One of the temples in Angkor Wat, Cambodia
Grounded in the logic of numbers, lost in the beauty of words and on a mission to find her hakuna matata.
Hi š I’m Andrea, the human behind the blog.
Welcome to She Roams the World, a platform where I document my adventures around the world through the people I meet, the cuisines I’ve tried and the experiences I’ve had. I first started writing about food and travel when I was 17 years old and in between waves of hiatus and rapid blogging, this website is now the age of a primary school child!
To me, exploring is best done on foot… hence “She Roams“. I like being on the ground, in nature and also discovering hidden places where the heritage is rich and stories abound. Travel is a huge privilege so I don’t intend to limit my posts to overseas adventures because it is not accessible by all and is also not sustainable. I will still be sharing about my overseas experiences here, because I want to share what I’ve learnt to those who may not have the same opportunities to travel or live overseas. But, as I’ve come to learn, some of the best adventures and learning experiences can be found right here in Singapore where I’ve grown up!
“The World” I’m referring to is the different facets of the world we live in, including the culinary, literary, natural and social world. It’s amazing how the world is such an endless playground of knowledge, people and experiences to learn from.Ā
A little history…
I stopped writing regularly for almost 4 years because I struggled to fit myself in the food blogger mould. I didn’t feel like I was adding real value to anyone’s life by writing food reviews and receiving sponsored products to review made me feel an obligation to write about products that I didn’t feel particularly strongly about… and so I simply stopped writing.
The world teaches us to use our time productively and to have a practical reason for everything, like monetizing our websites or becoming an influencer… but that just isn’t who I am. I started this website as a form of expression in my free time. It was a hobby and I enjoyed it when I wrote about what I was genuinely interested in. When I first started writing, I shared food reviews of my favorite little eateries and the occasional recipe accompanied with fun facts that I found. In the early days of food bloggers, I ended up receiving sponsorship and media invites as a young 17 year old. As flattering as it sounds, I think it killed my passion and my identity. I was known as a ‘Food Blogger’, but funnily enough, I hated (and still dislike) the term. I felt like I was so much more thanĀ justĀ a food blogger.
After I discovered the joy of (solo) traveling during my university days, my writing focused more on travel, WWOOFing and my reflections on those trips. I enjoyed writing those articles, but again, felt like I wasn’t value-adding to the masses of travel articles already on the internet. I also felt like writing solely about travel wasn’t something that everyone could identify with, and it was feeding a very inward-looking/consumeristic wanderlust mindset (ironic, since travel makes one seem like an outward-bound global citizen).
…and where I am now
I still enjoy food and the occasional travel adventure to learn about new cultures… but I would much prefer living in a country for a longer period of time to truly experience their culture and get to know locals than to cover a 100 countries for a few days each time. I definitely do not see myself writing food reviews or travel guides like I used to! However, I do foresee the occasional post on food culture of a country I’ve been to, because many countries have a rich food heritage that I think is worth sharing and learning about.
As I’ve grown older, I’ve also grown in my appreciation of Singapore’s food heritage. I’m curious to learn more (i.e. eat more and cook more) about our food culture, especially before our hawker culture dies out. I hope that as I share what I learn about Singapore’s food heritage, this space will grow to be a collection of recipes and Singapore’s food history for future generations to refer to.Ā
Thank you for being curious enough to read the “About Me” page and I welcome you to join me as IĀ document my learning adventures and write about food culture in between attempts to balance work and play!
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