Are trips the best or worst time to change eating habits? I read an article by Dan Buettner, and it had me revisiting my ongoing, though inconsistent, desire to eat vegetarian. I’m compelled to try, but since we leave for our summer trip to Asia in a few days, the timing’s not so great…or is it? Instead of putting of my transition to meatless for another three months, I’ve decided to use the trip to my advantage.
Here are five reasons why it’s easier to change eating habits on a trip.
- Travel gives real time distance from eating routines, typical menus, and favorite restaurants. Time away makes it easier to break from the foods you want to eliminate. You’ll return from your trip equipped with new attitudes and habits about eating.
Local produce prepared in the mountains of Albania. - Travel eating naturally involves new and unfamiliar foods. There are endless opportunities to experiment with new healthy options.
Mumbai, India - More restaurants with more variety, more frequently. Use this to your advantage. When we cook at home there are often dishes the family wants that I want to avoid. In a restaurant setting, I order exactly what I’m interested in, separate from the group.
Freshly made pasta and with garden veggies on the Amalfi Coast, Italy. - Food from scratch. In many parts of the world cooking happens with local ingredients, not processed and packaged. This is one of my favorite parts of traveling in Asia, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and always a great reminder for me to do more of the same when I return home.
market in Southern France 
Our local grocery in Jaco, Costa Rica. - Not all countries have bacon. So, go to those countries if you want to be vegetarian. It’s your only hope, really.
We’ll see if any of the above theories are true.
I ate vegetarian for a summer when our youngest stopped eating meat and wanted company. I did that for her, not me. This time I’m interested in doing it for me. Originally I was considering a transitional approach, not eating red meat first, then the white. But now I’ve decided that the trip is the perfect time to switch cold turkey, ha! I doubt vegan will ever be in the cards for me since I’m way too attached to the bricks of feta the Greeks put on salads, grilled cheese havarti sandwiches, aged white cheddar, and anything else that calls itself a cheese. I can’t fathom happiness without that. And I may or may not have also decided that when we visit France, mussels are a cheese.
