Travel Weekly’s editors routinely circle the globe, and as they check out the cruise ships, hotels, airlines and tours on their beats, they sample the cuisines of the countries and cultures they encounter on their way.

For our latest culinary issue, we took a small sampling of those culinary moments in an attempt to showcase a few of the ways travelers can experience cultures through a taste of their food and beverage traditions. 

One experience was no farther than our own backyard, in the mid-Atlantic region, where one of America’s hottest young chefs showed off dishes that fused traditions from the Caribbean, New York and Washington. We zoomed in on a small sliver of France, where our writer encountered a novel idea among age-old traditions. In the Arabian Desert, the local fare challenged a reporter’s palate while satisfying his wanderlust. And in Southeast Asia, a Travel Weekly editor learned to appreciate the cuisine of the Mekong served in the comfort of an American company’s river cruise ship. 

These experiences, along with so many others that our staff have had, gave them a stronger connection to the people and communities they visited. And they represent the kinds of offerings travel advisors are looking to share with their clients: According to a Virtuoso survey, 70% of its travel advisor members last year reported an increase in demand for culinary-focused travel and that 20% of their clients book trips with food and wine as the main focus. 

As the saying goes, everyone has to eat.