Traveling is No Excuse to Eat Crap

A man behind me on my recent flight to Budapest, Hungary, phoned his wife right before takeoff and whispered, “I’m on a plane with Green Smoothie Girl.” I laughed, and later in Detroit when we changed planes, we chatted. His question was how I eat right when I travel. “I’m on the road a lot,” he said, “and as you can see, I pay the price.” (Actually he looked quite fit.)

“Aren’t you on the road a lot, too?” he asked.

Honestly? Sometimes I can’t even remember what city I’m in. Or country. Last month I was in 7 European countries in 17 days. I had some adventures I’ll write about soon.

I told the man that I have written about this topic on my blog, and to search for it. He said, “I did, and read all that on the plane already.” LOL! My bucket list includes this item:

“Write an e-Book on How to Eat Right While Traveling.”

(Now I’ve made the written commitment, so I’ll do it. Nag me till I do!)

He said he liked my Whole Foods Market tip. That is, in virtually every city we drive to, whoever isn’t the driver programs WFM in the GPS, find the closest one. We get a giant salad bar to last lunch and dinner, plus a few healthy snacks and treats. It’s kind of an adventure, and it’s McDonald’s-like in that you know what you will get, when you go there. Predictable and better than wandering around town hoping to find some reasonably non-toxic grub. At WFM, you always know you’re going to have a fabulous organic salad bar.

Last week a guy in Colorado wrote me, to kinda long-distance ask me out. Between Email #1 and Email #2, he’d bought my book, read part of it, bought a Blendtec, and made his kids green smoothies. (Now THAT is a guy I could marry. If it weren’t for the Colorado part.)

(Once I almost DID marry a guy whose very first email to me was, “I see a photo of you with a Blendtec—I have one too and love it!” Love at first email! We dated for a long time and I fell madly in love with him.)

Anyway, the point is, I probably won’t ever even meet Colorado guy, but meantime he is getting his family healthier with some simple, time-saving tricks.

After we left the GSG reader’s husband in the Detroit airport, we did a quick five-minute survey of what was available in the airport restaurants.

Check out Shari, traveling with me in Kristin’s stead, with the carrot / celery juice I found, along with a veggie/hummus wrap. Who’da thought such options would exist in a city known for making cars!

I also found a juice bar and had a wheat grass shot in the AMSTERDAM airport, and had another giant glass of made-to-order fresh carrot-celery juice in DOWNTOWN PRAGUE. That’s right, in the Czech Republic! Where a tour guide told us, “Our national vegetable is pork.”

These finds make me happy. They make me feel at home while traveling. Veggie juice is my “comfort food.”

The point is, look around a bit, and you’ll find something plant based, something whole, something that gives life rather than spends it. Anywhere in the world.

Posted in: Lifestyle, Whole Food