Get practical tips for attending Rio Carnival at the legendary Sambadrome, and learn the rich history, culture, and traditions that make the parade so unique.

The steady pulse of drums echo through the air. Explosions of colorful fireworks light up the sky. The white floors of Sambadrome’s long avenue stretch out before you. The unyielding heat and humidity are ever-present, leaving a glistening layer of sweat on your skin.

Welcome to the Rio de Janeiro Carnival parade, a sensory overload that is often described as one of the greatest shows on earth. It’s a maximalist extravaganza that is the culmination of a full year of preparation. And, more than just a visual spectacle — it’s a celebration of culture and tradition.

Dressed in flamboyant costumes and helming elaborate floats, Rio’s samba schools are in fierce competition with one another to take home the night’s prize. Carnival is celebrated all over Brazil, but it’s the annual parade at the Sambadrome stadium that has captured the world’s attention.

If you’re planning on attending this once-in-a-lifetime experience, we’ve got you covered. In this post, we’ll offer practical advice on securing the best tickets and seating so you can get the most out of your experience. We also delve into the rich history behind Rio’s samba schools, giving you a deeper understanding of the culture and traditions that make Carnival so unique.

Table of Contents

• Choosing Which Night to Attend Rio Carnival Parade
• Everything You Need to Know About Tickets & Seating at Rio’s Carnival Parade
• Where to Buy Tickets
• Cultures & Traditions Behind Rio Carnaval
• Tips for Visiting Sambadrome
• How to Get to Sambadrome

Choosing Which Night to Attend Rio’s Carnival Parade

There are four nights of parades at Rio Carnival, so how do you know which night to attend?

Samba schools in Rio de Janeiro are categorized into two groups — the access group and the special group. Access group schools are competing against one another for entry into the coveted special group, and special groups are competing for the ultimate Rio Carnival parade victory, which earns them fame, glory, and money.

Friday and Saturday night are access group performances, and Sunday and Monday night are special group performances — the championship parades.

If you want to see the top samba schools in the city putting on their best show, buy tickets for Sunday and Monday night. Though prices vary, it’s likely that tickets will be more expensive on these nights.

However, don’t overlook access groups either. We attended the access group parade on Saturday night and it was the greatest spectacle I’ve ever seen in all my years of travel.

If you want to check out our experience at Rio’s Carnival parade, watch the video below:

Everything You Need to Know About Tickets & Seating at Rio’s Carnival Parade

There are different tiers of seating to consider when buying tickets for Rio’s legendary Sambadrome. Prices can vary widely according to the location of seats, the day of the parade, the quality of the view, and when you purchase tickets. To get the best prices for each of the options below, book your tickets as early as possible!

Before purchasing a ticket, check the seating chart to ensure you’re getting the view you want. Some seats may have obstructed views or be too far from the action. We offer more specific tips on Sambadrome sections below.

Camarote (VIP, Luxury Suites)

Camarotes are luxury suites in the Sambadrome that offer a VIP experience. They are typically located on the second level of the Sambadrome and feature air-conditioned rooms with comfortable seating, a private balcony that provides a panoramic view of the parade, open bars, and amenities like on-site makeup artists, nail salons, and more.

Camarote Mar was the most aggressively marketed camarote during the 2023 Carnaval, but there are many to choose from ranging from mid- to high-end. Other famous camarotes include Brahma, N1, and Allegria.

Camarotes ranges from $500 on the low end to $1000 or more on the high end.

Camarotes Cobertos (Covered Boxes)

Covered boxes are enclosed spaces with a roof that provide protection from the sun and rain. They offer more comfort, with sofas and tables for seating and are typically rented out by groups or individuals looking for a private experience while watching the parade. Prices range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars.

Frisas (Open Box Seating — Our Choice)

Frisas are located on the ground level of the Sambadrome and offer a slightly elevated view of the parade. They typically accommodate up to six people and come with individual chairs and a small table. This is a great option if you’re on a mid-range budget, or if you are attending the parade with a group and would like your own personal space to watch the parade.

We sat in frisas in sector 6, which we highly recommend. This area is where carnival judges sit, so samba schools put on their absolute best show. We paid $600 for two tickets last minute, but prices vary. You’ll be able to snag cheaper tickets if you purchase them ahead of the time, not the night before like we did.

Grandstands (Bleachers)

Grandstand seats are the most affordable option for budget-conscious travelers. Prices vary widely by sector and time of purchase, with tickets ranging from $50 to $200.

For example, sectors 12 and 13 have restricted views as they are located at the end of the Parade.

For the best viewing experience, we recommend purchasing tickets in Sectors 6-11.

Where to Buy Tickets

International visitors can buy tickets to the Rio Carnival parade here, on the official Carnival website. However, be aware that the cheapest seats tend to sell out quickly, so make sure to purchase them as much in advance if you can.

Here are a few more options for purchasing tickets online and on-the-ground in Rio:

• Liga Independente das Escolas de Samba (LIESA) is the official organization that manages the Carnival Parade at Sambadrome. They offer tickets for all of the parade nights and have an online ticket sales system on their website.
• RioTur is the official tourism board of Rio de Janeiro and offers ticket packages for the Carnival Parade. They have a physical ticket office in downtown Rio de Janeiro, as well as an online ticket sales system.
• Ticketmaster Brazil is an authorized vendor that offers tickets for the Carnival Parade. They have an online ticket sales system and also offer customer support in English.
• Rioturismo is a local tour operator that offers ticket packages for the Carnival Parade. They have a physical ticket office in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro and also offer an online ticket sales system.

Make sure you purchase tickets only from authorized vendors to avoid scams or counterfeit tickets.

Knowing What You’re Watching: Cultures & Traditions Behind Rio Carnival

Don’t be that person who wishes for more American music at Sambadrome (yes, this was a real thing). Here’s some background on the beautiful tradition of Carnival so you know what you’re looking at.

Behind the Scenes of Rio’s Carnival Parade

The work that goes into preparing for Rio’s annual Carnival parade cannot be overstated.

For an entire year, the samba schools of Rio de Janeiro — which consist of hundreds to thousands of people — work on crafting a story, building floats, designing costumes, choreographing dance, and organizing it all into one great cohesive spectacle.

Communities host fundraiser events throughout the year to raise money for their performances. Competition is so fierce between samba schools that the floats and costumes are kept a secret throughout the year.

How Samba Schools Are Judged in Rio’s Carnival Parade

Samba schools are judged on many different criteria.

The first is enredo, an original story that acts as the guiding theme for all elements of their procession. These stories are usually informed by traditional Brazilian culture and are accompanied by a samba-enredo, or samba-song, composed each year specifically for the parade.

Yes, samba schools write an original song to accompany their procession in the parade every single year.

The evolution of the procession as the story develops is another key focus for judges, represented by the creativity of costumes, floats, and dance choreography.

Specific roles within the samba school and their performances are also judged:

The beautiful musas and rainhas de bateria.

Performances by “The Master of the Room” and “She Who Carries the Flag”

The percussion band, or bateria.

And “The Front Commission” — a group of dancers that lead the parade and introduce their school’s story through dance.

Stories Behind Carnival Parade Performances

The stories crafted by each samba school inform their 55-minute-long Carnival procession. These stories are inspired by Brazilian culture, history, and traditions.

In 2023, we had the privilege of following a musa of Rio’s Porta da Pedra samba school and got a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into a Carnival performance. Let’s take a look at their story as an example.

The theme for Porto da Pedra’s Carnival procession centers around Jules Verne’s book, Eight Hundred Leagues on the Amazon. It’s a book about adventure and the legends surrounding the Amazon — the flora and fauna, creatures from the Amazon River, and the indigenous communities of the Amazon.

The kicker? Jules Verne never actually traveled to the Amazon. So the book is all based on his wild imagination, which Porta da Pedra embraces.

Their performance — from the floats and costumes to the original song — is based on an invented Amazon. It is, in essence, a fantasy.

In addition to telling stories from Jule Verne’s novel, Porta da Pedra nods to historical Amazon activists who worked to protect the forest and the native populations.

At the end of the procession, Porta da Pedra makes an appeal to protect the Amazon from being continually exploited for profit — currently a major political issue in Brazil.

Other samba schools we saw had stories about the origins of slavery in Brazil, African culture in Brazil, and Candomblé, an African diasporic religion that developed in Brazil during the 19th century.

More Tips for Visiting Rio’s Sambadrome

• If you’re sitting in the grandstand bleachers, get there early as seats are first-come-first-serve.
• Each night’s parade lasts until 6 AM. Wear comfortable shoes and pace your drinking so you can last through the entire performance.
• Bring food, drinks, and plenty of water with you. Food and drinks are sold in the Sambadrome, but everything is pretty mediocre unless you’re in the camarote.
• Be aware of your belongings before you enter the Sambadrome. The surrounding neighborhoods can be dangerous, and pickpockets and thieves are active during Carnival. Don’t bring valuables with you if you can help it, and don’t wear anything visibly expensive.
• Wear a costume! A lot of people dress up for the festivities. If you don’t have a costume, some glitter with suffice.
• Be aware of the weather: The Sambadrome is an open-air venue, so be prepared for Rio’s frequent rains and hot, humid weather.

