Travel Days / Raw in Brussels

Some of the best advice I’ve read about traveling raw is to fast on travel days. I’ve been doing that, fasting until I get to my destination and have time to settle in. It really makes me feel best. Eating on an airplane (even when I bring my own food) makes me gassy and uncomfortable – from the air pressure, the sitting in one position, etc etc. Plus, if I’m fasting, I get the added bonus of not having to search high and wide in an airport for something raw or be tempted to eat what they’re distributing on the plane.

All of my travel days recently have not been long at all, though, so maybe I’ll reconsider on my flight back to NY with the 6 hour layover in Dublin. Interestingly, though, when I booked my Aer Lingus flight online (through the suspiciously named CheapoAirlines.com) a whole menu of inflight meal options came up. There was kosher, low salt, sugar free, non dairy, hindu, vegetarian, vegan and RAW VEGAN! Not sure if this is offered by Aer Lingus or CheapoAirlines, but I’m impressed, I have to say. Of course I chose the raw vegan meal, and will report back about how that worked out.

I’ve found that it’s important to keep food with me for after the fast, once I’m comfortably in the new city. I can’t count how many times in the past I’ve had long travel days, and once I arrive in a city, famished, it takes a frustratingly long time to find something appropriate for me to eat. For all the years that I was vegetarian or vegan and touring the US, I’d arrive into a new city late at night, and the only options were Applebee’s or McDonalds. Or even more challenging, arriving into a tiny European town late at night, where either nothing is open or only the town’s single bistro that exclusively serves pork chops and boiled potatoes.

So, I’ve learned my lesson: Bring snacks. For after. Today I brought with me 4 apples, some trail mix, 2 clementines, a grapefruit and some cut and washed celery. I am sure the people at the x-ray machines thought I was a bit of a nut (or possibly were impressed and inspired) and yeah, my carry-on was heavy but it was worth it when I got into my flat here and could have a couple of apples before we went exploring the city. That way, finding food wasn’t the only thing on my mind, and I could enjoy my surroundings and the beauty of wandering unfamiliar streets.

I did, eventually go to a market to get some food for the week. It was a pretty standard supermarket (by European standards, would have been just a “market” in the US), but had a nice selection of conventional and organic produce. The weirdest thing, though, that all of the organic fruits and vegetables were wrapped in plastic! The bins overflowing with loose oranges and kiwis were conventional, but ALL of the organic stuff was packaged. So weird. For cleanliness? I have no idea. Will have to investigate.

One love,
Marissa