Today we’d like to introduce you to Ky P. and Sarah C.
Ky and Sarah, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
We were both born and raised in San Francisco. Growing up, we both had extended family outside of the state and country, so we would travel pretty often. Ky lived in Thailand for several years and returned to SF to begin elementary school. Sarah grew up attending countless family gatherings that always centered around food rotating on top of a lazy susan.
We met 8 years ago while working part-time in a school. We were busy college students, but also made time to share common interests and became partners in crime. From finding hidden gems in the city to playing tourists in our own town to trying mom-and-pop spots, we always had a goal to find the next foodie or travel adventure.
Sarah now has a Masters in Elementary Education, and Ky holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Hospitality Management. We both find the work that we do in our different fields very rewarding. Both industries have its perks! Hotels have travel benefits that we can utilize when we need to fulfill our wanderlust. Public schools have a set schedule, making it easier to plan for these experiences.
Not only did Covid have a huge effect on our travel plans, the hospitality industry was largely diminished for the time being and caused Ky to become unemployed. Although this was not an ideal situation, we continue to confirm our belief that new opportunities always arise when you least expect it. We both started working from home, spending more time planning together. With our work schedules aligning and covid restrictions lifting, we started the ksfoodntravel Instagram account to keep track of our food and travel life. We are currently building a website to make it easier to connect with other people around the world who have a passion for eating and traveling as well.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Although we are a small account on Instagram, it definitely took a long time for us to get to where we are now. Work-life balance was and is still a challenge at times. At the beginning, we barely even saw each other due to opposite working schedules. However, we found a way to efficiently plan and experience the things we loved to do with meticulous planning and division of tasks. Ky is great at discovering, planning, and booking most of our travel and food arrangements. Sarah is good at setting up itineraries and navigation to make our days as efficient as possible. We both create and post the content for the ksfoodntravel Instagram account!
One of the most challenging things for Ky was simply figuring out what he wanted to do after leaving the hospitality industry.
Having just a 9-5 job is not enough to pave the path to what we consider successful. Success is not just having steady income but also achieving personal goals that we have set.
Another struggle was figuring out how to capture photos or video exactly as we envision it so that whoever is looking at our posts can experience it the same way as we had. All of our content is taken by iPhone camera, and all of our captions are typed directly onto Instagram on the phone as well. You can imagine how hot our old-generation iPhone can get! Ha!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As a team, we share the Instagram account ksfoodntravel. We regularly share photos, videos, stories, and reels of our experiences while traveling and dining. We also currently post on Yelp, Atmosfy, and TikTok. We are most proud of connecting with other foodies and collaborating with local small businesses, highlighting who we truly believe are noteworthy. Having been part of the hospitality industry really allows us to access experiences that we would otherwise not even consider. What sets us apart from others is that we value having a balance – keeping a budget while being spontaneous. People who see our Instagram feed know that we can be eating Mcdonalds’ nuggets for dinner one night and $500 omakase the next night!
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Risk-taking is crucial for growth. Taking a risk is all about disciplining yourself and making decisions that may cause some kind of negative or positive effect. One risk we took was moving during the start of covid. This was a huge risk when you think about the health crisis, the labor market, and economic uncertainty for so many people in our city and country. Some of our travels plans during the pandemic may even have been considered health or financial risks.
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