How to Get to Sambadrome

There are several ways to get to Sambadrome during Rio Carnival:

• By subway: The Sambadrome is located close to the Praca Onze subway station, making it easily accessible via subway.
• By taxi or rideshare: Taxis and rideshare services like Uber are readily available in Rio during Carnival. A ride from Copacabana beach to Sambadrome costs around $10.
• By bus: Several bus lines run through the area near the Sambadrome, so taking a bus is another option. However, buses can be quite crowded during Carnival, so this may not be the most comfortable option.

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I have long been fascinated by Brazilian beauty standards and beauty culture in Brazil. And I am not just talking about Adriana Lima, Gisele, or the other long-legged Brazilian supermodels who dominate international media. Instead, my interest lies in the habits of “normal” Brazilian women and the role of beauty and beauty standards in Brazilian society at large.

When I started dating my Brazilian husband and became more exposed to Brazilian people and culture, I began noticing that Brazilian women are incredibly well put-together. From consistently manicured nails and flowing locks to arched eyebrows and thoughtful outfits that complement their physiques, Brazilian women are unapologetic about their femininity. Plastic surgery is also much more common — both in practice and as a topic of discussion — even among young women in their early twenties.

It’s clear that many Brazilians put time and effort into their appearance. In my opinion, noticeably more than their American counterparts.

Brazilian Beauty Standards and the Role of Beauty in Brazilian Culture

In Brazil, beauty is highly prized and plays a central role in the culture. It is commonly believed that physical appearance is crucial to success and opportunity, and “beauty opens doors” is a popular saying. Beauty treatments, both surgical and non-surgical, are normalized and widely available, and many people prioritize them in their daily routines. As a result, the beauty industry is booming in Brazil and has been booming for a long time.

This emphasis on beauty starts at a young age. One striking thing I noticed on my latest trip to Brazil is how parents are openly proud when their daughters are beautiful, going out of their way to point it out to new people they meet. Girls learn early on that their beauty gives them an advantage and begin honing it through beauty treatments and fashion. Due to the prevalence of social media, many start showcasing their beauty at younger and younger ages. I have seen girls as young as 6 or 7 expertly striking poses for the camera as if they are far beyond their years.

In my opinion, Brazilians tend to view beauty through the lens of empowerment and aren’t afraid to embrace and work on their own. It is a commonly accepted notion that beauty takes work — weekly hair treatments and manicures, body-sculpting massages, eyebrow microblading, waxing, and increasingly, Botox, filler, and other non-surgical procedures.

Where do they find the time? When something is a priority, you make room for it, and Brazilians very intentionally integrate beauty into their daily routines. My mother-in-law and her friend, for example, have a ritual where they exchange beauty services with one another every week. My mother-in-law, who is a hairdresser with her own salon, will moisturize or dye her friend’s hair, while her friend will paint her nails.

Pain is another price to pay in the pursuit of beauty. I felt this to my core as I endured hundreds of tiny cuts in my eyebrows during my first microblading appointment in Brasilia — a semi-permanent cosmetic tattooing technique used to enhance the appearance of eyebrows.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Many Brazilian women begin waxing at a young age, and many of our female Brazilian friends started waxing before the age of 13. Then, of course, there’s plastic surgery. Brazil has become a global center for plastic surgery, with the second-highest number of procedures performed worldwide. Unsurprisingly, it is also a hub of innovation in the field, known for inventing the Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL) and other popular procedures.

Some have said that Brazil’s penchant for altering their bodies has to do with eugenic scientists popularizing plastic surgery in an effort to “fix the errors” of “too much racial mixture in Brazil.” Others say that being beautiful gives you a massive advantage in Brazilian society, opening doors to jobs and opportunities that might otherwise not be available. It has even been argued that beauty is so important in Brazil that access to plastic surgery for all is a human right.

The prevalent mindset regarding beauty that I observed during my trips to Brazil is: “If I can make myself more beautiful and feel more confident, why wouldn’t I?”

Of course, as with all cultures, some fit right in and some don’t. Certain people thrive in the constant quest to make themselves more beautiful and achieve Brazilian beauty standards, and others feel stifled. A lot of Brazilian women I’ve spoken to who live in the US have expressed that they feel much freer to be casual here, whereas in Brazil they felt pressure to dress up and look put together all the time even if they don’t want to.

Interesting Observations About Brazilian Beauty Standards & Culture

Plastic Surgery is Common and Not At All Taboo

Plastic surgery is incredibly common in Brazil, and it is not at all taboo to talk about your procedures with friends and strangers alike. Anecdotally, it seems like most Brazilians I meet have had something done and are eager to tell you exactly what. There is no such thing as the hush-hush culture we see in Hollywood with celebrities keeping their surgeries a secret. Having plastic surgery can even be seen as a way to show off that you have money.

My husband’s aunts routinely share stories about their rounds of liposuction and Brazilian butt lifts. A young dental assistant pulled out her phone during my teeth cleaning to show us a before and after of her Botox injections and buccal fat removal. When you remove the stigma that is often associated with cosmetic procedures in the United States, the baggage and judgment that follows people who choose to pursue them cease to carry as much weight. It becomes a normalized part of everyday life, for better or for worse.

The statistics back up how much plastic surgery comes up in conversation. Brazil is the second-largest consumer of plastic surgery in the world, with 1.2 million procedures completed in 2018.

Plastic surgeries in Brazil aren’t just accessible to the rich. Public hospitals provide free or low-cost procedures to lower-income patients. Over half a million surgeries are subsidized by the government each year. There are even payment plans available where you can pay for surgeries in installments.

As Ivo Pitanguy, Brazil’s “godfather” of plastic surgery, puts it, “the poor have a right to be beautiful too.” 

Brazil’s Beauty Economy is Thriving, and Everyone Participates

It should come as no surprise after getting this far down the post that the beauty economy is thriving in Brazil.

Brazil is the fourth-largest market for cosmetic and personal care products in the world, behind only the United States, China, and Japan, and the Brazilian beauty industry is also a significant employer, with over 4 million people employed in the sector in 2019.

As you can see from this number, everyone participates. And outside of the formal beauty economy, many Brazilian women set up informal businesses that they operate out of their homes. It gives many who did not have the opportunity to pursue education a viable and sustainable way to make a living. Walking through lower-income neighborhoods in Brasilia, you can see signs advertising some form of beauty service every few houses.

On my last trip to Brazil, a woman gave me a Brazilian wax in her bedroom. Numerous women run fully functioning nail salons out of their homes and do very well for themselves. My mother-in-law runs a hair salon at home doing cuts, dye jobs, and other treatments for clients who have been with her for years. It’s how she was able to pull herself and my husband out of extreme poverty. Her sisters are all in the same line of work.

Aesthetic Procedures Are Extremely High Quality

Beauty treatments in the US ain’t got nothin’ on Brazilian beauty treatments. Hair, nails, waxing, semi-permanent makeup — in Brazil you pay a lot less for significantly higher quality results.

Take the simple manicure. I’ll never forget coming home after a gel manicure at a salon in San Francisco, showing my husband, and having him wonder aloud why the manicurist left a significant space above the cuticle unpainted (this probably sounds esoteric to those not familiar with manicures, but in Brazil they cut off your entire cuticle and the polish looks like it’s coming right out of your skin — it’s nice ).

To get the same type of result in the States is out-of-reach financially for most people, including myself. It’s why my Brazilian girlfriends that live in the US go out of their way to get all their beauty treatments done during visits back to Brazil.

This time around in Brazil, I decided to give it a try. I ended up getting my eyebrows microbladed, a fiberglass manicure, and laser skin resurfacing at a high-end dermatology clinic.

Of course, Brazil’s knack for beauty has made its way to the rest of the world. The infamous Brazilian bikini wax and the Brazilian blowout both originated in Brazil and are now household names in the US.

Brazil also has a significant influence on the plastic surgery industry, contributing several procedures to the field. One of the most well-known is the Brazilian Butt Lift — popularized by Kim Kardashian — which involves transferring fat from other parts of the body to the buttocks to enhance their size and shape. This procedure was pioneered by Brazilian plastic surgeon Dr. Ivo Pitanguy, who is considered a pioneer in the field of cosmetic surgery.

People Go to Extremes to Achieve the “Perfect” Body

Pressure to look good is high in Brazil, and beauty opens a lot of doors. It’s also hot, and people here show off their bodies a lot more than those in colder climates. There is obviously a bigger conversation to be had here, but all this is to say that a good-looking, fit body is an important part of Brazilian beauty standards.

I’ve noticed a couple of body types that are popular in Brazilian media. One is unique to Brazil, with a focus on achieving a tiny waist, curvy behind, and thick, thick, thick thighs (to see what I mean here, search “Brazilian Funk” on YouTube and watch one of the music videos that surface). Another is more Euro-centric. Think tall, slim, Gisele-esqe.

