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Effective WFPB Eating While Traveling

As you have been following my posts on social media on my trip, you can see how effective WFPB eating while traveling requires planning.

A perfect example is my anticipation of food for Sunday, which I failed to account for is that Viennese groceries are closed. I sprang for the 35 Euro entrance to the Austrian Air business lounge: salad with huge black beans, sauerkraut and white fig balsamic (added peanuts); an apple as a airline offered snack en route!! Much to my delight the salad bar at the Chateau offered much in the way of raw veggies, again with white balsamic. More bread than typical, but potatoes always clothed in butter/cheese and I need some starch. The bread here is fabulous, and I am walking it off!

Plantstock 2019
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Plantstock 2019

My journey as a WFPB advocate began at Plantstock 2016.  This year’s event was my fourth in a row! During those three full years, I have lost over 50 pounds, become as fit as I’ve ever been and completely shifted my lifestyle.

Every year I say the same thing and I’m always right:  this was the best event I’ve ever attended!  It continues to improve.  What made it even better this year?

The Black Mountain facility was ours alone.  We did not have to share space, parking or food service with another group. This contributed to a more peaceful atmosphere and  eased parking and shuttling items to/from cars.

The schedule was designed to provide three choices of programming for each of five time slots.  This broke up the crowd, got us moving between sessions (with 15 minute breaks) and we were able to choose among many worthwhile options.

As a result I missed two thirds of the choices, so I  purchased the just released video streaming coverage at Teachable.com. To access click here https://bit.ly/31Mhrsa.  It is well worth the additional investment covering all but two of the presentations.

There was a sense of impending breakthrough this year:  “The Game Changers” film (https://gamechangersmovie.com/) is scheduled for release on September 16, which will create more buzz about the WFPB connection to optimal health and athletic performance.

During his remarks, John Mackey (CEO Whole Foods) was quite optimistic about the implications of current national interventions like The Blue Zones, and Team Sherzai’s work on Dementia and Alzheimer’s.  Finally, Burger King introduced a plant based burger to all of its 6700 U.S. locations the week of August 1st.

I can’t seem to get enough of the Engine2 magic.  I signed up for my 5th Plantstock to be held in Black Mountain, N.C., August 14-16, 2020.

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Finding Compatible WFPB Travel Companions Part 2

