3 months ago
- The author has been practicing 'grocery tourism' since her youth, long before it became a named trend in 2026, as a way to explore cultures through supermarket aisles.
- Working as a checkout clerk at Coles provided insights into human lives and needs through purchased items, viewing it as anthropology.
- An early trip to America was disappointing due to a lack of supermarket visits, despite excitement over rumored cereal aisles and unique products like Pop-Tarts.
- In Japan, the author experienced grocery tourism through diverse products like flavored KitKats and bottled teas, feeling reverence similar to viewing art.
- Different countries reveal cultural quirks in supermarkets: Finland's Moomins, Singapore's salted fish skin, Sweden's fermented herring, and the Netherlands' extensive licorice varieties.
- Unusual products like Vietnam's snake wine, South Korea's canned silkworm pupae, and America's spray-can cheese challenge travelers' perceptions.
- Social media has turned grocery tourism into content, with places like Erewhon in Los Angeles becoming celebrity shrines for expensive, curated items.
- Supermarkets offer an uncurated, ordinary view of a destination, revealing daily habits, economic choices, and private lives unlike manicured tourist spots.
- Grocery tourism is democratic, allowing souvenirs like mustard or tea that are accessible and capture memories of foreign experiences.
- The author values supermarket souvenirs as trophies that connect to local culture, emphasizing paying attention to details as an art form.