How to Travel and Stay Healthy
Last week, Little Miss Charlotte and I packed up the car and headed to my hometown for a few days. We had plans to visit with my dad, brother, sister-in-law, adorable nephews, and grandmother, plus, attend a reunion of my camp buddies who I hadn’t seen in 15 years. Yes, I’m one of those people who still thinks the 1990’s were ten years ago, and it makes me feel really old to think it’s been 15 years since I’ve seen someone. Anywho, to complicate things, I joined a 9-day raw “celebration” that started on June 1st. We were calling it a “celebration” instead of a “challenge” because we wanted to focus on the positive aspects of eating 100% raw instead of making it sound like something difficult. I was committed to staying ALL RAW on this trip, so I had to plan ahead. I managed to stick to my plan and didn’t have a single cooked morsel the entire trip. It was a completely raw vegan vacation. (Vegan may not be accurate considering the turkey who I inadvertently helped commit suicide on my drive home, but I didn’t eat him, so I think it still counts.) So how did I do it? Here are my tips for a healthy road trip whether you’re attempting to stay raw or not:
Pack as if you’re going camping. By this, I mean to bring everything you will need. Pretend you’ll be staying in an RV with limited amenities. This works far better is you’re driving, not flying, of course. (Unless you can afford the insane overweight fees.) I have a Baby Bullet blender that was a baby shower gift, and it’s wonderful for packing on trips. It’s compact, but works really well for making smoothies. I also packed my julienne peeler, a sharp knife, coconut oil, protein powder, chia seeds, raw cacao powder, maca powder, spirulina, as well as plenty of actual produce. My thinking was that I would have everything I needed to make nutritious smoothies, if I didn’t have anything else to eat. Chia seeds and spirulina are awesome to have when traveling because the chia seeds are super filling and don’t require anything besides water, and the spirulina is packed with minerals and vitamins to keep your immune system firing when traveling compromises restful sleep. Basically, in a pinch, without any other green vegetables, you’ve got instant chlorophyll in a bag. The weekend before we left, I made raw corn-red pepper chips and “smoked” almonds in my dehydrator to bring along as snacks, and I made the sundried tomato wraps from Nouveau Raw. (They’re very easy and have a texture very similar to corn tortillas.) Since I knew I’d be doing plenty of smoothies on the trip, I made a big batch of fresh almond milk the night before and packed it in a Tupperware pitcher with a tight lid. As far as produce, I packed ripe bananas, since most stores don’t have ripe ones sitting around. I took along apples, dates, berries, and mangoes. I eat lots of fruit this time of year, so I was prepared to continue that trend. I also packed the ingredients for my favorite salad dressing, since I knew I’d be eating salads every night if I could. For Charlotte, I pre-cooked some brown rice, edamame, and veggies, plus took a couple of avocadoes. She mostly eats what I prepare for myself, but she loves to have some heavier stuff once in a while.
Find healthy shopping options ahead of time. There’s a health food store in my hometown that’s been there since my mom was a kid, and it’s a great option for stocking up on vegetables and raw food supplies. When we got to town, they were my first stop. As a bonus, they had organic local lettuce on sale while I was there, so I bought a bag for each evening I’d be in town. We loaded up a cart with lettuce, raisins (for Charlotte), chia superfood bites, some Raw Revolution bars, loose-leaf black tea (which was super cheap, by the way!), organic cherry tomatoes, and fresh ground spices. I also filled two gallon jugs with High-Oxygen water. I’d never had it but thought it would be good to try in such circumstances, given that the quality of the county water is “iffy” at best. My second day there, I made a trip to the grocery store and grabbed a few extra things, like cherries and grapes.
Set your intentions and communicate them with those you’re visiting. I was posting my raw celebration meals on Instagram and Facebook every day before I left, so my friends knew I’d be continuing to eat raw during my visit. My dad, however, doesn’t use those forms of communication, so I just let him and my stepmom know that I was part of an online group who had vowed to eat all raw vegan food for nine days, so I wouldn’t be interested in going out to eat. I told him that if they wanted to go anywhere, though, I’d be happy to join them and just not partake. They decided to stay home and have healthy fresh-cooked meals each night instead, which I think that was a good thing. My stepmom is a great cook, by the way, so I don’t think Dad was missing out on anything by skipping the Mexican joint. All in all, no one even questioned what I was eating. At the reunion, there were tons of hotdogs and chips (Ew.), so I just packed a cooler with grapes, cherries, strawberries, bananas, and a Raw Revolution bar. Charlotte and I munched on that stuff while everyone else ate what was provided. Funny enough, one of my friends had brought her two-year-old daughter, and she kept snatching our food. I’m telling ya, the kids know.
If all else fails, consider it an impromptu fast. I know it’s not easy to just skip meals. After all, I’m breastfeeding a toddler! But there’ve been occasions when there wasn’t anything appetizing available at a social function I attended, so I just drank lots of water and waited until later to eat. As a matter of fact, those occasions are the reason I pack so heavily now. I’ve learned my lesson, so even if it’s just a few hours at a friend’s house down the street, I’ll still squirrel away a raw food bar or a couple of bananas. Eating beforehand is also a good habit. That way, you won’t be tempted by unhealthy options.
Basically, my days went like this: Cacao, banana, almond milk smoothie with chia seeds, protein powder, and maca for breakfast. Lunch was either a salad with tomato, onion, and avocado topped with tahini-lemon dressing or just fruit. And dinners were a huge salad topped with cucumber, red pepper, tomato, onion, avocado, almonds, and a tahini-lemon dressing. I didn’t have much variety on this trip, but that’s ok. I had a plan and I stuck to it. And if you’ve tried Bonzai Aphrodite’s “Tahini Dip that Done Stole My Heart”, you’ll understand how not-boring my salads were. That stuff is like crack! I also munched on the chia bites, dates, and fruit throughout the day. I had my raw corn-red pepper chips or a tomato wrap with my salad to make it more filling.
I feel like I did pretty good at staying healthy on our trip. I’ve done it before, but usually it involved a lot of dehydrated food, which I get tired of after a while. I just don’t feel as good when I’m eating them a lot. My body needs lots of high-water food to feel it’s best, so this trip was far better with all of the salads and smoothies. Charlotte took it upon herself to have most of her food second-hand, meaning she mostly nursed the entire trip. It was actually really nice since my milk supply had dropped last week due to extra work and not being able to pump as often. She ate plenty of fresh fruit and even shared my salads. Her favorite thing, by far, were my chips. If she even saw the bag, she went nuts. I think we may have a new staple food around our house.
When you’re as routine as I am, being able to stick to that routine can make a huge difference while traveling. I’ve had many trips when I didn’t do that, so my digestion got all wonky, and I ended up with a cold after returning home. Traveling can be very hard on the immune system, so having a plan and following through with healthy eating keeps your body in fighting shape.
