Travelling often means that your ability to prepare your own meals becomes compromised. When this happens, it’s easy to just think ‘oh it’s too hard’. Yet if nourishing yourself remains a priority you will almost always find a way. An all or nothing mentality isn’t usually helpful, and this is particularly true when it comes to how you eat while travelling.
Of course, if you’re someone who only goes away two weeks in a year, it may feel good for you to adjust your priorities during your break. Eating in an out-of-character way for two weeks will have little impact compared with what you do for the other 50 weeks of the year – it’s what you do most of the time, not what you do occasionally that shows up in your wellness. On the other hand, if you’re someone who goes away more regularly or who travels for work, you may be looking for ways to continue prioritising your nourishment while you’re away from home. Here are some suggestions to help you do so.
Research local eating spots.
Most restaurants and cafes have their menus available online and a quick search of your destination will likely uncover any local establishments that offer more nourishing options. If you can’t find a nourishing option, you can always ask about adding a side of vegetables or a salad. Even when they’re not on the menu, most places will be happy to deliver such options upon request.
Book accommodation with a kitchen or kitchenette.
If you are travelling for work, you may not have time to prepare all your meals, but you may be able prepare simpler meals such as breakfast. If you’re travelling for pleasure, you may relish the break from preparing all of your meals yourself. Yet, having the space to cook or prepare fresh meals does give you a fall-back plan should there not be sufficient options available around you.
Make the best choices from what you have available.
Do what you can. If it’s just impossible to get something that you would ordinarily choose and you’re really hungry, then judging yourself or worrying about that one meal that might not be that nourishing can be more detrimental to your health than the less-nourishing meal itself –it’s just one meal. And it is when we judge ourselves that our thinking tends to spiral into “I’ve ruined it, I may as well just finish the packet of biscuits” or “I may as well just have another glass (or two or three!) of wine”.
Pack your snacks or some supplies.
Depending on the space you have in your suitcase and the restrictions on what you can carry with you to your travel destination, you may like to pack some snacks. A packet of nuts, home-made bliss balls, some brown rice crackers, a loaf of good quality bread, an avocado, a few carrots, a couple of cans of tuna or sardines – providing you have a fridge in your accommodation, there’s not much you can’t take with you that couldn’t handle a little travel time. If you’d rather not fill your suitcase with food (or that’s not an option for you), swing by a local market when you arrive.
Take a greens drink.
I always travel with a ‘greens drink’ – basically just ground up vegetables in a powder – just to boost my intake of greens while I’m away. I formulated Bio Blends Organic Daily Greens. It’s a really easy thing to pack into carry-on luggage and a great way to amp up your vegetable intake. Look for one that has fewer ingredients as you will get more concentrated doses of the nutrients these contain.
