Exploits of a Vegan Wannabe

Last September I wrote a post called Always Be Prepared. It was about a situation we found ourselves in at a family funeral in Toronto when we were stuck for hours and hours without a vegan morsel anywhere in sight. We ended up satiating our hunger with red wine until it was time to leave and then we (I) raided an overpriced olive and prepared foods bar and spent our mortgage equivalent on mediocre food.  We said, “Never again will we be unprepared to nourish ourselves in any circumstance.”

Many of you shared your travel tips and I have been grateful ever since.  One of them was to carry Lara bars. At the time, I had never tasted a Lara bar and  had not yet realized that they would become a more critical travel companion than my passport. We also learned about HappyCow, the  online directory where you can type in any destination and they will show you veg and vegan friendly health food stores and restaurants in that area. Fantastic.

So, on Friday we were again headed to Canada for a family funeral. Before we left I packed my purse full of Lara Bars, nuts, freeze dried fruit and my favorite pretzels. I also had the name, address and phone number of a vegan friendly restaurant five minutes away from the church where the (not-so vegan friendly) wake was held. We ate our Lara Bars and freeze dried fruit on the drive to the wake. Because we had a snack, we were fine when we arrived and realized that the only vegan thing in the building was hot tea and bread and butter pickles.

We had a really nice visit with family then headed out for our Canadian vegan adventure. We went to the restaurant I had found on Happy Cow, had a beautiful vegan lunch, changed into shorts and took the long way back to the U.S. via the wine route.

We even found the most tantalizing vegan truffles in a store in Chatham, Ontario.  Because I came  prepared with snacks and a dining plan we were able to relax, have a great visit and spend the rest of the day exploring small Canadian towns.

Thinking back to last year I realized that because of your comments and tips I was able to implement a few easy suggestions that had a major impact on my experience. Small steps creating great change. We were able to nourish ourselves compassionately while travelling and moving gracefully through a situation where we were not in control of the food being provided. Thank you for always giving your wonderful ideas and for sharing in the journey. It really is more fun and helpful with friends.

Have a delicious day.

Canadian flag image courtesty of www.elcivics.com

Tags: compassionate eating, dairy free, going veg, Happy Cow, HappyCow, plant based diet, trying vegan, trying vegetarian, vegan, vegan challenge, vegan experience, vegan transition, vegan travel, vegan wannabe, vegetarian transition