Travel That Makes Sense: A New Book About the People, Food, Culture and Stories That Make Travel Matter
Updated: Sep 6
By Dirk Ebener - August 16, 2026
High above the Atlantic, I sit on a plane, leafing through notes gathered from years of wandering. Around me, passengers read, doze, watch movies, or simply wait for the journey’s end. But my mind drifts elsewhere, recollecting the faces I’ve met, the meals
I’ve savored, the chance conversations, and those indelible moments that remain long after I’ve unpacked my bags.
I’ve realized these are the memories that shine brightest. A café table stands out more than any hotel room. A spontaneous chat with a stranger lingers longer than a carefully planned tour. Meals become unforgettable because of the person who suggested them or the tale beyond each dish. And the journeys that go off track? They’re the ones that gift me narratives I never could have scripted.
Now, I’m weaving these moments inside my new book, Travel That Makes Sense – People, Food, Culture, Stories, set for release at the end of October 2026. The book traces my footsteps through 15 countries across four continents, but it’s far from a standard travel guide.
Instead, I invite you into the tales behind each journey, hoping to show how travel grows richer when I slow down, be curious, and sincerely connect with the people and cultures I encounter.
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Why I wrote Travel That Makes Sense
Years of travel have changed the way I see every trip. I still love discovering new countries, cities, landscapes, and flavors, but I’ve learned that racing to see everything doesn’t always mean I experience more.
These days, I ask myself not just where to go next, but how I want to experience each place once I arrive. This change in perspective is at the heart of Travel That Makes Sense.
I’ve found that my most meaningful moments unfold when I stop trying to orchestrate every detail. By leaving space in my plans, I notice the environment around me: sitting in a local café, watching a neighborhood wake up, striking up a conversation about someone’s meal, or chasing a tip that leads me far from any travel guide’s path.
For me, slowing down isn’t about traveling less—it’s about savoring the trip as it unfolds, paying attention to each moment as I live it.
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An expedition through 15 countries and four continents
In Travel That Makes Sense, I invite readers to journey with me through 15 countries across Asia, Europe, South America, and North America. Each destination pulses with its own landscape, history, culture, cuisine, and daily rhythm—and I want those unique flavors to shine in every story.
Yet, I also find a common strand weaving through every place I visit. No matter where I go, people are keen to share a meal, talk about their families, explain their traditions, recommend a favorite restaurant, or reveal something special about the place they call home.
That’s why I don’t want this book to read like a checklist of destinations. The countries provide the backdrop, but it’s the people who bring life to the stories. I hope readers feel as if they’re traveling alongside me, not just skimming names on a map.
The book wanders from place to place, sharing experiences, meals, conversations, and unexpected delights. Yet every story circles back to one idea: travel grows deeper when I stop treating destinations as boxes to tick and start seeing them as places to connect with and understand.
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When I take a seat, the journey changes
One of the simplest pleasures I’ve come to treasure is sitting in a local café, letting myself melt into the daily rhythm of a place.
When I settle into a café chair, I’m not chasing a great adventure. Sometimes I’m just drinking coffee, watching life whirl around me—people heading to work, friends meeting, breakfasts unfolding, newspapers rustling, and locals pausing for a moment’s rest.
Then I may start talking to someone.
I ask about their meal, or where I should go for dinner. As a newcomer, sometimes the exchange is fleeting, but other times it blossoms into something indelible.
A simple tip might lead me toward a hidden restaurant. That meal could introduce me to a new dish. One bite sparks a conversation, and that conversation becomes a story I carry for years.
This means even more to me as a solo traveler. Alone, the barriers between me and others seem thinner. I have to make the first move, but I also find myself more open to new connections. I may arrive by myself, but I never have to experience a place in solitude.
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Food gives me another way to understand a place.
Food takes center stage in the book because I believe a single meal can reveal layers of a culture that no landmark ever could.
When I taste something unfamiliar, I want to know more than whether I enjoy it. I’m curious about the hands that made it, the origins of its ingredients, when it’s eaten, and what it means to those who grew up with its tastes.
I’ve discovered that food is a vessel for history. It holds family traditions, migrations, geography, faith, celebrations, and memories. A lively market reveals what flourishes in a region. A family recipe whispers what one generation gifts the next. Eating together with strangers can form a bond that words only sometimes cannot.
That’s why I see food as more than a pause between sights. It’s embedded in the destination’s story—and becomes part of my own as a traveler.
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One of my favorite stories begins with a broken vehicle.
On one of my trips in Asia, the story unfolds in rural Malaysia, where the vehicle breaks down in a tiny village. At first, it feels such as a setback—the trip is off track, communication is tricky, and I’m left wondering when I’ll be able to move on.
Then something unexpected happens.
As the local mechanic tinkers with the car, his mother welcomes us into their open-air home. Dishes appear—rice, herbs, pork belly, fish sauce, fish, chilies. Homemade rice wine is poured, and smiles and gestures speak a generosity that needs no translation.