Finding Compatible WFPB Travel Companions
Part 2 
Among my travel companions, many of us have adopted a Whole Foods Plant Based Lifestyle. (WFPB)  This is the combination of plant based nutrition with limited or no salt, sugar or added oils.
We seek like minded travel companionship as it’s easier to plan and prepare for a few, than for a solo traveler.  We also seek to connect with those who have similar ideals because it limits our ability to find the right mix of self catering and targeted restaurants.  Dietary differences can lead to conflict.
Here are some criteria for WFPB travel compatibility.  Much of the success/failure of adopting a lifestyle change can be attributed to a few predictable personality traits.
Intellect:  Does the person have the intellect to understand the benefits of changing to or maintaining their WFPB lifestyle?  Can they postpone/delay gratification for the requisite 2-4 weeks needed to forge new habits?  Do they grasp the longer term but highly predictable future state of their health if they hang onto the typical traditions and patterns of the SAD (Standard American Diet) (e.g. diabetes, heart disease, cancer)
Social conformity:  Does this individual feel compelled to “go along to get along” in their social circles?  Do they cringe at the thought of not eating what is served them, or worse, asking for what they need/want in advance?  Will their lack of resolve tempt you to make choices you try to avoid?
Problem solving:  Can he/she anticipate future events and possible outcomes and make immediate contingency plans?   If not, are they sufficiently trustful of your experience to let you take the lead on those occasions or will they attempt to second guess or out-smart?   Would they end up getting on the right train heading in the wrong direction?
Planning:  Does this person anticipate the likelihood of late day hunger, arriving at a destination where there are no restaurants open or being on a delayed flight where the only options are packaged junk?  Are they prepared by having ideal food choices with them or does this become another excuse for reverting to SAD?  Or creating unnecessary group drama due to lack of preparation?
Compatibility Test #2:  How well do your “scores” on this list of criteria match up with those you are considering as travel companions?  Food choices are a major part of every day, and traveling requires more advance planning than  home life.  How willing are you to become the responsible one, the default “tour guide” if others don’t anticipate and  plan in ways similar to your’s?
Traveling with Friends
Long term friends can often become compatible travel partners but it’s not a guarantee.  For those with whom I have traveled we have almost a secret language.  Plans are made in advance but the option to change and flex is always present.  There is no pressure to “keep moving and see it all” as we know that the ideal day is a sampling of choices, paired with a good mid day meal and the option to slow down for a couple of hours when needed (those siestas have their place!)  We often factor in movies or film events at museums as a way to take a breather.  If someone needs to drop out for any reason, the attitude is always one of acceptance.
Compatibility Test #3:  Have you discussed planning for the events of the day/days/weeks that you will be traveling?  Do you have similar views on how much to see, how long to spend in any museum or sites that will meet your collective needs?  Are you all similarly punctual?  Have you reviewed a comprehensive list of potential activities and roughed out a general outline of possibilities factoring in days of the week (most museums closed Monday or Tuesday) and the need for advance purchase tickets?
Are you traveling with the concept of being “friends” when you might be better off using a roommate model?  Friends feel compelled to do everything together; room mates make some together plans along with sufficient solo or dyad plans to break it up?
If you are heading to London, have you looked up the dates for “half-term” school holidays when museums and attractions are bursting with locals keeping their children occupied?  Looked at Bank Holidays for additional closures?  Most attraction websites will list closures.  A quick “school holidays target city” will help you avoid travel when school is out.
Reviewing this list its easy for me to understand why so many friends have dubbed me “an excellent planner” when I think of myself as horrible on detail.  What they might mean is that I’m strong on anticipation and optimization in the moment and for that I agree.  I leave the details to tripit.com or the ever handy spreadsheet.  Or my great virtual assistant Kim with whom I have joyfully worked for years!
Finding WFPB compatible travel partners is a long term goal.  If you resonate with Traveling Plant Powered and our topics, follow me on social media. On Instagram @travelingplantpowered. 
Watch for posts of future destinations in 2020.  I already know where I’ll be in late June and early July 2020. Lets connect. I welcome your comments. Happy Traveling! 
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Tips for Finding Optimal Travel Friendships

Part I.
One early Summer’s eve about eight years ago I mulled the long sundown.  Due to a recent break up, my boy friend was absent and I had decided to take the expensive trip anyway… I had paid for it.  The thought struck me of the likelihood of at least 100 English speaking travelers in the same situation: sitting in their rooms all across Stockholm viewing their travel time as unplanned and as solitary as mine. How could we connect for companionship and shared experiences?
At the time, MeetUp was a fairly new concept, cheaper and less cumbersome than today’s version.  On impulse I signed up as an “organizer” and titled my group “Women with Time and Means to Travel.”  I set the first meeting for 6 weeks hence with the only limit being– that no travel agents were welcome; this group was going to be about defining our own trips.  My first clue that this would be a challenging venture was clear as the last to introduce herself during that meeting conveyed the promise, “I am a travel agent and I am here to capture all of your business.”  A harbinger of what was to come.
Social connections are often fraught with conflict.  My years as a corporate coach and feedback provider taught me that 50% of the corporate population are deficient in the skill of conflict management.  So many of my one on one sessions evolved to become problem solving oriented—around the “learner’s” immediate conflict situations and what to do/how to handle them.  Sometimes, it got to the point of scripting with an occasional move to role playing.
Looking back, I was naive to think that a public group would provide much other than ongoing conflict.  Our first trip was traveling to Costa Rica. Eight of us collaborated on when, where and how to get around the countryside .  I’ll spare you the details but here are some lessons learned:
Compatibility Test #1:  Do potential travel partners drink to the same degree as you do? Pay attention to any differences, as the stress of travel will magnify them.  Will their drinking result in groggy mornings to the point of delaying the rest of the group? Test this possibility by having a few social engagements before you fly.
If the first thing they discuss is how to buy liquor at duty free shops, and ask at every stop “when does the bar open?” you may have a few alcoholics on your hands.
In my experience, alcoholics under the pressure and uncertainty of travel can quickly become verbally abusive.  Everything becomes someone else’s fault. And their groggy mornings are almost a guarantee.
Stay tuned for next installment on finding travel companions.
Fall Marathon Travelogue
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Fall Marathon Travelogue

