How To Eat Healthy While Traveling
How To Eat Healthy While Traveling
I have shared a few of my favorite generic travel tips. Now I’d like to talk to you about how I have been able to stay healthy while traveling full-time around the USA in our Airstream Trailer.
I’d like to say that I always prepared healthy, nutritious meals in the Airstream’s tiny kitchen on a daily basis. The truth is, I rarely cooked! We drove long hours or spent most of our time seeing the sights, so cooking didn’t happen very often. Because of my gluten and dairy allergies, my dining out options are kind of limited.
We would usually eat our main meal out every day. I would google search for gluten-free options in nearby towns. I usually found at least somewhere that had some kind of option. Usually it was a salad (hold the cheese, croutons, & sometimes the dressing because it wasn’t dairy-free). My go-to was a mixed green salad with a vinaigrette. Sometimes, if it was available, I would add a piece of grilled chicken or grass-fed lean beef. On the very rare occasion that we were in grass-fed cattle country, I would eat a delicious burger, protein style (lettuce bun). I actually had my first Beyond Burger on the road and it was amazing!
We would start every day with a delicious, healthy protein enriched smoothie. My favorite was Vanilla Complete, Good Karma flax milk (if I could find it, otherwise, oat milk or coconut milk), my plant concentrates, frozen blueberries, and a heaping tablespoon of sunflower nut butter all blended together. Sometimes, for variety, I would use tropical fruits instead of blueberries. Almond or peanut butter are options, too if you can eat them.
If we were parked for a few days, I would sometimes make breakfast of eggs, pancakes for my hubby (I’m not a big pancake eater), and avocado toast for me.
I would often then pack a small cooler with snacks, protein bars, apples, carrots, hummus or guacamole, some “healthy” chips, or gluten free pretzels. I loved popcorn, too, but it was kind of messy in the truck...Or, I should say I was kind of messy with it! If we found a good deli on the road, I would make sandwiches (mine on gf bread) to eat while driving.
It was interesting that I had the most difficulty finding healthy foods in the midwest. I would have thought the south would be the most challenging but it wasn’t. It was hard to find lightly steamed, fresh veggies even. Most restaurants tended to use frozen veggie blends. Or if they were fresh, they were horribly overcooked! And serving sizes were huge. Why do people think they have to eat a massive plate full of food?? Mexican restaurants were plentiful almost everywhere and they are a fairly safe option. Just order tacos on corn tortillas with no cheese or sour cream. Watch out for the beans and rice. The beans often have cheese and rice can have gluten in the seasonings! Thai restaurants are also a good bet to be gluten & dairy-free. (Just ask your server when you order.)
In the afternoon, if we got parked and settled early, I would make another smoothie. This time it was my go-to afternoon pick-me-up of Chocolate Complete, with the same milk, a teaspoon of raw cacao powder (I like dark chocolate!), frozen banana, and a heaping teaspoon of cashew butter. YUM!! Like a chocolate peanut butter milkshake. Sometimes I would add frozen strawberries to it for something different.
I tried to not snack too much in the evening. If I did, it was usually non-GMO popcorn, chips and salsa/guacamole, or, occasionally I would splurge on a pint of coconut milk “ice cream”.
Eating the way we did wasn’t ideal, but we did the best we could. We were occasionally delighted to find a really good restaurant with farm to table fresh, healthy options. Yay for farm to table!!
We bridged the gap with our whole food plant concentrates and both of us managed to stay healthy the entire year. Not one cold, sniffle, or stomach bug. That is pretty impressive since we were in 40 different states, innumerable touristy areas full of people from all over the world, and eating out almost every single day.
We drank lots of water while on the road and when out exploring. We slept at least 7-8 hours almost every night, and most of the time we slept like logs because we were so tired from the day's explorations!
It is possible to stay healthy while traveling. It just takes a little planning and being mindful. Stay hydrated, rested, and eat your plants!!