The car remains broken, but my concentration shifts. I’m no longer fixated on the inconvenience—I’m thinking about the kindness of those who have opened their home to me.
That moment stays with me, reminding me of a lesson I’ve learned time and again: sometimes a problem isn’t the end of the story, but the beginning of the one I’ll never forget.
I can’t schedule times like these. All I can do is stay open, ready to notice them when they appear.
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I discover that meaningful travel does not have to be expensive.
My time in London has shown me something else about what makes a journey valuable.
The city can be costly, but many of my favorite experiences there have come for next to nothing. I've sat in cafés, explored markets, taken public transportation, and watched daily life. I've learned I don't have to spend money all the time to really experience a place. A conversation can be more valuable than an expensive attraction. An afternoon spent walking through a neighborhood can reveal something about a city that I would never discover from a checklist of famous sights.
Luxury travel has its place, but I’ve come to see that price and meaning are not the same. More and more, I realize the most precious thing I can spend on a trip is my time.
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Why I believe the book matters now
I am publishing Travel That Makes Sense at a time when travelers have access to more information than ever before. Before I leave home, I can find recommended restaurants, hotels, attractions, itineraries, hidden gems, and thousands of photographs of almost any destination.
All that information is useful, but I worry that something essential gets lost when travel becomes just about rankings, recommendations, and tightly packed plans.
No search engine can tell me what it feels like when a stranger invites me to sit down.
No method can guarantee that a simple meal will become one of my favorite memories.
No itinerary can predict the conversation that changes the way I see a place.
That’s where I hope my book stands apart. I’m not here to replace travel guides—I simply want to remind readers of the human side of every trip.
I aim to encourage readers to look up from their screens, take a seat, listen, taste, and grow curious about the people who call each place home.
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Why I want readers to look forward to the end of October
The end of October 2026 is an important moment for me because Travel That Makes Sense – People, Food, Culture, Stories becomes available to readers.
Publishing this book feels like much more than completing a writing project. For years,
I’ve gathered experiences, observations, conversations, meals, missteps, and memories from my travels. Now, I’m weaving them together and sharing them with you.
I hope readers feel as if they’re traveling beside me through 15 countries and four continents. Maybe you’ll recognize places you’ve visited, grow curious about those you haven’t, or remember moments from your own travels that have stayed with you.
Most of all, I hope the book inspires you to rethink how you travel. Maybe you’ll linger an extra day instead of rushing on. Maybe a solo traveler will feel braver about setting out alone. Maybe a food lover will wonder about the story behind a dish. Or perhaps you’ll sit down in a local café and strike up a conversation, just because you can.
If the book sparks even a few of those moments, I’ll know the stories have found their true home.
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The stories I bring home are the real souvenirs.
When I come home from a journey, I unpack my backpack or suitcase, fold away my clothes, sort through my photos, and slip back into normal life.
The stories are different.
I carry them with me.
I remember faces more than hotel rooms. Conversations last longer than schedules.
Meals stay with me because of the company at the table. I recall surprising kindness, new flavors, the buzz of a market, and such moments when a common afternoon transforms into something indelible.
These are the souvenirs I cannot buy.
A simple recommendation leads to a dish I remember years later. An invitation to sit down turns a regular afternoon into a story I retell again and again. A wrong turn brings me to places no perfect itinerary could ever reveal.
Those experiences become part of what Travel That Makes Sense is truly about. I’m not just chronicling where I’ve been—I’m sharing what unfolds when I’m there.
I'm writing about the people I meet, the food I share, the cultures I discover, the surprises I experience, and the stories that stay with me well after the trip ends.
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I hope this book changes how you see your next journey.
I believe all journeys begin before I even reach the airport. It starts with how I prepare to see the world.
I still make reservations, book transport, and handle the practicalities. But I also leave room for curiosity. I want to learn about local culture and food, pick up a few words of the language, and most of all, arrive ready to listen—not just to look.
That is the message I hope readers take from Travel That Makes Sense – People, Food, Culture, Stories.
I want to show that travel is so much more than ticking off destinations. It’s about connection, understanding, food, culture, and the stories that surface when I allow myself to slow down.
The book will become available at the end of October 2026, and I invite readers to look forward to its release and follow the latest news at travelthatmakessense.com.
I hope readers open the book expecting travel tales and discover something more: an invitation to engage in their own trips with fresh eyes. That the best journey isn't always the one that takes me the farthest.
They’re the ones that give me something meaningful to bring home.
And the best souvenirs aren’t tucked into my suitcase.
They are the people I meet, the food I share, the cultures I discover, and the stories I hold with me well after I return.
Dirk Ebener is a global traveler, food storyteller, and founder of Food Blogger Journey, and the author of Travel That Makes Sense. With more than four decades of personal and professional travel across Europe, Asia, and beyond, he focuses on meaningful journeys shaped by food, culture, and human connection. Dirk is the author of the forthcoming book Travel That Makes Sense, where he encourages travelers to slow down, travel thoughtfully, and bring home stories that last.
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