Many Brazilians have embraced gym culture with a passion and aim to get a fit, sculpted look. The desire to look like a bodybuilder is gaining popularity, and the pressure to attain this body type has contributed to Brazil becoming one of the largest consumers of anabolic steroids worldwide. According to a survey conducted by the Brazilian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism in 2014, about 7% of Brazilian men between the ages of 18 and 25 have used anabolic steroids (this percentage is likely much higher today).

And it’s not just men. Women also use steroids to achieve their desired physical features. A samba dancer we shadowed during Rio Carnival told us at many Carnival musas (you know, the beautiful dancers in full wings and costume marching in the parade) will take steroids to achieve thicker thighs and butts.

By the way, this woman probably doesn’t take steroids, I’m just showing you what a Carnival musa looks like.

People who don’t necessarily want to put in the work but also want to look good turn to plastic surgery instead of the gym. Breast implants, Brazilian butt lifts, liposuction — they achieve Brazilian body standards by going under the knife. Multiple times if necessary.

I’m always curious to learn other perspectives about the fascinating topic of Brazilian beauty standards and beauty culture. Like I said above, if you have any thoughts or something to add, do leave a comment below!

Want More Content About Brazil?

• The Perfect Rio de Janeiro Itinerary
• Everything You Need to Know about Rio Carnival Parade

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Mercado de San Juan, or San Juan Market, is one of the most famous markets in Mexico City. For both it’s gourmet and more…shall we say…exotic offerings.

In Mexico City alone, there are over 300 markets, and Mercado de San Juan — which we’ll give you an up-close look at in this post — is one of the most famous and a favorite of food enthusiasts across the city.

It’s not hard to see why. Entering the market rewards you with aisle upon aisle of beautiful produce, fresh seafood, meats, international ingredients, and…scorpions?⁠
⁠
Yup! You read that right.

While Mercado de San Juan is first and foremost a gourmet food destination, it is also notorious for its more…shall we say…exotic offerings.

Venture deeper into the market, past the innocent fruits and vegetables, and you’ll find an assortment of edible creepy crawlies and unusual meats — think lion, ostrich, bear, and crocodile. And the butcher section may well be a vegetarian’s worst nightmare.

Read on for our full experience at the market, which involves a food tour that started with pure intentions yet ends with a Bizarre-Foods-style twist.

If you’d like to take an interactive tour of Mercado de San Juan check out our video below! (& don’t forget to subscribe!)

A Market for Chefs & Foodies

Built in 1955 on the former space of the Buen Tono cigarette warehouse and officially titled Mercado de San Juan Ernesto Pugibet after the land’s former owner, the building is one of the oldest municipal markets in Mexico City, and its common name comes from the nearby San Juan Plaza, where food vendors sold their wares beginning in the early 1900s.

Mexico News Daily

Mercado de San Juan is known as a chef’s market. Towers of colorful fruits and vegetables (from Mexico and imported from all around the world), European cured meats and cheeses, a scary but gourmet selection of fresh meat, seafood from Mexico and beyond, and more unique finds like ostrich eggs and edible flowers.

The goods here are more expensive than you’ll find elsewhere, but you get what you pay for. Lucky for those of us from the States, things are still affordable. The same quality of products in San Francisco, where we live, would be 4-5x the price.

We went home with an exquisite leg of lamb to cook for Thanksgiving for around $15 USD. If you’re feeling extra, you can even pick up a whole baby pig for $25 USD.

What You’ll Find at Mercado de San Juan

Creepy Crawlies

Would you eat a scorpion? How about a cockroach? These are the existential questions you may find yourself asking when walking through Mercado de San Juan.

In the weeds of the market, you’ll find vendors selling scorpions, tarantulas, cockroaches, ants, and other edible creepy crawlies. I may or may not have been roped into trying a fried scorpion doused in chili powder, followed by a shot of mezcal.

Baby was also peer pressured into trying her very first Madagascar cockroach, and she is still super traumatized from the experience! (Eating a cockroach would make you talk in the third-person too )⁠

Lions and Tigers and Bears — Oh My!

Mercado de San Juan is known as a place to get exotic meats. Many vendors advertise iguana, wild boar, armadillo, and crocodile on their menus. If you’re feeling brave, you can opt for a lion burger or tiger steak.

Vendors have been selling these scarce meats in the market for some time, and they are apparently raised legally on farms in Puebla and Guerrero.

International Ingredients

At Mercado de San Juan, you’ll find European cured meats and cheeses, produce from around the world, and international food products on top of standard market fare. It’s one of the few places in Mexico City where you’ll find Asian food products, for example, and vegetables like bok choy and Chinese cabbage.

Fresh Meat

The butcher section of Mercado de San Juan is pretty metal. In the back of the market, under fluorescent lights, you’ll walk past whole baby goats, pigs, and hares lined in rows, stacked in towers, or packed into crates. I even found a bag of goat heads…mmm.

Though it’s a lot to take in visually, the meats are incredibly high-quality and much of it is farm-raised. There are more conventional cuts too, of course. Really exciting stuff for cooks.

Fresh & Dry Produce

The produce in Mercado de San Juan is a dream. Vendors preside over their colorful towers of fruits and vegetables taller than you, occasionally offering you samples as you walk by.

If you’re American, forget about what you think fruit tastes like. The fruit here is incredibly ripe and sweet — anything but bland and absolutely delicious.

Gorgeous Seafood

Mercado de San Juan is the place to get fresh seafood of the highest quality. From giant prawns and shellfish to octopus and tuna cut right from the source, the selection is just ridiculous.

Much of the seafood sold in the market is from Veracruz, but you can also find catch from around Central and South America.

What & Where to Eat

For a sit-down meal in the market, we kept finding ourselves at Las Tapas de San Juan, a stall specializing in meat-and-cheese stuffed paninis. Though the food is mostly European-inspired, there are a medley of homemade Mexican house sauces that you can slop on your food for an extra sweet or spicy kick.

The best part? Order one panini and you get a glass of wine, a meat and cheese plate, and dessert for free. We went back three times during our two-week trip in Mexico City.

But you really should eat everything!

Sample all the fresh fruit, go to the seafood vendors and ask for fresh tuna sashimi. Try European cured meats and cheeses. If you’re feeling brave, order an exotic meat taco or burger. Hell, eat a scorpion or cockroach.

Whatever you do, you can’t really go wrong.

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Makes sense! Video is one of the most immersive and engaging mediums for telling stories. When done well, you can effectively bring people along with you on your journey and make them feel like they’re traveling with you. You’ll also be able to showcase your personality and connect with your audience in a way that words and photographs just don’t allow.

Then there’s the glamour surrounding this line of work. After all, who doesn’t want to travel to exotic destinations and make a living off it? It may sound like a dream — and it can be — but it’s a lot of work. Many people set out to be travel content creators and ultimately give up because the road to success is such a slow burn.

In this post, we offer a step-by-step guide to starting a travel vlog on YouTube based on our learnings over the past year. From deciding on the type of vlogs you want to make and choosing the best filming equipment to video editing tips and promotion tactics, we’ve got you covered.

Table of Contents

• Decide on the Type of Travel Videos You Want to Make
• Choosing the Right Video Cameras & Equipment
• Just Start Filming
• Editing Your Videos: Process & Tools
• Publish Your Video & Promote: YouTube SEO & More

Decide on the Type of Travel Videos You Want to Make

Before you do anything, it’s important to decide on the type of videos you want to make and what story you’re trying to tell.

Here are a few types of travel videos you can consider:

• Travel guides
• Documentaries and cultural storytelling
• Explanation and marketing videos
• Niche topics, such as adventure and sports, travel hacking, food, urban explorations, etc. The possibilities are really endless!

If you’re not sure what you want to focus on yet, you can start researching what others in the field are doing to get inspired (this basically means binge-watching YouTube). You can also begin by filming and publishing a few different ideas. Take note of what your audience seems to like and what you enjoy doing and lean into that!

How We Decided on Travel & Food as Our Niche

A lot of content creators have trouble deciding on their niche. I certainly did.

This is not my first rodeo — I first created my travel blog in 2013, and the site you see now is in its third iteration. For years, I created generalized content on travel, and, as the number of creators proliferated, it was extremely difficult to stand out.

For me, I associated my niche with my passion, and I was always stuck on figuring out what in the world that was. It always felt like this elusive idea that I couldn’t quite nail down, and I was over-complicating it like hell.

Ask yourself, what do you like to do? What do you already do? What can you do regularly and consistently over a long period of time? This will be your niche. It may already be right in front of you and you just don’t realize it yet.

I’ve been a voracious eater for as long as I remember. I love food, I’m curious about food, and I’ll try anything once. When I travel, I often center my explorations around food and eat more than three meals a day. In 2020, I had this lightbulb moment: I’m going to make travel videos, and a lot of them will be about food. Duh. I was already eating everything while traveling anyway, just not filming it.

And it’s ok if what you like is outside the box. So many people have built empires around non-traditional topics or interests that school convinced us we couldn’t make money off of. Jason Rupp has almost half a million subscribers on YouTube posting videos of himself getting barbered and pampered around the world. People make a sustainable living on YouTube by posting hour-long videos of fishing, for goodness sake. People watch YouTube for all reasons. Use this to your benefit.

