Speedy Boarding with Anna Muckerman
Talking Thailand, food and travel, and waterproof sandals with the writer of Hungry with Ideas
Welcome back to Speedy Boarding, a bi-weekly series on Not That You Asked that is great news for those of you who are getting sick of me. That’s because it’s a series where I ask some of my favourite writers on Substack eight quick-ish questions about travel. So, the vast majority of the words you’re about to read weren’t written by me but by someone else.
This week the questions are being answered by
.Anna was born in Poland, grew up in the U.S., moved back to Europe once she graduated college in 2018. Now she lives in Nice, France. Once she moved to France, she became very passionate about food and food journalism, and now produces food documentaries for media companies like Eater, Insider, and the BBC. Food is of course a big focus for her when she travels and has allowed her to meet passionate chefs and food producers around the world which in turn is often a great introduction to a culture.
Anna’s newsletter,
, is where she shares behind-the-scenes stories from her work along with her personal adventures. This is one of my favourite things about Anna’s Substack - there’s travel and food mixed together all in one place! The best combination, in my opinion.Right, let’s get to the questions.
Where is the best place you’ve ever been and why?
You’re asking the toughest question first! I’ve loved so many places for different reasons, but if I had to pick one overall best destination, I’d say Thailand. Basically, it’s got everything you need to have a great time – friendly locals, stunning beaches and nature, reasonable prices, plenty of temples and cultural sites to explore, out-of-this-world shopping malls, and such good FOOD. I was there for a month in the beginning of 2023 and I’ve been itching to go back ever since.
Many travellers breeze through Bangkok, but I found it to be a real gem. There’s just so much to explore – street food markets, a bustling Chinatown, fashion outlets, incredible malls like ICONSIAM (below), and city parks inhabited by giant monitor lizards.
Where is the place you most want to visit?
While Namibia and Vietnam are top contenders, I’d have to give this one to Bolivia. Last year, I made it to every inhabited continent except South America, so I think it’s time to fix that. Bolivia seems like the best place to start. I’d love to see La Paz, nestled into the mountains with its network of cable cars and tantalizing street food and the beautiful dresses worn by local women. I’d also love to go to Salar de Uyuni, which is the world’s largest salt flat home to three out of six of the world’s flamingo species. I love otherworldly places and Salar de Uyuni strikes me as being both beautiful and disorienting.
Who's your dream travel companion?
I’ve had a few trips ruined by my own poor choice of travel companion, so now I’m quite picky about this. Even if someone is a close friend or travels a lot themselves, I think it's nearly impossible to know whether you could travel successfully with them until you do it. There are also plenty of travel personalities that I enjoy watching on screen like Anthony Bourdain or the crew from Yes Theory, but I suspect we might not get along in real life.
Luckily, I really enjoy traveling with my husband, Mohamed. We travel a lot for work, but also for fun and most of the time we have similar tastes in food and activities. And I appreciate the fact that we both make an effort to accommodate each other’s interests (meaning we’ll go to a Tokyo fluffy pancake café before hitting up the Pokemon store.) If it weren’t for Mohamed, I think I would travel by myself and meet people as I went along. Finding a good travel companion is tough!
Great news! I'm going to buy you a hat. The catch is that you have to wear this hat on every future travel trip at all times. What kind of hat would you like?
I’m not a big hat person so I’d take a colourful kerchief instead! I could use it to keep the sun off my head, to cover my hair if needed, as a sarong for the beach, as a picnic blanket, or simply to wrap around my neck on windy days. Plus, it’d be an easy way to add a fun accessory to whatever I’m wearing.
Where is the place you never want to go back to?
Although I definitely want to explore more of Indonesia, I don’t think I’d head back to Bali any time soon. Things got off to a poor start when the border guard ripped the photo page of Mohamed’s passport and then made us pay a bribe to get into the country. They were stress-testing the passports of many foreign travellers, so be warned! It was an extremely stressful situation that put a dampener on the rest of our time there.
Otherwise, to me, Bali is the definition of unsustainable tourism. Many foreigners are extremely disrespectful towards the locals, the traffic is horrendous, and the plastic pollution on the beach means you can’t even set down a towel. It all seemed such a shame for an island that has so much natural beauty and experiences to offer.
You've been given a million pounds to live your best life in one destination for a year. The problem is - you're trapped there and can't leave for the year. Where would you go?
Lucky me! I’m thinking about the details of this question and it makes sense to me to choose 1. a relatively expensive place where having a million pounds is necessary and 2. a big place that has a year’s worth of stuff to do. So I’m going to choose a place that fits that criteria and one I’ve always wanted to visit – Canada! I’d start with the rugged coastline of Newfoundland and Labrador, and check out Prince Edward Island, too. Then I’d put my French to use to eat some poutine in Quebec City and hop on the Trans-Canadian railway to Vancouver for some good Asian food and whale-watching. I’d probably rent a van from there and drive inland towards Banff. I’m getting excited just writing about this – maybe I’ll have to plan this for a future summer!
How do you decide where to visit next?
I’m extremely fortunate that travel is built into my work. I often get assignments to film stories about food around Europe and elsewhere, and sometimes I succeed in pitching a story about a destination that I want to visit. Since I work for myself, I can always build in a few extra days to really explore the place once the shoot is over. So far this year, Italy, Poland, and Hungary are on the agenda. I was actually born in Poland, but haven’t spent much time there so I’m especially looking forward to that trip!
When we travel for fun, my husband and I often decide where to go based on who we can visit. We’re really fortunate to have friends and family around the world and our trips tend to be much more fun and immersive when we have someone who can show us around. In Korea, for example, we were a bit frustrated and lost on our own until we met up with our friend Minwon. We ended up having a great time exploring local markets with some pretty interesting food like live octopus, cheddar cheesecake, and gaebul, also known as penis fish. If it hadn’t been for her, we would have understood much less about the culture and wouldn’t have had such an enjoyable experience.
And finally, what's the one thing you never leave home without when travelling?
Phone? Keys? Sense of adventure? Just kidding.
We often travel very light and have been known to leave for a weeklong trip with two backpacks and a shared carry-on (sometimes including work gear!) so naturally, I don’t have much space for shoes. If the destination is warm, I always bring these waterproof sandals. They’re stylish, comfortable, indestructible and work for literally any occasion. I spent four months trekking around Asia and Australia with them and used them for exploring cities, hiking, swimming, fancy dinners, etc. Once, I even wore them to the beach during the day and the Sydney Opera House at night – now that’s what I call multi-functional!
A huge thanks to Anna for agreeing to be part of Speedy Boarding. If you liked this post please do consider becoming a free or paid subscriber to Not That You Asked. Paid subscribers get two free travel guides a month for just £4.99, which is way cheaper than Netflix. If £4.99 is a bit steep in this economy there’s a 50% off forever sale on at the moment to celebrate two years of Not That You Asked.
The next Speedy Boarding will drop on the 30th of May, next up is
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I didn't expect to read something today that would make me want to go to Thailand just to be a mall rat, but...that mall looks truly incredible.
What a lovely way to live, travelling! My dreams of travel were dashed once I began with back pains, spinal cord, all vertebrae degenerative, two surgeries in different places, so I had to stop travelling.
Last year I went to UK for two months and stayed at my aunt’s house. The trip up and down was so exhausting and the pains excruciating. 😖 Now I will think twice before going on a trip again. Lol.
But I love to read about travels! Thank you for sharing. Bolivia is a great choice! I was there in 2012 for one month at a dear friend’s house and loved it. La Paz, Sucre is a quaint town. The salt lake..the women in their colourful customs..friendly and kind people.
Enjoy! Have fun! 🧡🤗