Country Cruising, originally uploaded by landofshane.

Sarah and I went out for a Drive on Saturday. Theres something fantastic about driving just to explore, rather than driving to get from A to B.

We woke up to find a ‘top down’ day waiting for us, so after a lot of trying to work out where to go, when had a new idea.

A few months ago I was filling in a travel survey (as you do) and something made me stop dead and think.

What an amazing concept. An inspiring sentiment that after 2 months I still haven’t been able to shake.

The question was a simple “What sort of traveler are you?”. And it had the standard responses; adventurer, explorer, cocktail by the pool, sporty etc etc.

But one was different. It jumped off the page and riveted itself into my brain.

A single word, that in the right context opens a word of ideas.

“Foodie”

Traveling just for food?

France for Croissants

Basing your destination not on where it is, or time of year, or sights, or events, but on tastes?

The idea hit a chord with me. Theres something romantic about it I can’t place my finger on.

Vodka in Red Square

So anyway, after failing to find any sights nearby we were both feeling a little frustrated…

And then the idea struck back. Something grabbed my brain and yanked it back to the basics.

It doesn’t have to be about where, it can be about what!

Coffee…

The coffee in the UK has been appalling. Good coffee has been impossible to find.

Haggis

We have our espresso machine, but have been using Starbucks beans in it to date as its all we could find. (It pains me greatly to admit).

A quick look online lead us to The house of Coffee… So off we went…

Bluff Oysters

It was a couple of hours north, so we threw the Coffee Perk and camping gas burner into the back of the car and headed off.

It was a fantastic day, fresh coffee beans, a picnic and coffee by the river, and a slow winding trip through a number of small English villages.

This food based travel is a fantastic concept… and one that is likely to stick

Must do Coffee in Italy