Discussion Board

I have had several requests to discuss travel tips, including related to air travel, extended travel, hotels, etc etc

I think it is a great idea.

As I put my thoughts and experiences together, I though I would also ask you to share any tips/tricks you have used in travel.

Keep the the posts "on topic" to personal tips/tricks that you use and your own personal experiences you have had and not debates/discussions over the program, or other issues, etc etc.

Thanks!

In Health
Jeff

My husband travels for business occasionally. He eats the regular McDougall plan and limits nuts/seeds to about 1oz per day, and bread to about 3 slices of ezekiel bread per day.

For business trips, we usually do some version of the following:

Pack food for the flight/airport:
bag of raw veggies
apple
sandwich of banana, a touch of almond butter, and Ezekiel bread
homemade granola bars (made of bananas, applesauce, rolled oats, and spices)
a bag of walnuts and raisins

He'll also pick up fruit at the airport if it's available and he's hungry.

Items for his suitcase when he flies:
can opener (in case he can get to a grocery store for beans etc.)
a few plastic spoons and forks
ziploc bags
Mcdougall soup cups (we choose the ones without refined ingredients and empty them into ziploc bags to eliminate wasted space. He uses the coffee maker in his room to rehydrate them)
several bags of walnuts/raisins
several bags of home-made granola bars

He tends to stay at places with continental breakfasts and is able to get oatmeal made with water, and fruit each morning. For lunch, he will eat subway, or eat a few potatoes and a salad at a restaurant. He snacks on the granola bars and walnut/raisin mix we packed. At night, he eats a couple of McDougall soup cups.

He'll stop and get bananas, apples, cans of beans and salsa, and veggies at a grocery store if it's feasible.

If he's driving, he'll pack the following:
can opener
a few plastic spoons and forks
ziploc bags
a few brown lunch bags
Mcdougall soup cups (we choose the ones without refined ingredients and empty them into ziploc bags to eliminate wasted space. He uses the coffee maker in his room to rehydrate them)
several bags of walnuts/raisins
several bags of home-made granola bars
a few cans of no-salt beans
a few jars of salsa
a can of corn
bag of whole grain, oil free buns from our local bakery
A jar of almond butter
apples
bananas
carrots

For breakfast, he'll eat oatmeal and fruit at the hotel. For lunch, he'll often pack a sandwich, granola bars, walnut/raisin mix, and some fruit and veggies. For dinner, he'll often eat a can of beans mixed with salsa, and a McDougall soup cup.

It's obviously easiest when he drives for business, since we can prepare all the food at home. When he flies, it's often difficult for him to get to a grocery store to get extra food, so he relies heavily on the granola bars (i send a lot along) and sometimes eats extra walnuts/raisins throughout the day to limit how much McDougall-friendly food he needs to find throughout the day.

Overall, it works out pretty well for him.

AIR TRAVEL: I usually take with me 3-4 cold nuked Yukon gold potatoes, 1-2 pieces of fruit that travels well (apples!), and 2-3 of the McDougall Right Foods soup cups. All this stuff is non-liquid so TSA doesn't care about it. I can get hot water added to the soup by the flight attendant or by the folks at Starbucks in the terminal. I usually plan to supplement this w/ a plain salad in the terminal if I have a layover, but I take enough food so that if I can't find one I'm OK. What's listed below covers me for lunch and snacks (with an extra soup cup "just in case") for a normal 6-8 hour flying day (I have a big breakfast before leaving --if that's not possible, add in some McDougall oatmeal bowls or make your own--old fashioned oats, frozen fruit, and spices in a Tupperware container--add hot water, wait, and eat!).

This is a thread from fall about how I pack for us when traveling by air. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=25798

I don't always want the hotel breakfast so I take with me packets of oatmeal that I have already prepared with cinammon and dried fruit. Then I just soak the oats overnight in either soy milk or apple juice with water and eat them cold.
It doesn't sound great but they really taste lovely and don't take up much room in my case.

I haven't travelled much, but for vacations we always try to get a hotel with a mini kitchen and we locate the nearest grocery store. We always did this even when we were just plain old vegans. It's nice to be able to make your own meals on vacay. You don't feel stuffed on restaurant food all the time and it saves you a bundle.

I travel quite a bit for work by car and usually in areas where it is hard to find anything but iceberg lettuce, even in the grocery stores and the 'salad bars" all feature chocolate pudding.

I carry my own food and a cooler. I try to put stuff in bags rather than containers so I don't have the bulk and mess of empty containers in the car. I also try to stay in hotels that have a fridge and microwave so I can heat things up. And, I carry some utensils to eat with - or stay at a hotel with a complimentary breakfast so I can raid their paper plate, bowl and silverware supplies!

Breakfast: oatmeal, fresh fruit or grain bars I make at home (millet bars from one of the McDougall books and oatmeal bars from the Happy Herbivore books). Lunch: If I have to eat out, I try to go to a steakhouse because I can always get a baked potato, dry salad and steamed veggies there. I don't much care for salad dressing, so I just eat the salad dry -- ask them to put on all the fresh veggies they have back in the kitchen. Dinner: I usually bring something from home or go the steakhouse route. I also carry bags of fresh green leafy veg to eat in the car or for snacks - bagged salad romaine is crunchy and a little salty and travels remarkably well. Carrots that I cut up at home travel well, too. Throw in a couple of Nalgene bottles full of water from home and I am set!

