Telling Ireland’s story through food, place and journey
By ELEANOR MCGILLIE 19 January, 2026
WHEN people talk about why they travel, many start with a focus on landmarks they have visited or want to visit. Many start looking for their next break in search of activities. Many talk about the meals which lingered longer than expected, conversations at a kitchen table, roads they didn’t plan to take, the laughter they shared and places they hadn’t heard of before arriving.
That idea, that travel is about lived experience rather than lists, has shaped Live It Experience It since we created it in 2014.
Long before phrases like “culinary tourism” or “slow travel” became part of the tourism mainstream conversation, we were already following roads which led us to producers, cooks, distillers, brewers, storytellers, tour guides, fishermen and places shaped by the landscape around them. We were creating cluster collaborations, getting people to together in a bid to curate experiences which gave people the information they needed to experience a place for longer and not just go on a surfing lesson for an hour and then drive home. We adore travelling ourselves, often on motorbikes, to feel closer to the landscapes – our journeys matter as much as the destination.
Ireland lends itself to this way of travelling. Our wild coastlines, small towns, family-run restaurants and fiercely proud food producers are not things you rush. They reward curiosity and time. They ask you to step off the main road and stay a little longer.
Over the years, Live It Experience It has quietly built a body of work rooted in exactly that approach – stories shaped by place, by season and by the people who live and work there. Not polished itineraries, not grand claims. Just first-hand journeys, told honestly.
Food has always been the thread. Not food as indulgence, but food as culture – bread baked in farmhouse kitchens, seafood pulled from cold Atlantic waters, oysters farmed in Carlingford, spirits distilled with patience and intent, the length and breadth of Ireland, menus shaped by what grows seasonally nearby rather than what makes the perfect Instagram capture. These are the stories which anchor visitors to a place, long after the journey ends.
Often travelling on our motorbikes, as our gastronomic journey of Ireland continues into 2026, we see our country differently. You feel the shift in weather, the pull of our rugged landscape, the scale of distance. It slows you down. It nudges you off the obvious routes and into conversations you wouldn’t otherwise have. That way of travelling has informed not just how we move through Ireland, but how we tell its story. But, regardless how we travel around our beautiful country, what has become increasingly clear, particularly as conversations around tourism evolve, is that this kind of storytelling sits naturally alongside where Ireland wants to go next.
The future of Irish tourism is not about doing more, faster. It’s about doing better. We can all do so by continuing to encourage visitors to explore beyond the gateways, to travel year-round, to engage with local businesses and to leave with a deeper understanding of where they’ve been. It’s about value, not volume. It can’t be about just promoting the same things year in, year out. People often say ‘authenticity’ has become a buzzword – maybe so, but only by those who are misusing it. Authenticity in tourism means providing genuine true to life experiences to a destination’s culture, heritage and traditions, fulfilling our visitors’ desire for real connections.
That philosophy underpins Tourism Ireland’s global campaign, Ireland Goes Beyond – a campaign launched today (Monday, January 19, 2026) which centres on connection, people and place rather than postcard moments. It’s a direction which feels familiar to those of us who have been telling Ireland’s story from the road for over a decade.
Live It Experience It never set out to be loud. The platform exists to listen, to observe and to share stories which feel true to the people and places involved. Over time, that has led to trusted relationships with chefs, producers, venue owners and tourism businesses who care deeply about how their story is told.
As the landscape of Irish tourism continues to shift, so too do our plans. There is space for platforms which work at a human scale, complementing national campaigns by adding texture, depth and lived experience – storytelling which doesn’t sell a destination, but invites people into it.
That’s where Live It Experience It sits. Not as a replacement for any strategy, but as a companion to it. Translating ambition into stories. Turning places on a map into memories worth carrying home.
Because the journeys which stay with us are rarely the ones we planned in detail. They’re the ones we truly lived.
As we begin 2026, we will be continuing our gastronomic journey on motorbikes around our beautiful country; we will soon revamp our website to bring it, not only up to date, but we will be creating something very special which will change the model of this platform. It will become much more as we move ahead in 2026. We look forward to delivering something very different online to what currently exists in Ireland. And we will also have a focus on curating some very unique events and opportunities.
To contact us – email hello@liveitexperienceit.com.
