I'm behind on my cooking challenge posts as my husband and I were out of town for a long weekend. Thus, rather than cruising through my kitchen creating some groovy new vegan dish, I navigated the strange new waters of being a traveling vegan! (Well, a wanna-be vegan, at this point.) Overall, it was pretty smooth sailing, I'm happy to say :->
We were fortunate that we had access to some nice natural foods stores and I could easily find vegan products there. I think my favorite was a Thai spring roll--yummy!--and a hemp ice cream sandwich that was fantastically delicious!!! Restaurants were a bit more problematic. For example, the veggie burger contained milk so I got a pizza with no cheese--however, I don't know if the crust contained milk or not. Since I am new to veganism, I feel okay with myself if I just try to do my best and not purchase any animal products outright and I do have my little tiered system for what I will and won't eat as I ease into the diet (i.e., absolutely no meat products first and foremost, then no milk, and finally no eggs or honey.) My husband is such a good sport about my diet, but I don't want to take up all our travel time trying to find or get to vegan restaurants, so I just do the best I can and don't beat myself up over it if I'm not 100% sure about that piece of bread so long as I asked for the sandwich with only veggies--no meat or cheese! (You should have seen the guy's face at the Safeway deli when I asked for that, haha!)
The worst meal was probably at one of the B&Bs we stayed at. I had specifically requested vegetarian breakfast (figuring vegan was just too darn hard for them) but my lovely stuffed croissant French toast came with a neat little side of sausage links. Gurrr! Moreover, you know there was lots of butter in the croissant and then it was stuffed with cream cheese! Of course, it tasted heavenly but I only ate one croissant to get myself through the morning and gave the other piece to my husband. I figured it was already served to me, so I wasn't saving any animal suffering by not eating it, but I was worried it would upset my tummy. I couldn't bring myself to even touch the sausage, though. I realize this may have been an oversight on the part of the B&B owners, but when they have a specific section for "dietary requests" on their reservation form and then serve meat to a vegetarian, well, I was more than a little miffed!
The only time I knowingly botched my diet was at the airport. It had taken forever to get through security and we were running late, so I had only time to grab something at a little bagel shop. I knew a bagel alone wouldn't be enough for the evening ahead, but the sandwiches all came with meat and/or cheese and were unbelievably expensive. So, I got a bagel and... yogurt :-( Again, I tried to be gentle with myself and know that I could have made so many more poor choices during the trip (there were LOTS of temptations!) and just be thankful I was able to have such a healthy and vegan trip, overall.
If any of you would like to share some tips for staying vegan on the road, I'd love to hear them! Thanks :-)
It's not easy even if you do eat eggs and dairy when you are traveling. I think you did really well for a newbie! I still haven't been brave enough to go vegan....
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jeannette! I think it's brave to take ANY steps toward eating a more plant-based diet and I know you are already doing that :-) Honestly, I struggled with vegetarianism on and off since I was sixteen and I hope I will be able to stay with veganism now that I have really made a commitment. I have done a lot more reading lately and it has just really answered something in my spirit, that I need to do this. So, I hope that I can stay strong! It's so great to know you, Lisa and Lee here--you've been so encouraging and I love hearing about all the new recipes. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHey Kathryn, I know it's tough when you're not at home and in control of all your food choices. If we ever eat out we always go for Asian restaurants because they are pretty much naturally dairy free and they always have veg options. Great curries, stir fries, loads of veggies and tofu. I know you don't eat much tofu but the option is there.
ReplyDeleteAny when we're on the road and sneak bad snacks into the car it's usually things like potato chips and nuts.
That's a great idea to seek out Asian restaurants, Lee. I love Chinese food, Thai food and even some Japanese food so can't go wrong there ;-)
ReplyDeleteEating while traveling is ALWAYS a challenge for me! I'm not even a Vegan or full Veg, but I don't like not being in control of my choices! There's nothing more frustrating that shelling out big bucks for a sub-par meal. But it sounds to me like you did beautifully! And I love your attitude about this! After all this diet is about being kind to yourself body and soul and so beating yourself up wouldn't make any sense!
ReplyDeleteAwww, thanks, Chandra! :-) That's a great way of looking at it.
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