Thursday, November 15, 2007

Traveling While Vegan

Tomorrow morning I leave for Richmond, Virginia to visit with my Dad's side of the family (grandma, aunt, uncle, cousins, dad + Ann, brother + Rachel). I'm really excited to see them all because I rarely get to visit with this side of the extended family. But it always makes me nervous to travel.
I've stuffed my suitcase with instant hummus, clif bars, dried fruit and nuts, and satsuma oranges. I've mapped out several natural foods stores and a few veg-friendly restaurants in the city. My aunt even emailed me to get the specifics of what I can and can't eat.

I'm definitely nervous about being able to find plenty of quality foods to eat...but I'm more nervous about being an inconvenience to my family's gathering and making being vegan look like a hassle. Honestly, when I'm home I don't even think about being vegan that much. I'm surrounded by people who work at a co-op, so although I'm one of the few (only?) vegans who works there- It's pretty well accepted. I don't have to defend my diet at all!

But when I travel, I'm outside of my little co-op bubble. All of my experiences outside of the Twin Cities are very un-veg friendly. Perhaps because when I travel it's usually to Texas???? Anyways, I'm sure everything will be fine.

Jeez- reading this post you'd think I just turned veg last year! But my vegetarian anniversary is this week (15 years!) and I've been vegan for about 5 now. I love that my veg-anniversary is the week before Thanksgiving!

I'll be out of town for the next few days and I'm not sure if I'll have internet access. So...I swear I'll post extra when I get home.

4 comments:

Vegan_Noodle said...

Good luck traveling! I get pretty nervous when I travel as well, always bringing plenty with me just in case....
Texas isn't that bad! It's come a long way I guess. And it probably depends on where you visit. I'm going to post my list of "the good, bad, and ugly" restaurants in the Houston area sometime this month for veganmofo...hopefully that might help some folks out!

Laura said...

Have fun on your trip! You might be getting this message too late, but I went to law school in Richmond, so let me know if you'd like any info about restaurants or whatnot.

Mary Worrell said...

I visit Richmond often since it's an hour north of where I am. If you get hungry, make sure to visit Ellwood Thompson - it's a health food store and they have a great hot bar with great food. My best friend Stasia works there!

Also, Ipanema is an awesome veg/vegan restaurant if you're looking for a good dinner.

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

My parents and I ALWAYS bring food with us on trips, just in case; and we over-pack everything else as well, haha.

Have a wonderful trip in Richmond!! :0)