First of all, what is a food passport? It’s a little book or list where you write down all the restaurants you want to try. When I got to college, I started a tradition with my boyfriend. On Wednesdays we open our food passport and pick a new place to eat that day for lunch. Of course, it doesn’t always work out that way. Sometimes we just really want Red Lobster again (who wouldn’t??). Anyways, there are so many reasons to start a similar tradition. You don’t have to cross a restaurant off your passport every week. You can do it every day, every other week, every month, or whatever works for you!

1. It’ll help the picky eater in your life branch out.

Everybody knows one. You know, the person who orders a double cheeseburger with no cheese, no lettuce, and no tomato. Maybe you ARE the picky eater in your life. Either way, getting out and trying new restaurants can help those picky eaters try something new. I know our food passport has helped the picky eater in my life (I’ve convinced him to try some really “crazy” foods, like cheese bread with honey).

2. You’ll get to know your town.

Unless you live in a one-stop-sign town, I can almost guarantee that there are really cool restaurants that you’ve never visited and maybe never even seen. Each restaurant that you’ve never visited is like a little piece of your town’s personality that you haven’t discovered yet, so go discover all the unique food experiences you can!

3. Date Night!

I get it! Planning dates can be frustrating. “What do we do? Where do we go? I’m tired of our usual date night restaurant!” With a food passport, you can simply look at the list of restaurants and pick one! Also, since the food passport is full of restaurants, you don’t have to worry about getting in one of those funks where you eat at the same place. EVERY. TIME.

4. You can pretend that you’re a food critic.

Honestly, who wouldn’t want to have a job that involves eating and writing about it? Most of us will not be able to make eating a career though. But you can pretend! Try new restaurants and then give them ratings in your passport, and in today’s world of social media, you could even create a blog and become a self-proclaimed food critic!

5. It’s just fun!

I don’t really need to tell you this one because I’m sure you already know how fun it is to go eat with some good friends!

So grab some friends and start checking restaurants off your list!