The following is an interview set of questions I posed to Gary Arndt, the top travel blogger on the web!!

1. Can you tell me about some of the exotic fruits you have discovered during your world travels? Maybe describe their look & taste. For eg. I hear that in Asia/Australia there is a fruit that resembles chocolate pudding. Any that you really enjoyed?

Gary: There are many fruits you can find in SE Asia that I have never seen in North America. Rambutan and longkong come to mind. Mangosteen, water apples and durian are also fruits you seldom see outside of SE Asia. Given the tropical nature of some fruit trees and how perishable the fruits are, you will find far more fruit variety there than in other parts of the world.

2. During your world travels, have you come across any vegetables that we do not find here in the USA? What were they and how did you enjoy them?

Gary: I honestly didn’t see as much variety in vegetables as I did with fruit. Vegetables do not grow on trees, so most can be cultivated during a growing season even in non-tropical climates. They also tend to be preserved better than most fruits. You can find things like bok choi all over the world.

3. Which countries that you’ve visited tend to be very meat-centric and did not provide many vegetable or grain options for meals?

Gary: Every country I’ve ever been to eats meat. What protein source they use changes from location to location (fish vs pork for example) but you’ll see eggs almost everywhere. The most meat centric place I’ve been is probably Argentina. Much of their cuisine is built around BBQ.

4. Which countries tend to be best for vegetarians and vegans, in your opinion? Can you give a couple of examples of veggie-friendly, suitable dishes that would be served in those locations?

Gary: Outside of westerns, the only people I’ve seen who are vegetarians are upper caste Hindu Indians. Wherever you find Indian food you can probably eat vegetarian quite easily. Many East Asian dishes are vegetable dishes so it is easy to opt out of certain dishes. In the Middle East, you can always find hummus and bread.

5. Here is the USA, it very common to find a huge variety of ethnic restaurants in every large city. Where else in the world did you find that there were also many ethnic restaurants and in which countries did you find that menu selections were limited to the local cuisine ?

Gary: It all depends on the size of the city and the amount of immigration the place gets. A large city like Bangkok will have many varieties of ethnic restaurants. If you go to smaller cities, your choices will drop dramatically. Countries with an Anglo heritage (US, Canada, UK, Australia) also tend to have large numbers of immigrants which results in large numbers of ethnic restaurants. You can find a Chinese restaurant in almost any town in the US, but you probably wont find an Indian restaurant in a small town in Japan.

6. With all your extensive travels, I gotta ask you more of a sightseeing question too!
Which are a couple of your favorite destinations in the world and why?

Gary: I don’t have a single favorite place. Different places are appealing for different reasons. Some off the top of my head include Angkor in Cambodia, Palau, Mui Ne Vietnam, the Kimberly region of Western Australia, Oman, Florence and Samoa.

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Gary Arndt

Everything-Everywhere.com – The Internet’s most popular travel blog