Food.

I think I decided that my favorite part of traveling is the food. Everyone's gotta eat, right? Whether you're American, Asian, African, European, whatever, we all have one thing in common: food. But every culture has its own interpretation based on available resources, history, and styles. That's what makes it so beautiful: the diversity within the commonality.

Today, I enjoyed my first Korean Barbeque experience in Chinatown in Singapore with one of my best friends who just happens to be from Indonesia. Talk about a cultural experience.

I was just so excited and overwhelmed by the choices of meat and vegetables and the grill in the middle of our table and the tasty chili sauces, that I'm pretty sure the only words out of my mouth in the first ten minutes were "This is SO COOL."

That's when I realized that food is my favorite part of traveling. We started talking about it, and about different food experiences we've had. I tried to articulate what constitutes "American" food, settling with a general description and then ending by saying, "but every household is different..." Then we started talking about Senegalese food, and all of a sudden I was flooded with this intense nostalgia for Senegal. Just thinking about the meals that I ate there, brought me back and I could close my eyes and imagine myself there again.

So many of my memories of traveling revolve around food, because it is such a central part to just about every culture. Nasi Goreng in Bali, green curry in Thailand, ceebujen in Senegal, bread and cheese in France, char kway teo in Singapore, jambalaya in Louisiana, philly cheese steaks on the East Coast, and I could go on and on and on.

As I sit here with my belly full of delicious Korean food (and seriously considering falling into a food coma), I can't help but appreciate food and how it brings people together to educate, entertain, and enjoy.