Choosing the Right Video Cameras & Equipment

Of course, cameras and equipment are essential for making videos. However, I would nail down your niche and the story you’re trying to tell before choosing what to invest in, as this will impact the type of equipment you need.

For example, if you want to showcase how you travel hack and get the best deals, maybe all you need is a webcam and screen recordings to start.

We create food and travel videos — what we care about is producing high-quality content that makes people feel like they are traveling with us. We also care about being able to fit all our equipment into a backpack so we can film on the go. Our camera and accompanying gear were chosen accordingly, and we made the conscious decision to put in a larger upfront investment.

Camera & Gear We Use for Our Travel Vlog

• Sony a7 III camera body (and we just pre-ordered the Sony Alpha 7 IV!). This is often regarded as one of the best cameras for filming videos because the images are 4k and of cinematic quality. 
• Sony 16-35mm camera lens. This is the lens we use to shoot most of the footage you see on our current YouTube videos.
• JOBY GorillaPod. This is a bendy, flexible tripod that can be set up anywhere. It also easily fits into a backpack for on-the-go shooting!
• Sennheiser wireless microphone system ensures crisp, clear audio in spite of background noise. We also use a RODE microphone on occasion, especially when we’re shooting multiple subjects.

For those with less to spend and who want to get started quickly, the Sony Z1 Digital Camera for Content Creators is a fantastic all-in-one option. This camera films in 4k, has a flip screen and super-wide filming angle so you can easily film yourself, and a high-quality microphone and wind screen. 

See our full list of travel vlogging equipment and why we chose it here.

Just Start Filming

It’s going to feel weird when you first start filming — especially if you’re talking on camera or filming yourself. You’re not going to feel prepared, you may feel awkward, and you’re not always going to know what to say. It can be nerve-wracking to talk on camera in front of a room full of people. I used to judge YouTubers for not being perfectly articulate until I started talking on camera myself, and now my attitude has changed to pure admiration.

The best way to learn is to simply start doing and improving from your mistakes. Being on camera gets easier with practice, and you’ll get better and more natural with time (even if the nervousness never fully goes away). Now, whenever I feel shy during filming, I remind myself of a piece of wisdom passed on by Lenza — “literally nobody will remember you in an hour.”

When it comes to the quality of your footage, watching what you’ve filmed and taking a stab at editing will show you what you’re missing and what you need to capture in the future to tell the story you want to. Just throw yourself into the deep end and let it happen.

Editing Your Videos: Process & Tools

Alright, so you have your raw footage. Now it’s time to make magic with it.

Filming & Editing Travel Vlogs: Our Process

Every filming and editing process looks a little different, but here’s how ours goes right now:

1. Plan an idea. Whether this is a food tour in a specific destination or a story we want to tell, we plot out the rough flow of the video and the footage we want to capture. If it’s a food tour, I’ll research where we’re going to go ahead of time. If it’s a specific subject matter or story, I’ll script an outline of how the scenes should flow. There is an element of improvisation since you can’t predict everything that will happen during filming, and that’s what makes it fun!
2. Film the idea.
3. Stitch together a rough cut of footage. This can be a chronological stitch or a stitch based on a pre-set storyline or idea.
4. Trim excess footage. Oftentimes, you’ll find yourself with redundant scenes or footage that don’t add value — the “fat.” Be ruthless in cutting this. Modern internet users have the attention span of goldfish. If you don’t get to the juice right away, you’ll lose viewers.
5. Add the “frills.” Once excess footage is cut, we add transitions, b-roll, music, special effects — you know, the fancy stuff.
6. Complete a final round of feedback and record any voiceover that is needed.
7. Final review and publishing. We watch the complete video obsessively to catch any errors/make final changes before uploading to YouTube.

Video Editing Tools

• Video Editing Software: We use Adobe Premiere Pro to edit all of our videos.
• Music: Good music is powerful. I’m still amazed at how a boring clip of me talking automatically becomes more bearable with the right music. We get all the music for our videos currently using Epidemic Sound, which gives us access to a huge library of royalty-free music and sound effects.
• Voiceover: Voiceover can be an effective, engaging way to tie your footage together into a story. Think about Parts Unknown — what makes the show iconic is Anthony Bourdain’s deep voice and storytelling skills. It stitches together an hour’s worth of footage into a narrative. We use this compact RODE microphone to record voiceover on the go. It’s so easy to use that even the least tech-savvy person (cough, me) can figure it out.

When you get started, there’s going be a skill gap between where you are and what you aim to be. It may take hours to get something simple done. This is frustrating at first, but, like anything you learn, grow, and become better and more efficient. Practice makes perfect, as the cliche goes.

When you get started, there’s going to be a skill gap between where you are and what you aim to be.

Publish Your Video & Promote: YouTube SEO & More

Woohoo, your first video is ready! Now it’s time to create your YouTube channel and publish! But there’s more to it than just uploading your video. If you’ve never heard of SEO before, there’s no better time to learn than now because it’s a huge part of how people are going to find your videos. And there are other considerations to increase your channel’s visibility as well.

YouTube SEO…A Necessary Evil

SEO stands for search engine optimization. And you need to understand at least the fundamentals to improve the ranking and visibility of your videos on YouTube.

Let’s say you’ve created a video on the best places to eat in Rome and you’re trying to figure out a good title. Originally, you were going to go with “where to eat in Rome,” but after some research, you find that people search for “best restaurants in Rome” significantly more. The keywords convey essentially the same thing, but going with “best restaurants in Rome” will result in more people finding your video.

Think about how people find videos. They have a question they want answered or something specific they’re looking for and they turn to the YouTube search engine to surface relevant content. There are trends in the way people type their queries — specific sets of words or specific orders of words are more commonly used than others. You want to make sure you’re using the right words in the right order so YouTube will know to display your video when it makes sense.

Of course, there are more nuances than that, but that’s the gist of it.

Here’s how to optimize your videos for SEO:

• Learn SEO Fundamentals. Moz has a great SEO guide for beginners so you can begin understanding the landscape.
• Do Keyword Research. Find out exactly what people are typing in the search bar to find the type of videos you are creating. TubeBuddy has a video keyword explorer in their robust suite of YouTube optimization tools. I also like the Keywords Everywhere Chrome extension, which shows you a list of keywords that any video on YouTube is ranking for.
• Optimize Your Videos: Once you have your keywords nailed down, make sure you include them in your video title and video description. When you add tags your video, add your primary keyword as the first tag and then max out the number of tags you’re allowed with synonyms and tangential words and phrases. You want to provide the YouTube algorithm with a clear signal of exactly what your video is about so it knows which search terms to showcase it under.

How to Promote Your YouTube Video

Unfortunately, there really is no secret to making your video go viral or growing your channel rapidly. Instead of obsessively focusing on views or subscriber growth, direct that energy towards making high-quality content. If your videos are engaging, people will eventually come. Just be patient! In the meantime, here are a few things you can do to spread the word that are in your control:

• Create Eyecatching Thumbnail Images. You want folk to be compelled to click on your video when they see your thumbnail image. Go for colors, interesting imagery, and big ol’ fonts that pop right off the page. I use Canva Pro — a powerful drag-and-drop graphic design tool — to create my thumbnail images.

• Post to Social Media. If you have an existing following, great! If not, post to your personal channels or share with friends and family to get a boost.
• Share to Relevant Communities. Research Facebook groups, Slack communities, Reddit threads, and more that focus on the topics you make videos about. Be careful though — a lot of these communities are resistant to blatant self-promotion. Make sure you are contributing in other meaningful ways so your posts stay up.
• Embed and Link Videos. If you have a blog or website, make sure you embed your videos on relevant posts and webpages. This offers a great boost for SEO as well.

I hope you enjoyed this step by step guide to starting a travel vlog on YouTube! If you have any questions or thoughts, please leave a comment below!

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If you are love to eat and are curious about food, there are few places better than Mexico City. Read on for observations about Mexico City food culture and a list of the best restaurants, street food, and places to eat that you can find in town.

You can explore Mexico City your whole life and not see it all.

The city oozes history and culture. Simultaneously modern and metropolitan and brimming with Mexican tradition, you can eat tacos to your heart’s content at humble street stalls by day and dance with the well-dressed, crème de la crème of Mexico City by night. Spanish colonial architecture stands side-by-side with Aztec ruins and contemporary skyscrapers. There are parts of town that feel and look like you’ve landed in Europe, and parts where there is absolutely no doubt that you are in Mexico.

In this food-forward guide to Mexico City, you’ll get an inside look at the delights and quirks of Mexico City’s food scene along with our recommendations for the best restaurants, street food stalls, and other places to eat in town.

Table of Contents

• An Inside Look at Mexico City Food Culture
• Where to Eat in Mexico City: Restaurants & Street Food

Take a Video Food Tour of Mexico City!

Tips for Eating in Mexico City: An Inside Look at Mexico City Food Culture

If you love to eat and are curious about food culture and history, there are few places in the world better than Mexico City. Here’s why.

