Someday we’ll get to travel more. We already do our best to plan and budget so we can do some travel, but real life responsibilities and cost makes frequent travel, at least for us, not as possible as we’d like. So, in the meantime, we watch lots of travel shows, particularly Anthony Bourdain, try experimenting with recipes from around the globe, Indian being our favorite, and we do the best we can locally to experience the world around us. One of those local adventures is the 2018 Festival of Nations. I’m guessing they have similar festivals around the U.S.; in Minnesota, ours is held annually in St. Paul. This year is the second we’ve been there and it won’t be the last. Steffan, the kids and I love trying all the food, listening to the music, checking out the booths and talking with people, learning about their lives and experiences. It’s a little bit of the world, right in our back yard for cheap! Kids where $8 each and adults $13.50. The food prices vary, as do activities…we probably spent about $150 to $200, but most of that was the henna for the four of us (about $90) and you can get smaller patterns for less…either way, you can’t get airline tickets for a family of 5 for that 🙂
Personally, I feel that experiencing as much diversity in your life is important. It provides perspective and understanding of food, dress, culture…lots of things that can be very different then a person’s day-to-day. Diverse experience provides acceptance, curiosity and insight, making differences fun and appreciated instead of feared. Even when we can’t get on a plane or drive around the country or world, small experiences like this festival remind us that there is a lot of world out there for us to explore and appreciate…both the adults and the kids.
In the video, we do our best to share bits of our experience at the festival this year, but I am sort of like a deer in headlights with all the activities around me. Too many things to see, the video is however,…well it’s mostly food, cuz, well…Food is delicious! And it’s sort of like a game finding stuff we can eat, and getting ideas for ways to vegan-ize some of the recipes. Plus, the henna…the girls and I love the henna and we get something cool every year. I’m not sure whose lasted the longest this year, but they all turned out beautiful.
We hope you enjoy this highlight real or our time at the Festival of Nations…if any of you have similar festivals or fun ‘experience the world’ stories, we’d love to know, share with a comment!
For more information about the Festival of Nations, check out their website.
Happy Living,
Kelly (& Steffan)
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