A Travelin' Girl in a Virtual World

Michelle B. is one of my most intrepid and creative travelers. Since she is missing international travel, she recently took a virtual cooking class with an instructor in Santorini, Greece! Read her report below and click on the links in her post to do this too! Thanks for your contribution, Michelle! 

As I sit down to capture these thoughts, we are in week 24 (day 168) of reduced activity for the good of the realm. I don’t know about you – but I’m going a little stir crazy. What is a wanderlust to do? A wanderlust like me likes to incorporate dance and local food into her journey. Just as I'd do with any trip, I did my research…I’ve played bingo, trivia, taken cooking classes, wine tastings, taken dance lessons, taught dance lessons, sat on panels, attended conferences, played games with random friends -  all online – why not still do what I love to do? But safely 😀

When I was looking to travel to Bali earlier this year, my travel advisor introduced me to her Viator.com Agent Portal for some ideas of things to do. I was daydreaming of my next trips (are you ready, Joy?) and I definitely bookmarked a few things. In the portal, there is a toggle/filter for ‘virtual’. Just like that I was transported (and I took my sister and nephew with me)! 

The times on Viator are listed for local time. My sister and I chose a cooking class in Santorini, Greece. Katherin, our guide, sent us the ingredient list for what we would need for the class. We purchased the ingredients and at 2pm (US-Eastern) on a hot and humid Saturday afternoon, we logged in! It was 9pm for our host in Greece. The class lasted about an hour and we made just the one recipe.

Katherin transported us, for an hour, away from the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia) to her bungalow in Santorini. She shared a quick slide show and talked to us about what they grow in Santorini (tomatoes and grapes), because the ground is very dry there. 

After that, she started to walk us through the recipe, and my sister and I cooked along with our ingredients. Kathrine said that these tomato fritters paired well with rosé… so we popped the top off some and sipped. We chopped and laughed and massaged our mixture. 

We added a little bit of flour and then were ready to fry. We cooked in sunflower oil (a first for both me and my sister). If you’d like to make these tomato fritters too, you can contact Kathrin HERE

My brother-in-law had zero complaints about the recipe, and by the end my sister and I were thinking of other opportunities for these tomato fritters...

I am super eager to get back to traveling; however, I’m on the front lines so it is best that I can stay close to home. If you are looking for something safe and fun to do – try virtual travel! It’s not quite the same as being away, but if you’re creative, it can be just what you need. If you need assistance with the Viator.com Agent Portal, reach out to Joy at Outside the Lines Travel!