There’s Something for Every Budget

For you bougie foodies — Mexico City is no stranger to fine dining. Two of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants — Pujol and Quintonil — are in Mexico City. If you’re looking at the World’s 100 Best Restaurants, the list expands to include Sud777.

If you instead seek authentic Mexican food that locals eat day-to-day, Mexico City delivers with its myriad markets and street food stalls around every corner.

And, of course, there’s everything else in-between.

The Best Eats in Town Are Found in Markets

Where there are supermarkets in the United States, there are traditional food markets in Mexico. Even in ultra-metropolitan Mexico City, it’s more convenient to shop for groceries at your neighborhood market than at a grocery store. I’m actually convinced that Mexico City (and all of Mexico really) is just one giant market (and neighborhoods like Tepito literally are). Inside, you can find some of the best food anywhere in the city.

Read: 6 Best Markets in Mexico City to Shop & Eat

You Can Find Unique Dishes From All Over Mexico

Cooks come from all over Mexico to open restaurants in Mexico City and bring the diverse flavors of their hometown with them. Craving a taste of spicy Sinoloan aguachile, authentic Hidalgan barbacoa cooked the way it has been for hundreds of years, the acidic savoriness of Yucatanian cochinita pibil, the rustic texture of a Oaxacan tortilla, or the fatty, melt-in-your-mouth goodness of Michoacan carnitas? You’ll most certainly find it all and more in Mexico City.

The Street Food is Incredible, Cheap, and All Over the Place

You don’t have to go far in Mexico City to find delicious street food. There are stalls quite literally everywhere, and they are usually up to something delicious. From meat-stuffed quesadillas and Mexican soups to more tacos than your mind can wrap itself around, you’ll eat to your heart’s content for cheap.

There are even some unexpected options, like stalls specializing in vegan tacos served by hipsters behind the counter. I’ve rarely seen young people behind the scenes at street food stalls in my travels, and it’s cool to see different faces getting involved in Mexico City.

Tired of Mexican Food? Dip Your Toes in the International Food Scene

Like any metropolis, Mexico City offers many international eats and fusion cuisines. During our two-and-a-half weeks in town, we tried Indian-Mexican at Masala y Maiz, traditional Argentinian barbecue, Korean seafood noodles and bulgogi, Russian fish soup, and even Taiwanese food at Bao Bao Taiwanese Eatery.

If you find yourself thinking that you can’t possibly eat another taco, Mexico City has you covered.

Where to Eat in Mexico City: Best Restaurants, Street Food & Places to Eat

Everywhere On My “Best Carnitas Tacos in Mexico City” List

Ah…carnitas. Arguably the most decadent taco meat in existence, made by frying every part of the pig you can imagine in its own lard for 2-4 hours. Nom nom nom nom.

Mexico City is a carnitas paradise, and there are numerous vendors to choose from across the city. Check out my blog post for the low-down, though the winner is hands-down Carnitas “El Charro” in the Coyoacan Market on the weekends.

Las Tapas de San Juan

Location
Neighborhood: Historic Center
Price $$

Las Tapas de San Juan specializes in meat-and-cheese stuffed paninis in Mercado de San Juan. Though the food is mostly European-inspired, there are a medley of homemade Mexican house sauces that you can slop on your food for an extra sweet or spicy kick.

The best part? Order one panini and you get a glass of wine, a meat and cheese plate, and dessert for free. Eating at this stall is such a fun experience that we went three times.

Rico Caldos de Gallina “Luis”

Location
Neighborhood: Roma Norte
Price $

Love chicken soup? Hit up Rico Caldos de Gallina “Luis,” a small restaurant in Roma Norte specializing in just that. You can see the huge pot of chicken broth boiling right in front of you and it tastes like exactly what you want on a cold, rainy day.

And though we didn’t try the restaurant’s other specialty — enchiladas topped with rich brown mole enhanced with chicken fat — it also looks incredible.

Tacos Los Güeros

Location
Neighborhood: Aeronáutica Militar
Price $

We beelined it to Tacos Los Güeros after watching the mouthwatering al pastor episode of Netflix’s Tacos Chronicles. The al pastor is indeed good, but so is the longaniza (sausage), suadero, and numerous other meats they have on their menu.

Taqueria Los Ahumados

Location: To the right of the Chedraui parking lot.
Neighborhood: Historic Center
Price $

A tiny hole-in-the-wall located next to Chedraui (think of it as Mexico’s Costco) at the Salto del Agua metro station. Tacos Los Ahumados sells tacos al carbon, or tacos with a variety of grilled meats, at around 20 pesos ($1) a pop. Try the picanha and chorizo Argentina, my two favorites.

Now the tacos are divine on their own, but the owner takes things to the next level with his selection of homemade sauces. The classic habanero, passion fruit habanero, pineapple habanero, and peanut with chile de arbol sauces were to die for

El Moro Churreria

Location: Everywhere
Price $

A local favorite, El Moro Churreria has been making churros for Mexico City since 1935. If you like churros (if you’re sane), you should definitely make a pit stop at one of their many locations across the city. Our default order is four churros with chocolate dip and the especial hot chocolate. I’m salivating now just thinking about it.

The original shop in the historic center almost always requires a wait, but you’ll be able to get service fast in any other location.

Taqueria Los Cocuyos

Location
Neighborhood: Historic Center
Price $

An infamous 24-hour taco joint in Mexico City’s historic center that finds its way onto every “best food in Mexico City” list for good reason…because the tacos are damn good and cheap. You’ll find head, tongue, and all sorts of fun beef parts on their menu. My personal favorites are the longaniza and campeche (mixed meats).

Masala y Maiz

Location
Neighborhood: Juarez
Price $$-$$$

Masala y Maiz is the brainchild of Norma Listman, a Mexico native, and Saqib Keval, who is of Indian and East African descent. The couple met cooking in the Bay Area and opened Masala y Maiz in Mexico City in 2017. The restaurant’s menu — which changes weekly depending on the availability of local ingredients — reflects a mixing and matching of Norma and Saqib’s diverse backgrounds.

In our visit to Masala y Maiz, we sampled dishes like suadero samosas, Mexican shrimp cocktail, and dosas with chili and tamarind chutney, shishito peppers, potato salad, and coriander. Each of the dishes were a thoughtful combination of flavors and textures — an absolute joy to eat.

El Hidalguense

Location
Neighborhood: Roma Sur
Price $$

I learned on this trip that barbacoa is actually an ancient style of cooking meat, not a specific type of meat like I always thought. Pioneered by the Mayans, barbacoa is made by wrapping meat in agave leaves and slow-cooking it in a pib, or underground oven. The Mayans used to cook wild boar, deer, and other game in this way, and the technique was picked up by other indigenous groups once the Mayans faded out of power in 900 A.D. In the 1500s, when Spanish conquistadors brought goats, sheep, cattle, and other farm animals to Mexico for the first time, the dish adapted.

Today, barbacoa is considered the specialty of Hidalgo, and El Hidalguense cooks and serves the dish in the traditional way.

Comedor de Los Milagros

Location
Neighborhood: Roma Sur
Price $$

Comedor de Los Milagros is a trendy food hall in the La Roma neighborhood that is home to a number of vendors serving New Latin cuisine. Though we didn’t eat here personally, we did pop in after a jaunt at Mercado Medellin to admire the hip decor and take a look around.

Though all the eateries are likely high-quality, the Brazilian restaurant and ceviche stall are what I would personally try!

Bao Bao Taiwanese Eatery

Location
Neighborhood: Roma Norte
Price $$

Bao Bao Taiwanese Eatery was founded in 2020 by Panamian-Taiwanese owner Kathy Fong. The menu features Taiwanese staples like beef noodle soup, popcorn chicken, scallion pancakes, and, of course, bao.

We chatted with Kathy during our meal and she told us about her commitment to serving dishes that are as authentic as possible. She even brought in a chef from Taiwan to help perfect the menu.

As you may or may not know, Taiwanese beef noodle soup is my favorite food in the entire world and it was a pleasure to enjoy a wonderful version of it in Mexico City.

“La Portenita” Parilla Argentina

Location
Neighborhood: Historic Center
Price $$

If you love meat, this place is a must. They do Argentian-style barbecue to perfection, and it is incredibly affordable. Order the parrillada, which includes one juicy t-bone steak, skirt steak, a quarter chicken, and a chorizo for only $20.

You can thank me later.

Want More Reads About Food in Mexico?

• A Brief History of Carnitas (& Where to Find the Best Carnitas in Mexico City)
• 13 Traditional Oaxacan Foods You’ll Find at Tlacolula Market
• Where to Eat in Tulum: A Restaurant & Street Food Guide

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This project has been a long time in the making. A huge shoutout to Lenza, amor da minha vida, who spent so much time this year learning about filming and editing from scratch, and who has no shame about sticking a camera pretty much anywhere . This project wouldn’t be possible without your hard work and support. Now I just gotta convince you to be on camera more with me!

We are still learning a lot, and honestly, it kind of feels like we have no idea what we’re doing. There’s been a lot of trial and error. The good news is that the vlogging process is finally starting to make a little more sense. More importantly, it’s becoming less of a scramble and a lot more fun to go out into the world with a camera.

