It was my first time attending the Travel And Adventure Show, so I really had no idea what to expect. I read a handful of reviews and they were pretty mixed. It was a two day weekend show and it was being held at the San Diego Convention Center. I wasn't far from the Convention Center, so I really had nothing to lose if it ended up being a complete bore.

The Travel & Adventure Show in San Diego, California

So what is the Travel and Adventure Show? It's just what the title suggests and more. If you are a travel lover or want to see what is happening in the travel industry, this is a great place to explore. I do a lot of my travel research online and thought this would be a waste of my time; however, I learned quite a bit from some of the guest speakers and had an amazing time watching a cooking competition. Below are some of the booths and live shows/speakers I attended during the two day event.

Travel & Adventure Show - Day 1

Taste of Travel

This section of the show was by far my favorite. I love food (who doesn't?) and their live shows were so entertaining. Plus, we even got to taste some of the food. On the first day, I watched two live cooking shows.

The first live show I attended was hosted by Melissa Currey. She is the president of Cooking 4 Life and spoke about how to eat healthy both at home and on your travels. She is a vegetarian and demonstrated some really easy and yummy vegetarian dishes.

During the presentation she showed us how easy it was to cook a Vegetarian Lasagna. She takes "old fashioned" recipes and puts a healthy twist to them. To help her create this amazing Vegetarian Lasagna dish, she used a very handy cooking device that effortlessly cut all her veggies and cheese in no time. I seriously want this nifty appliance now!

The second Taste of Travel live show I attended was the Culinary Fight Club. This was by far my favorite show from the two day event. The Cheferee of the show, Matt Hensler, was super entertaining and hilarious. What is this Culinary Fight Club? I first had visions of Brad Pitt when I saw this on the schedule of events, but it's not that kind of fight club.

In the Culinary Fight Club, three chefs were challenged to compete in making their best dish in 45 minutes. The three chefs had a mystery box of ingredients to work with, so it wasn't like they had these meals planned in advance. That's why it's a challenge! Each chef was allowed to bring a sous chef to help and all but one chef took advantage of this.

Only the guest judges had the pleasure of tasting these amazing 45-minute dishes and I was able to get a quick shot of two of the three dishes that were created.

It was an intense 45-minute battle and the victor was Chef William from Oceanside, CA. He was the only chef without a sous chef. It just goes to show that having more help doesn't necessarily mean it will give you an advantage.

Booths

I walked around the various booths and there were travel bureau booths from Cuba, Japan, Taiwan, Sequoia National Park, Israel, Hawaii, Fiji, Cruise Travels and more.

There were also booths with travel products and accessories. I stopped by a booth from Art House United that salvaged scrap leather from factories and up-cycled it into artisan goods that was then used to support good causes like FLYTE. 40% of their sales went to FLYTE, which helps low-income students with the opportunity to study abroad.

Travel & Adventure Show - Day 2

Camel Ride with Eli

This was certainly a popular attraction. Don't worry, Eli is a rescue and absolutely doesn't mind giving the attendees a ride. One interesting fact I learned about camels: They are one of the most efficient animals on earth. Their bodies know how to conserve water to survive those extremely hot dry deserts. For example, because of their high body temperature they don't start sweating until forty-one degrees Celsius. Less sweating means they can conserve more water. They can go a week without water and they can also drink up to forty gallons of water in one setting. They even know how to conserve water from their urine so much so that it comes out thick like syrup. One more thing, their humps do not store water. That is a myth!

Celebrity Speakers

LOOK! PETER GREENBERG IS HOLDING A TRAVEL POCKETS CARD!

One of the most interesting and informative speakers at the event was Peter Greenberg. He is an Emmy Award Winning Investigative Reporter and Producer and CBS News Travel Editor. He was a wealth of information and knowledge. I was practically running out of room on my paper when taking notes. If you need the latest travel news, his site is the one to go to. Some of the key points I took away from his presentation on "Travel in a Time of Disruption" were:

* The US buying power is great right now so take advantage of it
* Secret flights
* Who to call when booking hotel reservations

One thing that really stuck with me was when he said, "Don't be motivated by fear, but common sense."

Conclusion

I had my doubts with the mixed reviews, but I really enjoyed both days. The sponsors and booths at each show change depending on location, so I can see why the reviews can be varying. I left with a ton of helpful tips and found useful travel products. Thank you Travel & Adventure Show!

The next show will be held in San Diego, CA at the San Diego Convention Center. January 13-14, 2018.

Camera equipment used: Canon EOS M3 Mirrorless Camera, Canon EF-M 22mm f2 STM Compact System Fixed Lens. We subscribe to Adobe Creative Cloud to edit photos and videos using Lightroom, Premiere Pro, and Photoshop.