My #1 Travel Activity
I’m not much of a planner when I travel. I plan the absolute basics, but I leave everything else up to exploration once I get to my destination. The first activity I always search is a cooking class.
Why?
Cooking classes give you the opportunity to immerse yourself in a new culture. You often go to the local market to buy your ingredients, learn about local cooking methods, experience culinary customs, and try a wide variety of new foods.
When I traveled through Southeast Asia, I booked cooking classes throughout Bali, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. To be completely transparent, there was a certain amount of necessity to it. I had lost my credit card and debit card in Bali, so my spending money was limited. I was able to continue traveling by keeping my cards open but deactivated via the banking apps. I would then toggle them on just long enough to book something and then toggle them back off. Because I could book cooking classes like this, I ended up booking tons of them. They were a big reason I was able to feed myself throughout that trip.
Necessity turned into a happy circumstance. This trip was my first time really dedicating myself to learning about and through food. Up to that point, cooking was a hobby for me, and though I loved it, I never thought I would pursue it professionally. These cooking classes were subtly my inspiration to study food on a deeper level. I ended up in culinary school exactly one year after this trip. So maybe losing my credit and debit cards was the best thing that ever happened to me.
Southeast Asia had a ton of vegan or vegetarian cooking class options; however, that’s not the case on every trip. I have not had much luck finding cooking classes in the places I’ve been in Central and South America. So take advantage if you do find a good one!
One thing I love about taking multiple cooking classes in the same country is that each class has slightly different recipes for the same dishes, so it’s fun to try personal variations on the same dishes.
Here are the cooking classes and food tours that I took while in Southeast Asia.
BALI
UBUD
Ketut’s Balinese Cooking Class
MALAYSIA
PENANG
Penang Secret Recipes Cooking Class
I didn’t have the opportunity to take any pictures of this class, but check out the link to see pictures others have taken!
THAILAND
CHIANG MAI
Thaimuang Vegetarian Cooking Class
From the link, it seems like this class is no longer available 🙁
VIETNAM
HUE
HANOI
HOI AN
I was able to book this cooking class through my hostel, but it is also easily found online.
HO CHI MINH CITY
Cooking classes are easily my favorite way to experience a new culture. Do yourself a favor and book one for your next trip!