We are going live with just one video to start, but we will be releasing a new video every week featuring food from all different locations. There are a lot more videos coming from Mexico as well as Turkey, Egypt, Brazil, and all over the USA — for now. We’re definitely not stopping there. We plan to travel a lot in the coming years and show you how beautiful and diverse food cultures around the world can be.

We really hope you follow along!

Subscribe Now

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Hot pot 火鍋 (huo guo), literally translating as fire pot, is a dining experience universally loved by Chinese people. The idea is simple: assemble a selection of raw vegetables, meats, seafood, and starches — anything you want, really — then cook them in a boiling pot of flavored broth. Across China and Taiwan, bustling all-you-can-eat hot pot restaurants are a fixture of everyday life. At home, families gather around the dining table to enjoy their own array of ingredients.

Hot pot is a deeply communal method of eating — ingredients are meant to be leisurely cooked and enjoyed as a group over several hours, preferably accompanied by Chinese bai jiu, beer, sake, or other spirits. Many use it as a delicious excuse to gather with friends and loved ones. There ain’t no party like a hot pot party.

Hot pot styles vary drastically region by region. In Beijing, mutton hot pot with a light broth or water is most common, and ingredients are dipped in sesame paste and sesame oil for flavor. Yunnan, home to over 600 species of wild edible mushrooms, is famous for — you guessed it — mushroom hot pot. The Northeast of China favors a hot pot made of sour, preserved vegetables. The most notorious hot pot in China and abroad hails from Sichuan Province. A blood-red blend of chili, flowery Sichuan pepper, aromatic spices, and bars of beef tallow, the broth of Sichuan hot pot is 麻辣 (ma la), numbing, spicy, and not for the faint for heart. A can of sesame oil is used as a dipping sauce to, theoretically, balance the heat (spoiler alert: it doesn’t work very well).

And that’s just scratching the surface. The list goes on and on. In this post, we’ll dive into how you can make Chinese hot pot at home,

How to Make Chinese Hot Pot at Home

Though hot pot may seem intimidating to recreate at home, it is actually quite easy (and significantly cheaper than eating out at a restaurant):

1. Start by equipping yourself with essential hot pot tools. I use a metal hot pot with an accompanying electric burner very similar to this one (Lenza gifted it to me a few years ago and we use it at least once a week). Other helpful tools include hot pot ladles, Chinese-style bowls, small bowls for dipping sauce, and chopsticks.
2. Make your soup base.
3. Wash and chop vegetables, meats, and other hot pot ingredients.
4. Assemble dipping sauces.
5. Wait until your soup boils then start adding in your hot pot ingredients.

Pro tip: Do not put everything in the hot pot at once! Cook specific morsels of food at a time and eat as you go. Some ingredients, like root vegetables, take a little longer to cook. Others, like thinly sliced meat or mushrooms, take under a minute. Keep an eye on everything you put in the pot so it doesn’t overcook.

Soup Base

Chinese hot pot at home can be as simple or complicated as you want it to be. Sure, you can make a complex and nuanced broth by slow-cooking bones and mix-and-matching spices, but reasonably tasty variations can be made with bouillon cubes or even just water.

These days, there are a variety of packaged broth bases in every flavor imaginable that you simply combine with boiling water. Voila—authentic Chinese hot pot ready for enjoyment in minutes! Here are my favorite brands:

• Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot. Little Sheep is a famous Chinese hot pot chain. I like their Sichuan soup base best, though the plain flavor is also tasty.
• Hai Di Lao. Hai Di Lao is another famous Chinese hot pot chain that offers manicures as you wait in the inevitable line. I like their mushroom and shrimp flavor soup bases.
• Lao Gan Ma is a Chinese chili sauce brand with a cult following. They carry a soup base that tastes very close to their flagship sauce.

For those up for a more involved broth, you can easily adapt a variety of Asian soups into a hot pot. I like the following recipes:

• Lady and Pups’ “Golden Foundation.” The stuff dreams are made of. A rich chicken- and pork-based stock that is delicious on its own or as a starting point for additional seasonings.
• Lady and Pups Sichuan ma la hot pot. This involves a riot of spices and two days of prep. I’ve made this recipe for Christmas dinner.
• Seonkyoung Longest’s galbitang is a clear Korean short rib soup that would do wonders as a hot pot base.
• If you are a fan of miso soup, try this shiitake and miso broth from Tyler Florence.

Chinese Hot Pot Ingredients List

The at-home Chinese hot pot experience is infinitely customizable — it can be as every day or as exotic as you want it to be. Ingredients fall into a few key categories: veggies, meat and seafood, tofu products, noodles and dumplings, and the “weird.” I dive into each category in detail below. View this section as a shopping list for your own hot pot party.

Hot Pot Vegetables

Cabbage, leafy greens, and starchy vegetables — you’ve gotta have them all. Here’s where to start:

• Cabbage: Napa cabbage, green cabbage, bok choy
• Leafy greens: Tong ho (also known as edible chrysanthemum), Taiwanese spinach, water spinach
• Starchy vegetables: Taro root, lotus root, potato slices, sweet potatoes, Japanese yam, corn
• Other: Bamboo shoots, daikon radish

Mushrooms

Enoki are the quintessential mushrooms for hot pot. If you only buy one mushroom, let this be it. Other tasty contenders include king oyster mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, and crunchy wood ear mushrooms.

Meat & Seafood

At Asian grocery stores like Ranch 99 and H Mart, you can buy lamb, beef, pork, and chicken that is sliced thinly for hot pot. If you can’t find these near you, it’s totally ok to buy meat and cut it into bite-sized pieces yourself.

For seafood, I like scallops, frozen shrimp, mini squid, mussels, clams, and bite-sized pieces of a white fish like tilapia. Again, there are no hard and fast rules. Hot pot is about you and what you like to eat! For frozen or particularly pungent seafood, I recommend giving it a quick blanch (a fancy way to say boil for a few minutes) before serving.

Tofu & Beancurd

In the minds of most Westerners, tofu stops at the standard, basic b*tch white blocks carried at grocery stores, with soft/silken, medium, or firm textures providing the only semblance of variety. Accompanied by a lack of knowledge on how to properly cook tofu, many dismiss this protein-packed staple with an “I just don’t like it,” a frustrating bias for Chinese food enthusiasts to overcome (not speaking from personal experience here or anything).

In reality, tofu comes in all shapes, sizes, textures, and flavors that you can cook in many delicious ways. Next time you find yourself at your local Asian market, take some time to check out all the different varieties of tofu and experiment with a few. Live a little.

Here are a few hot pot favorites:

• Frozen tofu
• Fried tofu and tofu puffs
• Dried tofu “skin,” or bean curd sheets
• Bean curd knots
• Soybean “noodles”

火鍋料 (huo guo liao)

Huo guo liao, directly translated to “hot pot ingredients,” encompasses the different categories of processed items made specifically for cooking in Chinese hot pot. Some of them contain crab, shrimp, or squid, like the many varieties of fish balls and dumplings you’ll find in the frozen food sections of Asian markets. Others are taro or egg-based, like my favorite 蛋餃(dan jiao), an egg dumpling with a pork filling. Many are made with processed meat.

If you feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start, cuttlefish balls, lobster balls, and fish balls with roe are a safe bet. I also really like beef tendon balls, which are similar to the meatballs you find in Vietnamese pho.

The “Weird”

While Westerners tend to stick to the tamer ingredients of hot pot, the Chinese embrace more exotic offerings: the chewy skin and cartilage of chicken feet, pudding-like pig brains, crunchy tripe, silky cubes of duck blood, and really any type of offal you can think of. If you are an adventurous eater, or simply feel like trolling your guests (think Anthony Bourdain torturing Eric Ripert in the Sichuan episode of Parts Unknown), your local Asian market should have a few fun options to choose from.

Make sure to include a mandatory toast of bai jiu (rancid—I mean delicious—Chinese liquor distilled from sorghum) along with each bite if your goal is the latter.

Noodles & Dumplings

Though all noodles are good noodles, I’ve recently started using mostly rice or bean-based varieties because they don’t cloud the broth with starch or stick to the bottom of the pot (a pain during post-meal cleaning). My favorites include mung bean glass noodles, vermicelli, pho noodles, and egg noodles. However, flour-based noodles like knife-cut, dan dan, soba, and udon are delicious too. And at the end of the day, you should do you.

For dumplings, I usually pick out my favorite brand from the frozen food aisle and am good to go.

Fun, Miscellaneous Ingredients

• Quail eggs (boil briefly and peel them before cooking)
• Chinese cruller/savory doughnut, or you tiao (break into bite-sized pieces and add to hot pot broth for melt-in-your-mouth goodness)
• Fried gluten balls
• Stinky tofu (fermented tofu commonly served as street food in China and Taiwan)

Dipping Sauce

As hot pot styles vary by region, so do accompanying dipping sauces. A simple approach for a hot pot party is to acquire a small inventory of oils, spices, and sauces that you and your guests can mix and match. Hot pot restaurants around the world do just this with a designated sauce station for patrons.

