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foodSo a few years ago, we took one of those “team building” surveys at work.  It had 10 questions, and for each one there was a spectrum between 2 opposites.  Most of the spectrums have been lost from my memory banks, but there are 2 that I remember.  The first was very eye-opening to me – it was the difference between thinking of time as “fixed” or “fluid”  That was very eye-opening to me and probably the first time in my life that I realized that other people and cultures just thought of time differently.  I remember this used to drive me crazy when I lived for 2 years in the Dominican Republic as a Mormon missionary – I (a very “fixed” time person) would set up an appointment to come back and see someone say Monday at 2pm.  In my mind, this meant exactly at 2pm (or maybe even a little earlier).  But to most Dominicans (“fluid” time people), Monday at 2pm means sometime Monday afternoon (if you’re lucky!).  So it was very eye-opening to me later to just understand that it wasn’t necessarily them being rude, it was just a different cultural understanding of time

The second spectrum that I remember was on food.  The 2 spectrums of our opinion towards food were:

  1. Food is an experience – something where I enjoy each bite and every part of the experience
  2. Food is a necessity – calories I have to eat to stay alive

My non-foodie self

So I am very clearly the second of those 2 spectrums.  I honestly would be quite happy to eat the same meal for days in a row.  I can recognize the differences between “good” food and not, but it just isn’t that important to me.  My wife isn’t what I would call a “super foodie”, but she definitely leans that way.  This can cause problems when we try to plan meals for our family.  She always wants to try new recipes.  I suggest why don’t we just have the same 5 meals over and over.  We’re working on it 🙂mcdonalds-logo

Eating on vacation (yes, at McDonalds)

When our family is on vacation, we typically will eat meals at fast food restaurants, and we’ve even been known to cook in our hotel room (without a stove, oven or microwave).

(SEE ALSO: The complete beginner’s guide to cooking in a hotel room)

I actually probably spend more time than I should finding “cheap eats” – when I really should just go buy something.  This is a clear violation of the $20 rule, and something I’m working on trying to do better at

When our family of 8 was recently in Seattle, we did eat one meal at the McDonalds that was right across the street from the Hyatt House Seattle where we were staying.  After that, we went to the grocery store and got food to cook in our room.  But when I tell people that I eat McDonalds while on vacation, they usually give me dirty, judge-y looks 🙂

And I’m not even eating at McDonalds overseas for the same reason that Gary from View from the Wing does!

When we go on a family vacation, we'll often stop at McDonalds or other fast food restaurants. But when I tell people that, they give me dirty, judge-y looks...

Why we eat at McDonalds and other fast food on vacation

There are 2 main reasons we will often eat fast food on vacation

  1. It’s cheap.  When you’re taking 8 people to even a mid-scale restaurant, you’re going to be inching up towards $100
  2. We know what will be on the menu and everyone will like something

Our go-to place while we’re driving is typically Little Caesar’s.  The pizza isn’t great, but it’s not horrible, and 3 pizzas for $15 (plus tax, sometimes) is about as cheap as I can feed everyone.  I can feed us for $25-$30 at places like Wendy’s, McDonald’s or Subway depending on if we get drinks and whether or not people share meals (depending on what we order)

I get that we are sometimes missing out on great “local” fare, but that’s a choice that we have (currently) made.  I agree that it’s good to try out new things / foods, but at least for now, we’ve chosen to not do that when we’re out on vacation with the family.  Though I will say that when it’s just Carolyn and I we are a bit more adventurous, but certainly not as adventurous as some – here’s Carolyn enjoying an egg waffle in Hong Kong

Thanks for the suggestion @asthejoeflies #eggwaffle #kowloon #hongkong

A photo posted by Points With a Crew (@pointswithacrew) on

What about you?  What does your family eat while on vacation?  Am I alone in my shameful existence? 😀


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