I’ve seen some blogs that don’t include food costs in their travel budgets because “you have to eat no matter where you are”. I think that’s disingenuous unless you really do arrive at your destination, go straight to the grocery store, and cook all your meals at home. Even then, the food costs may be much higher or lower. For example, much of the food in Guatemala is cheaper than in the US and my food budget would be lower there eating the same food I usually do. In a place like Hawaii where a box of cereal can be more than $10, my food costs would be much higher.
Even if you’re staying in the same house during sabbatical, your food costs may change. You may eat out more because you’re meeting friends for meals now that you have more time, or you may have more time to cook and your costs may go down. You may decide to really learn how to cook some nice meals and spend a lot on ingredients, or decide to keep everything as simple as possible and have beans and brown rice for every meal. You get the idea.
Feeding 6 people three times a day is expensive no matter what you do. I keep a very close eye on sales at the grocery store, am great at using whatever food is on hand, and we rarely have food waste. When you travel you will likely be eating out more than you normally do, whether due to necessity or just fun. I’d never buy a KitKat bar in the US at a convenience store, but who can resist trying a matcha-flavored KitKat in Japan? Some countries, of course, have much lower food costs than in the US, but often also very limited availability of non-local foods, which can be very expensive if you want some of the comforts of home. Depending on where you are, grocery store delis and convenience stores can be outstanding sources of local, freshly prepared foods. Plus you can often pick up some fresh produce while you’re there.
Food is such an integral part of experiencing the culture that it’s a shame to eat at the Western-style buffets or restaurants all the time. We push the kids to try new foods. Even the kid menus in other countries may be sufficiently different that they’re a stretch for some kids. Foods almost always end up being a big part of my kids’ memories. In Japan it was cherry-blossom ice cream. In China it was fresh squeezed bamboo juice. Only one of our kids tried baby octopus on a stick (did you know there’s a hard-boiled egg stuffed in the body to give it shape?). I have high hopes for the rest of our trip.
And the foods we are influenced our kids once we got home, too. One kid asks for miso soup for his birthday breakfast every year. We learned to make onigiri at home – it’s such an easy meal.
In order from cheapest to most expensive:
- Outdoor markets
- Grocery store
- Street hawkers
- Convenience store
- Fast food
- Fast casual
- Mom and pop restaurants
- Western chain restaurants
- High end local restaurants
- Western fancy restaurants/hotel restaurants
If you’re on sabbatical, hopefully you are working at a level that allows you time to cook meals mostly at home with occasional opportunities to try the local food. My preference is always street hawkers and mom and pop restaurants for prepared food, and markets for produce.
You should remember to factor in the cost of bottled water. Many places with very cheap food also do not have potable water, which means you’ll likely be buying a lot of bottled water. There are also some fancy water bottles these days, plus the old standbys of sterilization pens and iodine tablets if you need them. Grayl is a brand I’ve seen mentioned frequently, though I haven’t bought one myself.
Keep in mind that many places have a local version of Yelp. Google reviews may exist in some places but in my experience tend to be higher than the equivalent Yelp review. Some places will have a local app for restaurant discounts like The Fork in Europe (owned by Tripadvisor). I’ve found it helpful to pin a couple places on google maps that look good in different areas so if you find yourself just needing to eat, you have some ideas already of well-rated spots nearby.