Here are some ideas for stocking your own sauce station:

• Finely chopped garlic
• Scallions
• Chili oil
• Sesame oil
• Crushed chili sauce (Lao Gan Ma brand is my go-to)
• Sesame paste
• Leek flower sauce
• Oyster sauce
• Shacha sauce, or Chinese BBQ sauce
• Chinkiang vinegar
• Rice vinegar
• Soy sauce

My go-to sauce combination is finely chopped garlic + scallions + Chinese BBQ sauce + a splash of soy sauce and sesame oil. What’s yours?

Save This Hot Pot Shopping List!

You now have all the information to throw a Chinese hot pot party at home. Here are a few key things to keep in mind before you go off alone into the big world.

First, remember to cook small amounts of food as you go and learn by trial and error. A taro root, for example, will need 5-10 minutes to cook, while leafy green vegetables, mushrooms, and thinly sliced meat need less than a minute. Keep a close eye on what you put in the pot for the best results.

Second, always sanitize your chopsticks in the boiling broth, especially when handling meat. Just hold your chopsticks in for a few extra seconds in the boiling broth if they come in contact with raw meat.

And last but not least, to fully experience the culture of Chinese businessmen entertaining at a banquet, troll your friends with repeated, mandatory toasts of bai jiu.

Enjoy! Leave me a comment below if you have any questions!

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Carnitas — arguably the most decadent taco meat in existence — is made by frying every part of the pig you can imagine in its own lard for two-four hours. Read on for a brief history of this indulgent dish and a roundup of the best carnitas tacos we ate in Mexico City.

Ahhh, carnitas. Pork in its most perfect form. Every part of the pig you can imagine braised or simmered in oil — ideally its own lard — for anywhere from two to four hours. The fat between the meat dissolves during the cooking process so when you eat it, it melts in your mouth in a burst of savory goodness.

You can really play with texture when assembling a carnitas taco, and a good carnitas joint should provide you with options. At Carnitas El Charro in the Coyoacan market, we salivated over the creaminess of pig mouth balanced by chewy-yet-tender pieces of rib meat. Skin from the pig’s forearm rewards you with a fatty, sticky sweetness. A small handful of chicharron adds a satisfying crunch.

Mix and match these textures, add some raw onion, cilantro, salsa, and a pickled vegetable or two and you may just find yourself with the perfect taco. I’m finally starting to understand Anthony Bourdain’s obsession with the

Carnitas Origin, History & Folklore

Fun fact: Pigs are not native to the Americas. Between 1492-1504, Christopher Columbus brought pigs and other farm animals from Spain to the islands of the West Indies. They eventually make their way to Mexico via Hernan Cortes, who transports them from the West Indies to the “New World”.

As folklore goes, in 1521, Hernan Cortes hosts a banquet at his palace in Coyoacan to celebrate the fall of Tenochtitlan and the Aztec Empire. He butchers a pig and cooks it with what’s available — its own lard — then serves it to guests with Tlaxcalan cornbread.

And so carnitas was said to be born. (One more fun fact: Frying as a cooking technique was also unknown in Mexico prior to the arrival of the pinche conquistadors.)

Though this origin story is greeted with skepticism by some historians, it’s undeniable that introducing pork to traditional Mexican corn culture led to some delicious synergies. This theme of Mexican cuisine evolving with the rise and fall of empires — and with the introduction of new ingredients and techniques — is one that we see repeatedly throughout Mexican food history.

Fat as a cooking medium was not known amongst pre-Hispanic groups. Lard from pigs, followed by tallow and butter from bovine and ovine herds, and vegetable oils (such as olive), were introduced to the New World, and that is when the mestizaje of the Spanish and Mexican cuisines embraced frying with a passion.

— MySliceofMexico.ca

Modern Carnitas & Its Michoacan Roots

If we are to believe that carnitas was invented by Hernan Cortes in Mexico City, then it was certainly perfected in the Mexican state of Michoacan. Michoacan is famous across Mexico for its carnitas, and people there have been preparing the dish in their traditional way for generations. When traveling across Mexico, it’s common to see restaurants and street stalls advertising their carnitas with large Michoacan signage. It’s a stamp of authenticity that ensures that “the carnitas here are the real deal.”

The Michoacan technique for cooking carnitas starts with a copper pot, said to better conduct heat for even cooking, ultimately giving the carnitas a more intense flavor. There are ongoing arguments amongst chefs over the merits of cooking carnitas in a copper pot vs. a steel pot. Copper pots represent tradition, while steel represents modernity.

The ingredients to Michoacan carnitas are surprisingly simple — all you need is fresh pork, lard, salt, and water. The complexity of the dish comes from the chefs’ mastery of heat and the order in which pig parts are cooked. Different temperatures are used at different stages of cooking, and leaner, tougher parts of the meat are cooked first to ensure the perfect consistency.

The final product is golden-brown chunks of pork that are crispy on the outside and moist and tender inside.

“For those of us who live in Michoacan, eating a carnitas taco means indulging in a sinful pleasure. And it’s comforting. That sweet flavor of carnitas, the pork’s juicy texture, is something we really like.”

— Owner of Carnitas Cortes in Michoacan for Netflix series Taco Chronicles

The Best Carnitas Tacos We Ate in Mexico City

If you can’t make it to Michoacan on your trip to Mexico, these Mexico City carnitas joints will help curb your cravings.

Carnitas “El Charro” in Coyoacan Market

Location
Neighborhood: Coyoacan

Carnitas El Charro is a family-run business that has been serving carnitas since 1956. During the week, you can eat delicious carnitas tacos at their humble stall within Coyoacán Market. On the weekends, the operation expands into a full-on carnitas fiesta involving the whole family.

If you can, check out Carnitas “El Charro” on a Saturday or Sunday. We had one of our most fun (and tasty!) meals there during our two weeks in Mexico City.

Carnitas Meche y Rafael in Mercado Medellin

Location
Neighborhood: La Roma

Carnitas Meche y Rafael serves up scrumptious carnitas in Mercado Medellin. Not only is the meat tender and flavorful, the stall uses a mix of onion and epazote (an herb native to Latin America that tastes like a slightly bitter mint) in their fluffy tortillas. A unique combination I have not seen anywhere else.

Rincon Tarasco

Location
Neighborhood: Escandón

Rincon Tarasco is a popular, no-frills joint serving traditional carnitas in the Escandón neighborhood. Make sure to get here early! We tried going at 3 PM and they were all sold out.

Carnitas Quiroga

Location
Neighborhood: La Condesa

Carnitas Quiroga is the definition of a delicious hole-in-the-wall. The tacos here — at 20 pesos ($1) apiece — are extremely generous and filling. I tried a costilla (rib meat) taco and it was stuffed to the brim. An affordable gem in the otherwise pricey Condesa neighborhood.

Carnitas Garcia

Location
City: Tlalnepantla de Baz, 30 minutes north of Mexico City’s historic center

Carnitas Garcia is a recommendation from our friend Luis, a Mexico City native, who has never led us astray when it comes to delicious food. It is not a restaurant, but a street stall near his mother’s house that has been there for 50 years at least. It is only open on the weekends, and the best time to go is at noon. Otherwise, it’s likely that the carnitas will already be finished.

Carnitas Luna Park

Location
Neighborhood: Juarez

Carnitas Luna Park is another recommendation from our friend Miguel who has been living in Mexico City for 13 years. Carnitas Luna Park has been in the Juarez neighborhood since 1938, and the restaurant is always crowded with locals looking for rich, fried pork bits. They also have a tasty selection of salsa and sauces.

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For more food recommendations in Mexico City, check out my Mexico City food guide.

The post A Brief History of Carnitas (& the Best Carnitas in Mexico City) first appeared on dotsonamap.net.

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If you happen to be in Oaxaca on a Sunday, making a trip to the traditional Tlacolula Market and eating everything in sight is a must.

The heart and soul of Oaxaca’s food culture can be found in the hustle and bustle of local markets. We spent much of our two weeks in Oaxaca, a place some call the “food capital of Mexico,” market-hopping and eating everything in sight.

Tlacolula Market, a traditional Sunday market located 45 minutes away from Oaxaca’s city center, was hands-down the best that we visited in the region. If you find yourself in Oaxaca on a Sunday, do yourself a favor and check it out — you will not regret it.

Table of Contents

• What to Expect at Tlacolula Market
• What to Eat at Tlacolula Market
• How to Get to Tlacolula Market
• Other Fun Food Markets In & Around Oaxaca City

What to Expect At Tlacolula Market

Tlacolula Market is one of the oldest continuous markets in Oaxaca and across Mesoamerica. Taking place every Sunday in Tlacolula de Matamoros, a city 45 minutes away from Oaxaca’s city center, thousands of vendors, shoppers, and tourists flood in from neighboring cities and villages to engage in the bustling commerce.

Check out our video below for a comprehensive tour of Tlacolula Market!

Tlacolula Market is largely organized by offering and sells everything you’d expect from a traditional Mexican market. There are sections for fruits and vegetables, baked goods, meats, chicharron, textiles, and crafts. And, because you’re in Oaxaca, edible crickets and critters.

