovely places recently, so I thought I would share one of those with you today. You may remember that I visited Las Iguanas on Temple Street in Birmingham last year, and I wasn't overly impressed, so when I was invited to the relaunch of the Bristol branch, I wasn't sure what to expect. Having just been refurbished, it opened with a new menu for the spring/summer season which I was really excited to try.

November in Pictures

Hey Owlets,

It's time for the last "In Pictures" post of 2017 - where the hell has this year gone? I realise I could do a December in Pictures, but no one wants to read something that's jammed packed with Christmas in January, so I'll be doing my annual Year in Review post in place of that. If you fancy a bit of a throwback, have a read of my year in review for 2016 here.

Follow Me To: Dinner at the Italian Embassy!

Hey Owlets,

I feel like I've said this to you before but it doesn't get any less true each time - I know that I'm very lucky to be where I am as a blogger but there are occasions where I feel like "Someone pinch me" because no way can these amazing opportunities have come from chatting rubbish on the internet.

 But again this year I have something incredible to share with you - a trip to the Italian Embassy in London (I know, I think I've peaked!). Last week we were invited for dinner with the ambassador and Ciao Gusto to celebrate Italian Food Week, as well as a year of Ciao Gusto being in the UK. If you don't know what that is, it's a collection of small Italian brands, like San Benedetto who make the best iced tea I've ever tasted,  that got together to sell their products on Ocado in the UK.

Review: Afternoon Tea at Rofuto, Birmingham

*gifted experience

Hey Owlets!

I'm back with another review for you today - this time it's afternoon tea at one my favourite places in the country.  Rofuto is hands down one of the most incredible restaurants to visit in Birmingham, not just for the food but for the incredible view. The restaurant is on the 16th floor of the Park Regis hotel on Broad Street (about a 15 minute walk from New Street station, or change trains and it's 5 minutes to Five Ways station which is almost opposite the hotel).  As if the view alone isn't enough, the restaurant is absolutely beautiful.

October In Pictures

Hey Owlets,

Long time no see! It feels like ages since I wrote my last month in pictures post, but I did so little in September that I decided it wasn't worth writing. However, October more than makes up for it as it's been absolutely incredible!