Some Say The Best Way To Tour A City Is ‘Grocery Store Tourism’
When I travel, I like to explore local museums, visit coffee shops, try on clothes at boutiques, and dine at local restaurants to fully experience a destination. Recently, I’ve noticed a growing trend which is visiting local grocery stores. As someone who travels often, I’ve found that visiting a local grocery store can offer a more authentic experience compared to visiting a city’s top-rated attractions. Of course, if you’re visiting Paris or Rome, you’ll want to check out their staples. But a local grocery store is where you can take in a city’s flavor profile with new scents, foods, and spices.
Travelers have long shared tips about where to find unique chip flavors, sauces, and local candies. Now, thanks to the trend of “grocery store tourism” on TikTok, this practice is gaining popularity. As New York Magazine puts it, “The secret museum in every city is a grocery store.” Sure, restaurants and hotels are great, but they can be a bit too polished and predictable.
Grocery Store Tourism
TikTok user @marissainchina said in a now-viral TikTok about her experience traveling through Malaysia and visiting grocery stores along the way. “This may be controversial, but I think that the best thing to do while traveling is going to the grocery store,” she said.
“Going to a grocery store could technically be counted as sightseeing, right? Because not only is it a cultural experience, but you can also find lots of stuff to bring back as souvenirs,” she continued.
Many other TikTok users strongly agree. “Checking out the grocery stores in different countries IS sightseeing,” reads the overtext in bold orange letters. In the video, the poster is filming themselves and their friends wandering around a supermarket in awe of the products that they can’t find in their home country. One of them, for example, is a particular kind of Monster Energy drink, which comes in a red can and its flavor is dubbed “Ultra Red.”
On social media, some people claim to have taken or been very close to taking flights to Los Angeles primarily to pay a visit to the viral supermarket California-based Erewhon. Some people are traveling there just to try the internet-famous Hailey Bieber smoothie. It might seem like visiting a place like Erewhon has a different travel impact compared to touring international supermarkets. But both experiences offer similar cultural insights into an area.
Several people like the idea of “Grocery Store Tourism.” One person commented on a video saying, “I always always always go to grocery stores when traveling overseas. It’s different kinds of souvenirs, which we can enjoy afterward.” Another person added, “Grocery shopping is my favorite sport. It’s one of the first things I do when I travel. And the last thing I do, too, to replace my favorite discoveries.”