At the market, you’ll see villagers dressed in colorful indigenous clothing—bright headscarves, skirts, and these days, masks. The overall experience is chaotic in the best way and a real treat for the senses.

What to Eat at Tlacolula Market

Barbacoa

Barbacoa is a stewed meat dish traditionally eaten on Sundays in Mexico, and there is a whole section of Tlacolula Market that is dedicated to the delicacy. It is a real highlight of the market, and you absolutely must try it.

We ate at Barbacoa Juanita, a stall that has been in the market for over 80 years, passed down in the same family generation after generation — four so far!

Barbacoa Juanita specializes in borrego and chivo (lamb and goat) barbacoa. The goat is cooked until tender in a deep red broth, seasoned with chilis, garlic, onion, and a vaguely cinnamon-like seasoning (maybe hojas de aguacate, avocado leaves, which is said to taste like a mix of anise and licorice). It is served with consomé—the broth drippings of the goat that I dream about at night . The lamb is more simple, relying on the flavors of the tender meat and subtly enhanced with salt, garlic, and onion.

Both are delicious. 10/10 recommend.

Chicharrón

At Tlacolula, vendors sell chicharrón in massive, tasty sheets. The piece we purchased was from the head of the pig, and included ear, nose, and cheek. Yum! #VegetariansLoveMe

Nieves

Nieves, a water-based ice cream, is a favorite dessert of Oaxacans. Here I’m trying tuna nieves — but not the kind of tuna you think! Tuna is actually the flower of the cactus. If you like sorbet, you’ll like nieves.

Tejate

Tejate is a Oaxacan drink from pre-Hispanic times made from cornflower and cacao. It is served with sugar syrup and tastes like lightly sweet, watered-down chocolate milk.

Pan de Cazuela

Pan de cazuela, or casserole bread, is baked in a wood oven with chocolate and raisins. It tastes like a lightly sweet wheat bread with a hint of cinnamon.

There is an entire section dedicated to baked goods in Tlacolula Market that you can eat your way through.

Carne Asada

In Tlacolula, you’ll find an entire area dedicated to carne asada vendors. Pick your favorite meats from the selection along with chilis, cactus, and more, and they will grill everything on the spot for you.

How to Get to Tlacolula Market

There are a few ways to get to Tlacolula Market depending on your budget.

By Taxi

Taxis are the easiest way to get to the market, though not the cheapest. A ride to Tlacolula Market will run you 200-300 pesos one way depending on your bargaining skills.

By Colectivo

From Tripadvisor:

“You can get a colectivo for Tlacolula by walking up to Niños Heroes de Chapultapec and over to the baseball stadium (Estadio Eduardo Vasconcelos). At the east end of the stadium there’s a northbound street which ends at Niños Heroes, and taxis, colectivos and buses to Tlacolula come by often.”

A colectivo should cost around 25 pesos per person.

Other Markets In & Around Oaxaca City

Tlacolula is by no means the only market you can visit in Oaxaca.

Mercado 20 Noviembre and Mercado Benito Juarez are located right next to each other in Oaxaca’s center.

Mercado 20 Noviembre boasts a variety of restaurants and is a great place to sample Oaxacan mole. We tried mole coloradito at Comedor Típico La Abuelita and really enjoyed it. There is also a grilled meat hall, the pasillo de carne asada, where you can experience the best of Oaxacan barbecue.

Take of video food tour of Mercado 20 Noviembre

Mercado Benito Juarez is the perfect stop to pick up fresh groceries, local Oaxacan crafts, and Oaxacan specialties like chocolate, coffee, and mezcal.

Mercado de Abastos is a massive market that sells everything you can possibly imagine. A word of warning—petty crime has been reported in the market, and the sheer size of it can be intimidating if you are on your own. Anthony Bourdain went to Mercado de Abastos with a local guide in the Mexico episode of Parts Unknown—a very good idea. I’ve been twice at this point and have not been able to enjoy the market simply because it is hard to know where to start.

The Friday market at Ocotlán de Morelos, a town one hour away from Oaxaca, is another traditional Mexican market that is worth checking out in Oaxaca. Ocotlán is known for its black pottery, and the market sells farming tools, leatherwork, and metalwork on top of its standard market fare.

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Before COVID-19 and the ensuing lockdown, when I would, you know, actually go into an office every day, I’d leave work in the bustling Financial District — the epitome of American city life — and head to Land End’s, a park on the northwestern edge of the city. A mere 30 minutes away, the dramatic coastlines are a world away from dysfunctional subway lines and disgruntled commuters heading home after a long day.

And even though San Francisco is only 7×7 square miles, it is the second densest city in the United States. Houses are stacked one on top of another on the crowded, hilly cityscape, and neighborhoods change in the blink of an eye. The Mission neighborhood, for example, is distinctly Latin and features colorful street art and characteristic grit. North Beach is San Francisco’s Little Italy, with European-style sidewalk cafes and grand Catholic churches. Bordering it, Chinatown feels like you’ve landed in Mainland China…but in the 1980s. It’s a trip.

Without further ado, here is my ever-growing list of Instagrammable photo spots in San Francisco!

Follow me on Instagram for all the photo inspiration!

California Street

Instagram photographers love to hit up this spot to capture the steep drop of California Street and the iconic Bay Bridge peaking up in the distance.

Pro Tip: To snap a pic like the one below, you’ll have to wait until the light turns and run to the middle of the crosswalk. You may have to go back and forth a couple of times to get it right. And you’ll definitely have some onlookers!

#InfluencersInTheWild never hurt anybody anyway.

Chinatown

San Francisco’s Chinatown is the oldest Chinatown in America. Like I mentioned above, entering the neighborhood feels like you’re stepping into Mainland China in the 1980s.

Stop by for a stroll and a bite to eat — I guarantee you’ll find many photo opportunities along the way.

Columbus Tower

The Columbus Tower is a distinct, copper-green colored building located on Kearny Street between North Beach and the Financial District. The Transamerica Pyramid is right behind it, making for a fun photo opportunity.

Pro Tip: Walk diagonally across building and step onto the street just a little off the sidewalk to get a shot like the one below.

Lyon Street Steps

The Lyon Street Steps are a gorgeous place to catch the sunset over sweeping views of the Bay. Don’t forget to check out the ridiculous mansions of the Lyon Street Billionaire’s Row while you’re at it. Some of them make for a great photo on their own.

Palace of Fine Arts

Originally built for the Panama-Pacific Exhibition in 1915, the Palace of Fine Arts is one of the most popular photo spots in San Francisco, and it’s easy to see why.

Pro Tip: Be vigilant about your camera equipment. There has been a spike in theft across the city since the onset of COVID. A fellow blogger recently had her professional camera snatched out of her hand in broad daylight at the Palace of Fine Arts. The neighborhood is not dangerous and I still recommend you to check it out. Just be on the lookout and keep your valuables close.

Victorians of Haight-Ashbury

San Francisco is famous for its one-of-a-kind Victorian and Edwardian architecture. The house I’m in front of is actually one of a set of Painted Ladies on Center Street between Haight and Page (not the famous Painted Ladies from Full House on Alamo Square!).

You’ll find colorful houses like these all over the city, but if you have limited time to explore, Haight-Ashbury and the Panhandle are home to many classic examples! Here’s where to start:

• Haight and its side streets
• Page Street
• Painted Ladies on Waller Street between Masonic and Ashbury
• Jimi Hendrix “Red House” (1524-1528A Haight Street)
• Grateful Dead House (710 Ashbury Street)
• Janis Joplin House (635 Ashbury Street)
• Jefferson Airplane House (2400 Fulton Street)

Mount Davidson

Mount Davidson Park is the highest natural point in San Francisco, with panoramic views of the city, forested trails, and a massive, 103-foot tall cross — a monument honoring the victims of the Armenian Genocide.

On a clear day, you’ll be able to capture 360-degree views of the city. On a foggy afternoon, things get mysterious — you’ll feel like you’ve stepped into an Edgar Allan Poe novel. Either way, Mount Davidson presents unique photo opportunities.

Mission Murals

Since the 40s, the Mission has been home to San Francisco’s Mexican and Central American immigrants. The alleys and walls of the neighborhood host hundreds of murals that tell the stories of its residents and their multicultural backgrounds. I recommend taking at least a half-day walking tour and snapping some shots along the way.

Check out my blog post for a guide to the murals of the Mission.

Golden Gate Overlook

This blog post wouldn’t be complete without including San Francisco’s most iconic landmark! The Golden Gate Overlook is a concrete plaza next to dramatic cliffs and coastline. It is an absolutely breathtaking place to capture different angles of the bridge and take in the views.

Pro Tip: Sunset is a beautiful time to shoot the bridge from here, but bring a jacket! It gets windy and heeeella cold.

Washington Square Park

Established in 1847, Washington Square Park is one of the oldest parks in San Francisco. Located in front of the Paul Church, it’s a great place to sip an ice coffee on a sunny day and pose for the ‘gram.

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