One obsession leads to another

Food affects all aspects of my memory, I'm generally bad at remembering sequential happenings, but remind me of the time I ate squid ink pasta in Venice or the first time I tried an Acai berry Smoothie on the Pacific Crest Trail or that amazing bowl of sweet potato chips after a really hard mornings research dive in Sulawesi, then a whole flood of other memories surface and I could tell you a whole lot of exciting stuff that happened on that exact day....

My husband thinks my obsession with food is not totally a good thing, and I kind of agree. It would be so easy if I could go cold turkey and give it up, but unfortunately it's not like smoking, and I certainly enjoy food WAY too much to even consider anorexia...and bulimia...don't get me started, it's such a waste. so, writing this blog may be my only way of learning to live with it, to indulge my passion and take responsibility for it with words and pictures. (Is blogging going to be my therapy?? I wonder...)

Sadly my passion for munching leads to the eventual and very unwelcome side effect of weight gain...I have found a solution....incredible amounts of exercise....not easy to fit into a regular life, but we have found a way of challenging the body whilst also indulging the senses.

In 1997 we hiked the Appalachian Trail, in 2003 we cycled around France a bit, in 2006 we hiked the Pacific Crest Trail and now 2008 we are about to cycle from the UK to South Africa.
I have found a way to indulge my passion for Travel and the physical effort it requires affords me guilt free eating opportunities!

Africa will obviously be a bit different to Europe and the US, in as much as there may be certain places where food will be hard to come by, and I'm fully expecting to hit Ramadan at some point (no eating in daylight hours) which will throw up particular challenges, but I'm just as convinced that, because of the rich cultural influences, and the history of population movement, the type of food and the way it is prepared will be a hugely enlightening experience.

Can't wait to share it with the ether.
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