Hello, I’m Helen, AKA The Lite Backpacker – an Australian with an English accent (thanks to having one English parent) in my early 30s. Like so many Australians, at 18 I packed up my backpack and headed to Europe, flittering from museum to bar for nearly a year. When I came home I thought I had gotten the “travel bug” out of my system as well as putting on an unhealthy amount of “backpacking weight”. Instead, within 6 months I had booked my next trip, with a vow of finding a way to enjoy travel food without the weight gain.
My first overseas trip was when I was only eighteen months old, my parents were never ones to shy away from taking babies on a plane (much to the other passenger’s chagrin). I am not sure if it was the travel experiences that dotted my childhood or growing up constantly re-watching David Attenborough documentaries and being fascinated by different ecosystems and animals. Either way, travel has been my passion longer than cooking, reading and writing put together.
My mother has a motto for both travel and life – “never come back the same way” – literally, this meant that we would have to drive hours out of our way to find a new route home from a bushwalk (you never know what you might find). Figuratively, this has meant that throughout my life I have constantly been looking forwards – backwards is not an option.
About this Website
Eating healthy while on a travel budget can be hard at times. Especially in countries like Australia and England where the food is so expensive. Then you have the added issue of not having staples such as dried herbs, flour, cheese graters or garlic crushers. For many, this means that pizza, two-minute noodles and kebabs become the staple.
As much as I love those food groups I am no longer 18 with the metabolism to match. Over the years of trotting around the globe, I have picked up some great tricks for creating healthy recipes with limited utensils and funds. Through this website, you can find those recipes, hacks and more than a few travel stories to boot.
