Hi! I’m Beth and I’m
the Travel Chef behind
Fig Tree Travels
I get excited about connecting with a place and locals through their food and culture. I want to help you connect more deeply with places you visit by experiencing the local food culture and having delicious adventures. During my first solo trip in 2015, I went to cooking school on an organic farm in Europe. After my chef training, I traveled through Europe and spent time in kitchens and on farms. I met local people and cooked with them and it transformed the way I travel. I love cooking and I love traveling and it only makes sense that I harness my expertise in these areas to help you travel better. I hope you will use my city guides to help you more fully connect with a food culture, a place, and it’s people. Your travels will be richer and more delicious.
Finding Ways to Travel
My first international trip was in 8th grade (14 years old) when my Latin teacher took a group of students to Italy during Spring Break. This trip changed my life because it solidified my love of traveling internationally, Italy, and ancient architecture. In High School, when my friend joined a soccer team that competed in tournaments in Europe, I joined too. We traveled to Paris and London, and competed in Denmark and Sweden. During University, I studied abroad in Rome for a semester and we traveled EVERYWHERE in Italy.
Before the semester began, I convinced a friend to join me on a trip to Vienna, Berlin, and Munich. I joined my NYC roommate on her work trip to Prague (and Budapest) and brought my High School best friend with me. After living in New York City for a few years, I went to Grad School and traveled to Hong Kong, Macau, and China with my class. If you want to travel with school, you need to study Architecture! Also during Grad School, I studied abroad in Paris for a semester and went on a two week field trip around France lovingly called the Tour de France.
The Travel Life
After a decade working as an Architect, at 34, I took a Grown Up Gap Year and learned so much about myself, life, and the world. During this time I went to cooking school on a farm in Ireland, after which I traveled around Europe interning in kitchens and on farms. During this time, I spent a year in Italy at the Rome Sustainable Food Project, founded by Alice Waters. This year in Italy convinced me that I belonged in Europe, I just didn’t know how to make it work long term so when the year was up I went home. Back home in New York I spent a full growing season as a farm apprentice on a Biodynamic farm in the Hudson Valley of New York. After which I helped two new restaurants open, one of which opened during the Pandemic. After the Pandemic, I found myself working a variety of part time jobs in the food industry, as a Private Chef, and also back to working as an Architect.
I loved it because I didn’t have to spend all my time doing one repetitive thing, but the amount of effort it took to coordinate schedules and the fact that I was mostly relying on other people to give me work was draining.
Last year I starting thinking maybe, just maybe, I could become a Digital Nomad. And when the lease on my apartment ended in September, I took the leap, and started traveling full time and living my dream travel life while working remotely on my laptop. I began sharing my travels on Instagram and of course the experiences that resonated most with all of you was when I shared about connecting with new cultures through food. While researching what foods to eat in what cities and how best to connect with the local food culture, the idea for this blog was created. So here I am compiling all of the research I was doing for myself anyway and presenting my unique perspective as a Travel Chef.