The marathon trip I am planning this fall (October 1-November 9) is actually several sequential “trips”.  Read on to learn how it all got started.  

A few months ago, I was happily planning a 15 day trip to Germany and the Netherlands.  The central planning point was purchase of a river cruise passage from Mainz to Amsterdam (7 days).  My favorite flight to Frankfurt (#71 from DFW) Add in 3 nights in Mainz (20 min from FRA) to time adjust in advance, another 3 in Amsterdam at cruise conclusion to see those sights again, a train to Frankfurt, an overnight at the airport and flight home.  Easy peasy! Right?

Finally, my persistence at finding vegan river cruises turned up another one. 

The company is called   Vegan-cruises.com.  They are sponsoring a trip from Lyon to Lyon seeing the sights of Provence a region,  as yet unseen by me. I queried several friends thinking there is no way that anyone will want to do this (although November 1-8 is the start of the travel dead weeks this year).  And guess what?  There are now 5 of us going RT Lyon with three spending four advance days in Paris.  I switched my return from Frankfurt to a later, cheaper flight. (November rates) This means that rather than the typical $500 change fee for international travel, the rate is only $178.

I pondered for about 30 minutes;  do I purchase a reverse round trip and head all the way back to Austin for the intervening 2.5 weeks? Or should I stick around in Europe?  Since the cost of a business class roundtrip ticket would surpass the expense of staying abroad it was an easy choice.  But now…how do I spend that time? The answer was hiding in plain sight.  

As the executor of my mom’s estate (she passed in December 2004), I retain a few boxes with ancient family photos and the like.  By chance, I happened to open one of the boxes recently and found the cigar box of postcards she had saved for decades.  Inside there are about 20 dated cards, with my tiny writing which chronicle the stops I made as a college student taking a “gap year” (we didn’t call it that). I felt entitled to take my year off as I had graduated high school a year early.

Those cards were Mom’s idea.  I vividly remember her suggestion that I send cards rather than “keep a diary as you’ll just lose it”.  Instead “send us post cards and I’ll keep them for you…you will probably want to read them again some time.”

Those post cards will now form the framework of my 2.5 weeks in Europe between cruises.  While I won’t be able to revisit very many places, I am planning on visiting a few that were most relevant to that first ever solitary trip.  If ever there was a dividing point between teen and adult identity that was it for me.

This is a long way of getting to the first question inherent to the planning of any trip.  Why are you going?  Since there are 3 “sub-trips” that will span these 2.5 weeks, I will address each one in a separate post.

Vienna: Vienna was the home town of my high school exchange student Inge Piffel.  Her presence prompted so many actions then and subsequently– to my life thus far.  We maintained a relationship throughout our adult lives last seeing each other in November 2011.  Sadly, she passed away as a result of ovarian cancer on Christmas Eve, five years ago.  I have since stayed in touch with her widower Erich. 

My agenda for Vienna is to view and scan photos from Inge’s collection as well as revisit some of the memorable sights that I now appreciate in a different way.  I plan on staying in the Aldstat area. It has a reputation now as the locale of hipsters– including numerous vegan and vegetarian restaurants with high marks on social media.  Since I am comfortable with public transit, I ‘ll find an AirBNB that enables easy access to the U2 tram line that begins downtown and terminates not far from where Erich now resides.

