On Hole in the Wall's and Improper Nutrition

Benefits needed: Getting the essential vitamins you need to stay healthy, especially when you don't know what or when your next meal will be. 

Concept/Takeaway: Eating in new places is awesome! After days/weeks/months of it, consuming different/not enough vitamins can catch up with you. 

The Story: I’m not much of a foodie. Listen, I enjoy good food, don’t get me wrong. But if you ask me to choose the restaurant, 100% of the time I go to the “vibe” photos on google. Yeah, I’m one of those. Much more into the aesthetic than the taste here. 

Well, let me tell you, had this joint a google location, never mind a single photo of the vibe, it would have been a “hell no” from me. But luckily, it didn’t. (Well, turns out, it did. However, I was unaware.) We had arrived back to the hostel from a day of exploration, in somewhat desperate need of provisions. So, we asked the guy at the front desk where his favorite place to eat was. He named a restaurant and then chuckled a little, saying, "Well, actually, there’s a place I like more.”

“Where?”

He continued his little chuckle and nodded at us slyly, signifying our Western skin tones. “You sure you want to try it?”

“100%” I challenge him. 

“Alright,” he says. “You’ll walk this way.” He points to the left, “and in about five minutes you’ll go right at a big street. In another few minutes you’ll see a phone store and it’s the place to the right of that.” 

Typical directions in India. 

“Alright,” I sigh, realizing I have no choice but to partake in yet another adventure today, further delaying my food intake ETA. “We’ll tell you how it is.” 

“Okay,” he chuckles, and we walk out. 

The directions are fine and we make it in about 10 minutes. Better than expected. We see a man cooking sweets out front and ask to see a menu. We’re brought inside (which we did not know existed from the looks on the outside), to the back, up the stairs, and sat at a table. There’s a few booths and a family or two sitting around. The interior is dingy at best but the review was high, we’re here already, and we're hungry. We quickly order most things on the menu, agreeing to share. 

Not five minutes later we’re welcomed by plates and plates of steaming hot foods, one after the next. We’ve both been in India for a few months by this point, so we assume we know what we’re getting into in terms of spice. We give each other a little nod of acknowledgment, rip off a piece of chapati, scoop up some of the first sauce, and raise up the pieces to one another, as if to cheers. 

My first two chews are slow, a little hesitant. I want to decipher my thoughts before saying anything rash. My chewing speed increases ten fold and my eyes are wide. I look at Alex and he’s in a similar boat. 

“No way,” I say.

“Yes,” he says, with wide, glowing eyes. 

We grab more bread, scoop up the sauces and start shoveling it into our mouths. 

15 minutes later we’re both sprawled out on our chairs, complaining of our stomach aches, still chewing all the while. This was too good, not over spiced, and just amazing. We didn’t care how much we over-ordered and over-ate. It would have been a Hindu sin to let a single drop of this go to waste. 

When we get back to the hostel, we point to our bulging bellies and reiterate that it is indeed the best restaurant, not only in Rajasthan (the state we were in), but rather on the planet, to the man at the front. We all have a moment of acknowledgement, and he nods us an Indian approval of respect. Victory tastes almost as sweet as those sauces did. 

We spend the next five days hidden away in Thar Desert, raving to the two friends we made about this incredible meal all the while. 

Now, you know they’re thinking the exact thing you are right now. “Seems like you two were just super hungry. It could have been garbage water and you still probably would have loved it.” 

Well, we returned home from the desert (where we stayed with random desert-livers who cooked us wonderful, homemade food - I’ll blog about that experience one day - but the point is, we return back to Jodhpur with happy bellies. Definitely not in a state of deprivation.) 

“Should we go to the restaurant?” I ask the group. 

“Yes.” Alex hits back without a beat. 

“Sure,” shrug the other two. 

So, we find it the only way we can. We go back to our old hostel, walk about 5 minutes down the road, make a right, walk to the phone store and look for the man cooking. 

The entire place is GONE! Totally wiped up. Speakeasy vibes?!

Haha I’m just kidding, it’s exactly as we left it, and probably exactly as it's been for 50 years. A dilapidated hole in the wall you wouldn’t even know was there if you didn’t already know it was there. We order for the table and sure as heck, absolutely incredible. Incredible enough for me to not regret going to a vibe-less place TWICE. Incredible enough for me to write an entire blog post about. And incredible enough for me to call it the best food I’ve ever had to this day. (Though not my favorite restaurant… DEFINITELY not my favorite restaurant.)  

Now, we got super lucky with that meal, and we got super lucky with the food around Jodhpur. But I have no idea what was in it, nor do I have any idea if it has all of the vitamins and minerals my American body is used to having and needs. And during my travels, there have definitely been days where I am not eating properly, for simply a lack of the ability to. Times when I can guarantee you I am not intaking proper vitamins (which can ultimately cause health issues). 

When I was designing Co-Pilot’s Daily Travel Supplement, I thought about this. I thought about all of the amazing meals I’d had, all of the days where my nutrient intake was left lacking, and all of the days I simply had no idea of my vitamin intake on. I realized that on top of all of the awesome benefits the supplement would already give people, it was imperative that it also be a complete daily multivitamin. Non-negotiable! Then, it could truly be the one supplement you need while you travel, and truly keep you healthy. It's not an obvious, feel-it-right-away effect as many of the others are, but it's a know you're healthy in the long-term and avoid getting deeply sick, effect. And in that way, even if you didn’t need any of the other benefits on any given day, you would still be benefitting from taking the supplement. No waste. Not in aspect of the supplement. Not now, not nevah.

 

On top of all of the other ingredients, we also have included vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, B12, C, D, E, and the mineral magnesium citrate (the forgotten electrolyte). 

If you want to know what any of these vitamins and minerals specifically do to help you stay your healthiest self, just check out our “Our Global Ingredients” page and click! There’s a pop up on every single ingredient telling you its back story and what it specifically does to help our traveler selves. And, if you want to know how much of each we’ve added, simply order it and read the label for yourself! The amounts are also listed here. Just scroll down to the photos and you'll see one of the back of the tin. 

But c’mon, you know it’s better to read that label in person.

Oh, and bonus points for reading to the end. The restaurant is apparently called "Shandar Sweet Home," on Google Maps. If you're even in Jodhpur, India's Pink City, which I highly recommend, you have GOT to try this place. Oh, and you better DM us photos. (Please! We want to relive this.) We promise, you will not be disappointed.