Sharon

While traveling by plane, I always make hummus using chi chi beans and cannellini beans mashed together (no tahini) and spread the mix on pita bread halves. Just found another recipe using kidney beans mashed up with salsa and a little tomato paste and onions, also on pita bread. Pack a couple of apples in my handbag and put the bag of pita sandwiches in my back pack and take out and put under the seat on the plane. Not exciting but filling, light weight and reliable and I don't have to buy anything in the airport or on the plane.

Didi

We enjoy modified recipes from Vegan Unplugged and now Jeff's videos on the road. We save about $20-70 per meal over restaurant meals. Plus, the food is better. Plus, I am never surprised or made ill with hidden ingredients.

On our last road trip, I put each meals cans and dehydrated products into small parcels, labeled with the name of the meal. Since we have a tiny car, we stuffed the parcels between and beside stuff. We also take a couple bags of apples to munch between meals. We eat yummy, hot, 'home cooked' meals. We stopped at the grocer for green smoothie supplies, when we can found an outlet for the blender. Twice we ate out and regretted the decision each time. The prices and portions don't match up; veggie sushi out is expensive and too little to fill one up. Plus, my huge tummy testified that the Mexican place put soy or wheat in something.

I think my favorite parts of this choice are the nice 30 minute stops in the sun (a cure for cranky children and adults alike) and the funny looks we get. I pull out my supplies and produce something amazing. Once a woman sat in her car watching my show the whole time we were preparing, eating, and cleaning up at the rest stop. I wanted to offer her some delicious curry, since I made more than we could eat. Another time it was delightful to visit with an Indian woman complete with sari, while I waited for her to clean up her curry pot. Even though she knew little English and I know no Hindustani, we enjoyed our tiny moment of comradery at the faucet.

This works differently in winter. We have to cook everything in the morning in the hotel room and put the food in a thermal cooker behind the back seat. But it still works. So...the money we save, eating safe and nutritious foods we love, pays for our hotel rooms. What do you think about that?

Grammy Ginger, that sounds amazing! I'd live to know more specifics... What recipes/ingredients travel the best, how you rehydrate them, what specific equipment you use. Like do you bring a camp stove, or what?

The thing that is so appealing about your approach is that I could imagine making many trips' worth of meal "packets" at a time and sealing them in vacuum bags; thus cutting way down on the preparation for each individual trip.

So, "tell me more, tell me more"!

@didi -- what are chi chi beans? I Googled them and still can't quite tell.

@Grammy Ginger -- that sounds fantastic! I have a road trip coming up in August, so now I'm thinking of how to integrate some of your ideas. Thanks!

chi chi beans are garbanzo beans. You didn't grow up in an Italian household did you? And the cannellini beans are white kidney beans and I use them because they are soft and someone on the group once suggested you mix them with the garbanzos instead of the tahini. I use jarred jalepeno and drain and rinse off the salt.

Didi

I'm just copying this post by Marmoset from another thread because it is great to have here!
_______________

Wow, three weeks. That's a long time to be in a hotel by the airport. If I were you, I would try to do the following:

When you arrive, take a cab or bus to the nearest grocery store and buy the following:
--Rolled oats
--Potatoes
--Canned black beans
--Canned chickpeas
--Canned diced tomatoes
--Lentils
--Salsa
--Pre-cooked or frozen brown rice (if possible; Trader Joe's carries this, other markets might also)
--Frozen veggies
--Canned vegan chili (if you can find any that's super low in fat)
--Any and all fruit and fresh veggies that look good.

Bring with you:
Can opener
Spoons
Ziplock bags
Spices (including chili powder, curry powder, etc.), nutritional yeast (if you use/like it)

Potatoes cook very well in the microwave and then keep well in the fridge in ziplock bags. They make really good snacks.

I would make oatmeal every morning and eat some fruit.
For lunch I would do the best I could at the cafeteria to have a big salad and whatever else looked decent. (I'd probably bring a cold cooked potato with me as well.)

For dinner you could make the following things:
--Curried lentils over rice w/ veggies
--Black beans and salsa over baked potatoes w/ veggies
--Chickpeas and tomatoes (possibly curried?) over rice or potatoes
--Steamed veggies with noochy-mashed potatoes

Good luck!
Marmoset

Great thread. I travel on business sometimes - as well as for pleasure.

If at all possible - stay at a place that offers a continental breakfast. You can load up on oatmeal and fruit... maybe some toast as well.

We like to stay at a place with a kitchen if at all possible for extended stays.... this really helps with meal prep.

Far as meals on the go - I like to take a small cooler with me to the airport - I bring a fresh salad with chickpeas. Then also - some potatoes... they are fine cold... all I have to buy is some water to drink.

If we are driving... we pack a huge cooler... plenty of fruit, salad, and cold root vegs... its really easy.

When we eat out.... we keep it low fat vegan as a priority. If we have to white rice, or refined pasta... that is OK - just have a salad and steamed vegs with it. Normally... we have potatoes... it does not seem to be much of a problem to find something to eat... even Wendys will serve you a plain baked potato. The can opener is a really good idea... if you get in a real jam... you can always nab fruit, lettuce, tortillas, and some beans at any grocery store.....

I saw a video recently by Doug Lisle (here at TrueNorth).. and he talks about grading our food choices. Refined carbs I believe he graded at about C+ or B-. If you have to ... eat some of them... have a toast with jam.... or some plain pasta... throw in some steamed vegs, fruit, or a salad... and get outta there with a B.... and you have done well.... I thought that was really good advice.

I generally have overnight or 2 day business trips by air. I do not check my bags. Will these items pass through security? Would a can-opener? Thanks.