Our Family Food Travel Blog
I am Oliver. Natalia, Victor, and I keep recipes, places, and memory from the road so the people and flavours that shaped us stay alive for your table, not only ours.
Who we are — and how we publish
This is the Mayerhoffer family food travel blog: recipes we cook, places we visit, and stories we refuse to flatten into generic travel copy.
What is the Mangoes & Palm Trees family food travel blog?
The Mayerhoffer family food travel blog at Mangoes and Palm Trees publishes recipes cooked at home, travel notes from first-hand trips, and family stories from the road. Oliver Mayerhoffer is the lead writer; Natalia Mayerhoffer reviews safety and heritage; Victor Mayerhoffer is the vote at the table. The family is currently traveling Southeast Asia, updated September 2026.
Deeper questions? Read our family food travel blog FAQ or browse Eat and Stay reviews.
Who we are and why we are doing this
This page is the story of who we are and why we are doing this. I want to share the world as we see it and experience it — the real truth, not a pretty promotion.
This page is not about me. It is about my family and what defines us. Natalia, Victor, and I live a life outside the norms that keep people boxed in, and I wanted to show what we go through on a daily basis.
No matter where you go in this world there is beauty and there is pain, and things people just don’t see at first glance. I want a place where people can meet the amazing people we meet, feel the kindness we see, and also feel the worries and the pains. It hasn’t always been rainbows and butterflies.
When life is hard I hope if you read about us you can connect — maybe see a bigger picture, which is the first step in changing things. Pain is really what shows us that there can be beauty, though it rarely comes in equal doses.
I grew up between Cheltenham, Austrian kitchens, and Mediterranean holidays. At fifteen I crossed India by train. Later came Oman, sailing seasons in Spain, and years of moving with Natalia — Krasnoyarsk, Koh Samui, six heavy years in the UK, then back to Asia.
Natalia brings Siberian preservation and a careful eye for what is safe on a family plate. Victor, born in Nathon Hospital in 2016, keeps us honest. If a guide only works for child-free travellers with perfect weather, it does not ship.
In 2026 we are traveling Southeast Asia — updating street-food notes, island logistics, and the recipes we actually cook at home. Pages go up from the road when they are ready.
Read Oliver’s story, meet Natalia, or join the family newsletter.
Fifteen years of movement
- 2014Met on Koh Chang. Neither of us was looking for love.
- 2015Married in Krasnoyarsk. Siberian preservation enters our kitchen.
- 2016Victor born at Nathon Hospital, Koh Samui.
- 2018Mangoes and Palm Trees founded — recipes and stories we did not want to lose.
- 2024Vietnam chapter — French-colonial food divides.
- 2026Southeast Asia — travel notes from the road, pages when they are ready.
Three voices, one house standard
Cooking, culture, and a nine-year-old who will tell you if the portion is wrong.
Oliver Mayerhoffer
Lead author · father · cook
I write what we eat and where we go. Short sentences. Real prices.
No credential speeches — just the table in front of us.
Read Oliver’s story
Natalia Mayerhoffer
Mother · Siberian heritage · safety voice
She guards cultural respect and food safety — when a recipe needs a preservation note or a 165°F checkpoint, Natalia says so.
Meet Natalia
Victor Mayerhoffer
Our son · reality check
Caring. Smart. Conscientious. Gentleman. If he will not eat it on a Tuesday after school, we do not publish it as family-friendly.
Start here — then go deep
These hubs back the family story with recipes and guides we actually use on the road.
Thai recipes for families
Curries, street food, and weeknight plates from Thai recipes we cooked at home.
Explore hubThailand food travel 2026
Travel notes from the country we are documenting this year.
Read the journeySiberian pelmeni
Natalia’s heritage dumplings — tested at home, not copied from a database.
Get the recipeRecipe index
Every dish we have cooked and written up, in one searchable index.
Browse recipesUltimate guides
Long-form reference for ingredients, techniques, and travel logistics.
View guidesIngredient substitutes
What to swap when you cannot find the exact item abroad.
See substitutesThree standards behind every page
On the ground
We cook it, travel it, and note what broke — parking, spice level, whether Victor finished the plate.
Culturally respectful
Recipes and guides come from lived immersion and local relationships, not scraped lists.
Transparent
Affiliate links, updates, and corrections are declared. Read our editorial policy.
The people behind these notes
Oliver writes the kitchen and travel notes; Natalia reviews family and safety context. Victor is our son at the table when a dish was actually cooked for him. Read Oliver’s profile, Natalia’s profile, and our editorial policy.
Sources and safety notes
Lived family experience comes first. When food safety or heritage context matters, those notes are checked against the official references below.
FDA Food Safety
Food safety reference for family kitchen notes.
Read sourceHarvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Nutrition source notes for family plate context.
Read sourceKitchen notes from the road
Mayerhoffer kitchen testing while traveling Southeast Asia, 2026.
Explore next
How to use this publication
Start with travel guides or recipes — we are traveling Southeast Asia in 2026, with Thailand and Vietnam notes landing as we go. Older pages draw on first-hand trips before and after the family formed.
Also browse travel guides, recipe index, family story, ingredients, editorial policy, and all destinations.
Family food travel blog — quick answers
What makes this different from a typical travel blog?
Where are you traveling in 2026?
Who writes the recipes and guides?
How is the site funded?
More answers on our family food travel blog FAQ page.
Come with us
Come with us — have an adventure, meet people, and see a place from the table. The best way we have found to learn why someone cooks, travels, or lives the way they do is to share a meal or an experience together.
Start with a recipe or a travel note below. Come back when the next page is ready.