Tips for eating street food

I am obsessed with street food. I will eat anything on a stick. I salivate thinking about waffles with ice cream+cream cheese+syrup+chocolate chips in them. I will plan entire days around finding a certain food cart guy that has something I'm really craving. I have eaten street food, literally, all the way around the world. From Hawaii to Russia to Nicaragua to Thailand to Malaysia to Korea to Georgia. I have eaten things I still cannot (do not want to) identify. I have eaten things that have made me incredibly sick. I have had heaven in my mouth. I really love street food. I even have an entire hashtag dedicated to it #laurenlikesfood and when I go on trips it fills up fast. My husband is officially embarrassed of me. But I don't care. I want ALL the food.But I realized not everyone is as adventurous or has as steely of a stomach as I do. But I promise, You Do! You just don't know it. You are scared and uninformed and don't want to spend your fabulous vacation super sick. I get it, but I want you to experience the goodness that is street food. So I'm here with a few tips for that you can apply anywhere you go. These are things I have learned through trial and error and apply in my daily life of street food hunting. I also asked a few foodie friends for some input to ensure I was giving you a complete overview and not getting too distracted by the lemonade in a bag guy....Give these tips a try on your next trip and hopefully you can be a bit more adventurous and find some really great new foods you love!Do your research before you go. Do a google search of common street foods of where ever you are traveling. This will give you an idea of what to expect and will help you be able to identify foods when shopping. There may be some really strange-looking things (like a corndog wrapped in ramen noodles) that you would have never been able to identify or would have tried had you not already known what it was. Also, this will help you be on the lookout for those things that look exciting to you. Ask friends and family who have travelled what they like to eat. Getting personal suggestions is the best, most reassuring thing you can do when you are nervous or unsure.Ask! If you don't know what a food is or what is in it: ASK! Even if you don't speak the language, if you walk up with an inquisitive look the vendors will likely try to explain or offer you a sample. Ask the locals, they will know best! If you're in a coffee shop or find a nice waiter that speaks good (your language) ask for suggestions of their favorite foods and places to go. People really want you to get to know their culture are will be really friendly and helpful if you are at least interested and willing to try.Know your allergies + the translation. If you have serious allergies this is a big one. Know your allergies translated so you can ask if the item is in the food. You will be amazed at the most random things that can be mixed together and you wont have a clue until you bite in. Better to be safe than sorry and of course carry any allergy meds you may need just in case.Carry napkins + hand sanitizer. Depending on where you are, you may not be given any napkins, so have a pack of tissues on you. (cough, cough Get it together Korea!) The vendors are also obviously not going to have any hand sanitizer on their carts for you, so bring your own to cut back on your germ intake or just embrace it...builds up your immune system right???Carry cash Come on now. Youre not at a bed and breakfast where cookies are left on trays and everything is charged to your bill at the end. These people have an entire restaurant in a 2x4 metal bucket. They don't take cards. Also, in most of the world cash goes wayyyyy farther than a card.Carry meds. I have been to Nicaragua three times. All three times I have gotten really sick. Each trip I got less sick than the time before, but, never the less, I get sick. No matter how hard I tried and how careful I was, Latin American countries put even my steely stomach to the test. Just carry the meds and take them at the first hint of an upset stomach. There's no shame in that game. Traveler's diarrhea is no fun to chit-chat about at work after your luxurious vacation...Assess general sanitation methods. Be smart. Take a look around. Are a lot of others eating at this food cart? Are they using gloves or at least wiping off their hands? Are they wiping down the cart? Is the food covered or being freshly made? Trust me, you will never get yes's to all of these questions, but be smart and use your judgement on what level of cleanliness you are ok with. One way to assure good levels of sanitation is to find places that are known for their street food. These places will be well-traveled, filled with foreigners and will be closely monitored for cleanliness.Don't think about it. And then in the end, try not to dwell on these things...It's best to just take the food, eat it and not think about the details....Start with what you know. I like chicken. That's what I eat for 90% of my meals, so chicken is always where I start when it comes to new street food. If there are certain things you like most, try to find things similar or things that are familiar to you. Maybe don't start with the fried bugs, maybe go for chicken + veggies on a stick. Right? Start small, find things you like, it will give you confidence to try more and will give your stomach a chance to warm up to new germs flavors. Fruits, desserts, drinks are always good warm up foods too.Save the adventurous stuff for last. So now you are good and warmed up. You've had some snacks and things you really like and some stuff that may have been not at all what you expected. Awesome! Now it's time to really go for the gold. Go for the stuff that will give you a good story to tell when you get home. Try those fried bugs or that bowl of unrecognizable meat/pasta/rice/things. Your stomach is a little more used to the new foods, you have a better idea of what flavors and consistencies you like and you're near the end of your trip so if you do get sick it wont ruin the whole thing. Right?!Don't eat it all. Sample. Nibble. Taste Test not Taste, Devour. The most sick I've ever gotten was when eating a food I don't normally like and just being amazed at how delicious the street food variety of it was and inhaling it like an uncontrollable animal. Bad choice. Now, that is a 'one time that happened story', so don't be afraid! Just be careful, especially if you know you have a weak stomach or have just had too much already. Besides, the less of one thing you eat, the more you get to sample of other foods. Win, win, win.Just try it! Ok, you've read through this list. You've done some googling. You've gotten suggestions from friends or from locals. Now you're standing on the street, inhaling the most delicious or foreign scent and you are frozen with fear and uncertainty. Just do it. Quit over thinking it. This is your once in a life time trip! This is your brag about it when you get back moment. It's now or never. Do something that scares you because you never know, you could fall in love. What's the worst that could happen? Oh yeah? That same thing can happen (or worse) from eating Blue Bell Ice Cream. So Do It. Taste It.Ok, so now tell me your favorite street foods in the comments and I'll go hunt them down!