It’s hard to believe food trucks have only revved their foodie engines in the U.S. since 2008. In that relatively short window of time, they’ve become a culinary juggernaut. No longer a novelty in major metropolitan areas, food truck hubs are now common in mid- to small-size cities, too. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce found the food truck industry generated $2.7 billion in revenue in 2017 and has been growing on average at a rate of 7.9% every year.

“Do you have any questions about the menu?” asks Mario Kanaan, leaning slightly over the front of his Cedars Lebanese Kitchen food truck in Aloha, Oregon, a suburb of food truck central, Portland, “If you haven’t had the arnabeet, I definitely recommend it.”

Arnabeet

While Portlanders may not have invented donuts, they certainly seem to have perfected them. The so-called donut culture here is well fed – inspiring Portlanders to declare their favorites, and to slight those they deem inferior, to both their friends and the public alike.

Road trips, adventure, travel, and education – these are some of the best bits of life all rolled into one! When you get the opportunity to experience them, take it! It’s been a few years now since I’ve been in the traditional classroom, but each day I find I do my best to take part in a global one. So much of culture and geography is left out of traditional education, as teachers don’t have all the time in the world to fuse it all into one hundred and eighty two days of forty-minute lessons.