Why blog?

I was watching the oh so bad-ass, Anthony Bourdain on his show, No Reservations, the other day. The theme of that specific show happened to be about food obsession. It showcased people who were, for lack of a better term, obsessed with certain types of food. They interviewed the farmer who raised Wagyu beef (you may know it as Kobe...Kobe is a place, Wagyu is a breed), the chef who is in love with artisan cheese, the baker that eats, sleeps and breaths bread...and the list goes on. But then they interviewed the food bloggers. It was interesting because these bloggers weren't actually creating anything. They weren't baking award winning bread or making the creamiest, stinkiest, most ooey, gooey small batch cheese on earth. The bloggers were simply talking about it. Anthony asked them why they did it and it got me thinking. Why do I blog about, well, what I blog about?

I blog for a few different reasons. I blog about travel because I want to share my experiences and inspire others to get out there and make experiences of their own. I'll never be that person who rents the same beach house year after year because dammit, there is so much to see and so many places to visit in this great (and I do mean great) big world. I personally LOVE hearing about folks' travels. I'm probably the only one I know who would be happy to sit through a slide show of someone's trip to Vegas... ok, maybe not Vegas, but I'd be interested in a slide show of somewhere I've never been. I want people to read about the trips that Nick and I take and get inspired. And I want to read about the trips that OTHER people take and get inspired as well. Anyone out there been to Peru? That's our next big trip and I'd love to hear about it!

I blog about my own cooking because cooking is something that I honestly love to do. When we get back from a week abroad and I cook that first meal in my own kitchen I'm like a giddy little child. I love creating things...things that look beautiful, smell beautiful and taste beautiful. And, so many of my favorite childhood memories are connected to food. Cooking a dish that I've had since I was a child and then sharing it with the world makes me feel like I'm sharing a real part of myself. Or re-creating a dish that I had halfway around the world makes me feel like I'm sharing a piece of that trip with you.

And last but not least, I blog about restaurants and the food scene both local and global because I think these spots deserve it. I'm not gutsy enough to open my own store or restaurant. Honestly, the idea of working long (and I mean long) hours, busting my butt and not knowing if I'll go bankrupt in the first year is terrifying for me. I give mom and pop restaurant owners a lot of credit. I also give those groundbreaking chefs credit for being obsessed with perfection. Without them I probably wouldn't be so inspired by food.

So I suppose I write this blog for a number of different reasons. Some of which are pretty selfish...I mean, I'm so happy and thankful and proud that I've seen, done, touched and tasted so much already, so I really LIKE sharing experiences that I think are share-worthy with you fine folks. Some reasons are not so selfish. I can't tell you how many times I wished I had read someone's take on a certain travel destination before heading there. I mean, sure, half the fun is learning as you go, but sometimes having a little bit of inside info can make a world of difference.

So I'm going to keep on blogging as long as people care to read what I have to say...and honestly...I would probably keep blogging even if no one listened. As I read back through my blog posts to date I can't help but smile. That amazing meal we had at Au Pied de Cochon in Montreal has long since been digested, someone else is now strolling through the lovely Englischer Garten in Munich and those baby sea turtles we saw while scuba diving in St. Lucia are probably all grown up by now.........but the memories of these things will live on in my mind, and my blog, for a long, long time.