I recently created a new company called Traveling Spoon that connects travelers with authentic food experiences in people's homes around the world. As part of that, I will be blogging and providing content on favorite food experiences and food guides to the cities and places I love. I want to start by making a map of my favorite food explorations from a recent city I've traveled to. Right now, I am thinking of doing Beijing, where I lived for 6 months a few years ago, or Hanoi, Vietnam (I was traveling in Vietnam and Thailand this winter for Traveling Spoon finding new hosts!). 

My goal is for this map to be an extension of me, part travel-guide and part journal about my favorite food moments and memories off the eaten path. 

For a little background, I created Traveling Spoon because when I moved to China I had a burning desire to explore the country in a way I hadn't before. I'd been to previously China with my family and had a completely canned travel experiences, getting bussed from factory to banquet hall with only Westerners in sight. When I moved there a year later, I was eager to see what local people ate, and how they lived -- I wanted to learn how to make dumplings from a Chinese grandmother in her home. I created Traveling Spoon to help other people who wanted to travel the same way.

• Why am I making this map? For fun! And also for work, I suppose. I love when those are the same thing. This kind of content, sharing and making it easier to find meaningful and delicious food experiments, is why I wanted to start Traveling Spoon, so I am really excited to turn this passion into something tangible and (hopefully) beautiful by creating this first map
• Why am I the expert to create this map? I want it to be a personal map of my favorite experiences and meals and secret finds... Hopefully people will expand on it and add to it, but for now I'm the expert because I'm sharing my favorite memories
• Who is my target audience? Fellow food-loving travelers
• Do I want my final project to be printed or digital? How is going to be used/held? What other constraints do I need to keep in mind moving forward? (Note type can be smaller on printed maps than when viewed on web) Hm. I suppose digital, as I'd love to share this on our website.
• What level of detail do I need to include? (Names, addresses, contact info, street names, website, hours, descriptions, color coding, etc.) Names, addresses, meals/descriptions of food
• Dear class, I need your help/expertise/guidance on how to..... While I do want this to be based on my personal experiences to some extent (I'm thinking of it as the kind of guide I'd give as a gift to a visitor, a personal favorites list of sorts) I'd love to know if you've visited these places and if I have glaring omissions/personal favorites of your own that should be included! Also I'd just love to talk to you and meet you if you are a fellow food and travel-loving sort. 

First Assignment:

This is not related to my final project. For valentine's day, I bought my fiance a subscription to Scoot (an awesome new startup in San Francisco, like Zipcar for scooters!). I made a scavenger hunt with clues in the house and the final clue led to this map, a map of our day in the city. This class was inspiration for the scavenget hunt and map! The map includes our route (sort of) and landmarks I wanted to take Craig to throughout the afternoon.