Travelling can be stressful at the best of times. I know that when I go on a journey, if I rely on airline and airport terminal food for the entire trip, I will not feel good when I arrive at my destination. So I get prepared- mentally as well as with physical food- so that I can be as healthy as possible while travelling.
1. Start preparing ahead of time
Even though you might be busy making last minute preparations for your holiday, take the time to make some essential preparations. Try making some dehydrated crackers and fruits that you can munch on while at the airport or waiting in the terminal. You want to avoid feeling hungry while on the plane and being forced to succumb to something really yuck like Pringles or whatever they have going. A few days before you leave, crank up the dehydrator and stashed your goodies in clip seal bags which you can store in your hand luggage.
You can also make up a trail mix. Throw into a clip-seal bag handfuls of almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, raisins and some cacao nibs and then shake it all together. It will take about 5 minutes total to prepare, and will definitely be a snack-saver during long layovers.
Just a word of warning about packing too many snacks. Be careful to pack just the right amount of food, because when we you hit customs in some countries, you cannot have any food stuffs on your person which have come from outside the country and you will need to discard these before going through customs.
2. Plan your meals
A few of the airlines now do raw vegan in-flight meals. Order those ahead of time if you know this is an option. If you are flying on a low-coast carrier, try to find a salad option, or at worst, the vegetarian meal or sandwich as a last resort. Try to avoid the fried foods that are on offer.
Even better is to eat a big salad before you leave and take it with you to eat either while in transit or on the plane (if the airline allows outside food). Also plan to make a big, hearty and healthy meal before you head off to the airport. The bonus of making a big meal is that it will use all the remaining fresh produce that is in the fridge, so it doesn't rot while you are away. There is nothing worse than to come home from holidays and find there is a fridge of produce wasting away!
3. Keeping things simple
Stick to your regular routine if you can. I love being able to make a green smoothie for breakfast, so I will try to make one of these from wherever I am.
A handy device that I recommend for making hotel room smoothies is a bullet blender. They don't do the same kind of job that the Vitamix or regular blender does, but in order to have a quick smoothie fix, they do the job well enough. These small blenders are portable- weighing about 2 kg- so they can fit into your luggage and be used for making quick smoothies and dressings for a salad even if you are in a kitchen-less hotel room.
4. Finding the healthiest options possible
There have definitely been trips that I have taken where I have not been at all organised. I didn't plan and prepare as I have advised above, and I have had to buy food on the plane or in the transit lounge of the airport. When this happens, I just try to choose the healthiest thing possible that is still vegan. This might be, like I mentioned above, a sandwich. Sometimes, the only vegan option might be the fried rice. It is from having the yucky, bloat feeling after eating fried rice on a flight that spurred me to be more organised about my food when travelling.
There are usually OK options that are better than fried rice, however. In Asia, there is usually a fresh juice bar- this is a perfect healthy pick-me-up. There is also nearly always a coffee chain cafe in the airport. They will often sell salads, as well juices, though these are not always so fresh. If the food is looking a bit droopy and the juice looks like it is more flavoured sugar water than real fresh-squeezed juice, then I will get a chai tea latte with soy milk as a treat to get me by. Not raw, but the healthier option, and it is also comforting to drink among the chaos of the airport.
Fresh fruit is also a great, healthy snack. It is usually possible to find somewhere selling bananas or apples. You can probably also ask the juice bar if you can buy these loose items if you are really desperate for something to munch on (as opposed to slurp!).
5. Don't be overly anxious
At the end of the day, I eat raw foods because I feel good when I do, and I like being and feeling healthy. I am also an open-minded person, who loves to travel, so I will always do the best that I can when it comes to travelling and eating healthily. Planning and preparing definitely helps me to stay on track. But I never want to be a food nazi who ruins everyone's meals, and I want to have a good time while I am away. I will be flexible when I need to be- still always keeping to my vegan values though- and will try to make the healthiest options that I can whenever I can.
If you want more coaching tips to keep you on track to staying healthy in all aspects of your life, head over to http://www.integratedwellness.co/ and see how I can work with you to achieve your health and wellness goals and to be healthy, happy and hot!