I hadn’t heard of interstate pilgrimages to Trader Joe’s grocery stores until Dallas Morning News travel editor Larry Bleiberg mentioned the phenomenon to me recently. Turns out, Bleiberg wrote a piece last summer about the amazingly long journeys some people make to Trader Joe’s to stock up on the store’s unique selection of cheap gourmet items, from Two Buck Chuck wine to corn syrup-free sweets. It made perfect sense. 

The stores, which began in California in 1967 and are spreading around the nation, have rabid fans, many of whom have suddenly found themselves living in dark, lonely, soulless places—in other words, places without a Trader Joe’s—jonesing for Joe’s groceries. Hence, the long-distance TJ’s pilgrimage.

Many Texans, for example, have made the trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico to load up. Bleiberg himself filled several suitcases to take home. “Santa Fe store manager Darren Haines said out-of-town bulk shoppers are easy to spot,” Bleiberg writes. “You see them pulling two grocery carts, overflowing with jars of Indian simmer sauces, bags of dried blueberries and wine. Lots of wine.”

That’s a pilgrimage I can get behind.

Trader Joe’s has spawned a number of independent fan sites, including Tracking Trader Joe’s and my favorite, Quaffability.com, which reviews Trader Joe’s wine.

Now we just need Lonely Planet to publish a Trader Joe’s guidebook.

Photo by Stan via Flickr, (Creative Commons).