Celigny, Switzerland:  Erich has all of Inge’s photos from her visit to the US as well as her time at Chateau de Bossy where she worked as a bi-lingual secretary after returning from a year in California.  Given her role at this international conference center, she obtained a two month position for me as a kitchen helper and room cleaner. Not sure what my official title was, but that job allowed me to stay in Switzerland.

It was the start of my first international trip of which I have so many vivid memories.  I plan on writing to the management about my desire to return and tour the facilities. I wonder if they will seem small? I don’t think they are much altered.  The chateau now rents tourist rooms in addition to conference space.  I was delighted to see “my room” on their website.

 Somewhere in this region of Western Swizterland, I’ll secure a  home base with day trips to the many places I visited while there as a 20 year old.

Lyon, France: The conclusion of my solitary sojourn has my arrival in Lyon a few days ahead of my travel companions.  There, I will focus on the Roman origins of the city as well as sampling the excellent vegan cuisine on offer.  And perhaps some rest and recording of my impressions and insights from the wealth of stimulating visits prior to landing in Lyon. 

As the self-avowed culinary capital of France, I was delighted to learn of many vegan restaurants with high marks.  As is true of Vienna, I will be writing to many in advance (using Google translate) as a means to pre-connect with other plant based thrivers and to see where that initiative takes me.  

If there was one thing I learned in my “gap year” it was the power of initiative.  It set me up for a lifetime of achievement and success.  Stay tuned …

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Vegan Summerfest

I am officially a big fan of Vegan Summerfest, Johnstown, PA. This was the 45th year and there are many positive features:  a broad and eclectic mix of speakers and programs that run for 5 days, 6 a.m. till 10 p.m.  Speaker topics range from How to work with a restaurant to offer a vegan group dinner to Michael Greger M.D. fine tuning his newest topics in the place he credits with getting him started. It’s not just speakers:  Nia Movement, Line Dancing, Yoga, Bird watching and star tracking (the one that starts at 9 p.m.)  Food demos from acclaimed vegan chefs as well as those less well known but with worthy tips to offer.

The best part is the food!  I met more than one who attends for just that reason.  Several days of some of the best vegan options I’ve ever seen.  The raw “bar” was the most intriguing and included delicacies such as raw zucchini noodles with thai spiced sauce, Crispy tacos with nut meat and all the trimmings to name a few of my favorites. I used the WFPB no SOS line as much as I could, and moderated my dips into the Vegan line choices.  I don’t know who their chef is, but to manage that range and quality for 5 days of 3 types of choices sure got my attention.  First rate effort!

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New Jet Lag App

Timeshifter-175x350

Jet lag is a nuisance when crossing more than a couple of time zones. Since neuroscience evidence continues to define sleep quality as paramount for well being, I always strive to experience as little sleep disruption as possible. As a frequent traveler I can offer 2 remedies.

This “how to sleep anywhere” description is sound and based on years of research by military and commercial aviation providers.  I have used these techniques (along with eye shades, noise cancelling headphones worn over ear plugs and padded eyeshades, a light blanket or jacket used as one) to great success.  I can fall sleep just about anywhere as long as I have a blanket for the drop in body temperature. 

But what to do about the jet lag once you arrive at your destination?  For trips with more than 2 zones of time difference I always use No Jet Lag. It is a homeopathic remedy available online. It was recommended by a fellow cruiser on a trip through Southeast Asia and I’ve used it ever since.  Used exactly as directed, I’ve found it eliminates about half of the time required to adjust to a new time zone.  It’s in my carry on for every overseas trip!

A new app called Time Shifter offers one free use and then a $25 annual subscription.  I will be using using my freebie the next time I cross the pond to see how much additional insight it provides on pre-during and post-arrival tactics.  I’ll report on that in October.  But, for now try these listed let me know how they work for you. 

https://bit.ly/2FNbT8o