Hi everyone, hope you have had a great weekend! Today I have my second guest post on the theme of travel, staying healthy and managing a vegetarian / vegan diet. Today’s guest post is from the lovely Emma from Sweet Tooth Runner:
HELLO lovely readers!! I’m Emma and I blog over at Sweet Tooth Runner!
The lovely Laura asked me to write a guest post for her blog, which is SUCH an honour, because her blog is amazing and I LOVE it!! Anyways, my guest post is going to be all about how to stay healthy on your holidays!
I travel a LOT. Especially as a musician, I often go on tours, and went on one last month to Germany. You can read more about it here.
Like Laura, I’m a vegan, and that is something I do find VERY difficult when travelling, especially in Europe! This was the best meal I was served when in Spain:
A few veggies with a knob of butter on the side. Brilliant!
This was on the last night, but on the first night it was salad with chunks of chicken on it…!!
So Tip #1: Be prepared! I took a TON of food with me to Germany!
All the essentials for me (*cough DARK CHOCOLATE cough*) as well as vegan-friendly treats to share with other people, like biscuits and sweets. The highlights were snack bars, nuts, a pack of pitta bread, non-dairy milk cartons, and…
…10 sachets of oats!! They came in very useful in the meat-and-cheese heavy breakfast buffet!
I especially recommend taking healthy snack bars! They become an absolute LIFE saver, especially if like me you’re a vegan who needs to eat every few hours or you turn into a Hangry Beast!!
Tip #2: Try to get in workouts where you can! Okay, so this isn’t essential, but it certainly was for my sanity! Normally, I would’ve run, but at the time I was injured, and my hotel had no gym, so I made do with a room workout!
I’m telling ya, ‘luggage rows’ aren’t easy!
Before I left, I printed off a copy of this workout:
It’s a good workout! If you can though, running is a GREAT way to explore a new area, and hotel gyms are obviously a great place to get in a good workout too!
Tip #3: Carry a BIG bottle of water around with you!! Staying hydrated is SO important, especially if you’re wandering around sight-seeing for hours in a hot country! And drinks are usually pretty pricey if you’re staying in a popular tourist area! So giant reusable bottles of water are the BEST for this!
Tip #4: SLEEEEP!! This is something that I seriously don’t get enough of on ANY holiday, with early mornings and late nights….
Especially if there’s jetlag involved, getting some shut-eye whenever you can is SO important!! I’m not usually a napper, but on holidays, I nap whenever I can, because otherwise I know those 4 hours of shut-eye that I get at night are gonna catch up with me sooner or later!
And my final tip, try to eat as much healthy and fresh foods there as you can…
…because if you’re anything like me, holidays tend to be a time of consuming WAY too much sugar!
So getting in some fruit and veg balances it out and makes it all okay…right?
Thanks Emma! Those are great tips! Do you have any top tips for staying healthy whilst travelling?
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Great tips – I love the idea of luggage rows!
Awesome tips! I will be definitely taking a whole load of food with me when I go away in July!! :-)
Awesome post with amazing tips, thank you both girls:)LOL on that meal in Spain:)If you are ever going to the Czech republic, be prepared for something even worse:))
I’m so shocked by that ‘meal’ in Spain, that’s terrible!
Oat sachets are such a great idea though! I’m going to take lots of oats with me when I go away
It’s a bit different when you’re on tour, but on vacation I think you can get some great informal workouts in — like walking, hill climbing, swimming, badminton on the beach, etc. I tend to try and rely on those kinds of activities more.
Great advice on water too — I’m terrible for that as soon as I fall out of my normal routine!
Ack! What on Earth is that vegetable on the right hand side of the plate from Spain!?!? It looks like a tendril from a Dr. Who alien.
Great tips, but I’d expect nothing less from Emma :) And I’m eyeing those Hovis crackers: haven’t had those since I was a kid and now have a craving for them.
I’ve only been abroad once, to France with my school when I was veggie aged 12. They weren’t too bad but I was served fish quite a lot. There was an abundance of baguettes and chips consumed on that trip, yes seree. But I did have a very nice pizza there (in France, the irony!) and also a cucmber/mint/yoghurt salad that was made for me, so I can’t complain too much. I’ve heard Germany is the worst country to go to as a vegan but by the looks of it Spain isn’t far behind!
xxx
Jessica- that’s pickled white asparagus! They have it quite often in Spain. I’m half Spanish so I can imagine how hard it must be trying to be just vegetarian in Spain, let alone vegan! I hate the buffet breakfasts they have on the continent though, the bacon/ham is always gross and so much cheese! Why?! I swear by taking snack bars everywhere for breakfast.
I last visited Spain before I became a vegetarian and I swear to God when I got back was beginning to develop scurvy…
One of the ways I keep healthy on holiday is walking, walking, walking and more walking. It’s a great way to get to know the place as well.
Great tips! I always take healthy snacks away with me as then I know I won’t resort to eating rubbish and it saves money too. Most hotels seem to provide soy milk these days and I have been known to call ahead to check whether they’ll provide it (much to my family’s amusement!) x
absolutely love this feature, some great tips. Lovely post with some useful links!
urgh that plate from Spain is pretty disgusting looking :(
I haven’t been anywhere since I turned vegetarian (so I haven’t been tested yet, and haven’t just given up and buried myself in a rasher sandwich in frustration!)
I like to keep active- I walk or we hire bikes and stuff. I don’t actually work out though (not enough space in my case for all that)- I also like to go to the local shops to get stuff like banana’s, and I take a load of cereal bars with me. I also tell myself if I have a breakfast buffet that even though I have paid for it, I do not need to eat it all, and try to eat sensibly. But I also like to enjoy stuff and have a few treats, just not every meal and every day!
My eats in spain were slim. I’m pretty sure I had the same exact plate that Emma showed here. I was lucky to have a falafel place around the corner from my hostel where I could always eat!