Alison Stein Wellner thinks the three most appealing activities in the world are traveling, eating, and writing -- and so upon graduating from college in 1996, she has made a career out of doing them all.

She's traveled to, enthusiastically noshed in, and written about every continent besides Antarctica. (That exception bugs her, so she'll get there eventually.) Alison has lived in various urban and non-urban locales throughout the Eastern Seaboard, and when she's not traveling, now divides her time between her Manhattan apartment and a cozy cottage in Salisbury, Connecticut. Follow her travels and culinary capers via Twitter.

Alison grew up eating her way through New York City's great neighborhoods. She attended the United Nations elementary school, and traded her peanut butter sandwiches for the foods of Burma, Kenya and Iran long before she could find any of those places on a map.

An award-winning writer, Alison's contributed to BusinessWeek, The Chicago Tribune, The Christian Science Monitor, Continental, Fast Company, Glamour, Inc., Ladies’ Home Journal, Men’s Journal, Money, Mother Jones, New York Magazine, Psychology Today, Reason, Robb Report, Sierra Magazine, The Travel Channel's World Hum, USA Weekend, The Washington Post, Yankee, Yoga Journal, among many other publications. She writes about travel, culture and fabulous things for Luxist.com, AOL's luxury lifestyle blog, and teaches travel writing at The Renegade Writer. She's been a National Press Foundation Fellow, a New York Times Professional Fellow, and is a member of the Society of American Travel Writers.

I firmly believe that the best way to get to know a place is through its food -- whether you're tucking into food prepared by a guy pushing a food cart down the street, or minding your best table manners at an ultra high-end restaurant.

My passion is to travel the world, tracking down unique tasty morsels that can be had nowhere else -- or nowhere else quite as good! This site will make it easy for you to do the same. And no, I don't leave out the beverages in my culinary travels -- bring on the wine, beer, spirits or a milkshake, liquids can be just as fun and interesting as solids. Sometimes more so.

My motto: I will try anything, at least once. But with that said, I don't think you get bonus points for making yourself gag. The best part about culinary travel is finding food and drinks that you love -- and bringing a new flavor, technique or appreciation back home with you.