My husband and I have traveled a lot in the last 4 years, so we’ve gotten creative with how to eat healthy and nearly 100% raw while we’re on the road- plane, train, boat, automobile…. you name it!

Here are some tips and tricks we’ve been using to keep ourselves healthy and happy wherever we are!

Inevitably, we’ll be eating a fair amount salad while we’re on the road.  So, to make those salads interesting, substantial and delicious, we bring some light weight salad condiments that we love.

• “Just Peas” is a freeze dried vegetable product- literally, freeze dried peas! that make a delicious crouton substitute and great addition to any salad.
• We also LOVE “Spirulina Crunchies” made by VivaPura (available from www.vivapura.com).  Spirulina is a protein rich blue-green algae that we really enjoy.  It gives the salad a great texture and taste, and the nutrition is out of this world!  High in protein, chlorophyl and crunch!
• Hemp seeds are also a fantastic salad, soup, or granola topper, and they’re also delicious by the handful as a snack.  Hemp seeds have a perfect balance of fats, proteins and carbohydrates, making them a true superfood.  One of my favorite things!
• “Sea Seasonings” are seaweed flakes in little shaker bottles- delicious toppings for salads, soups, and anything savory.  I’ve seen a few different flavor combinations, and love them all- kelp with cayenne, dulse with garlic, or three seaweed blend.  I love this product.
• Chia seeds are another favorite of mine.  High in omega-3 fats, and perfect for when you need a little energy on the go, I’ll add them to a salad, a smoothie, or to garnish a blended soup.
• Often I’ll soak and dehydrate sunflower and pumpkin seeds to travel with.  They make a great grab-n-go snack, and a fantastic and filling topping to any salad or soup.  Before dehydrating, I season them with high mineral salt, or some other creative and tasty recipe.  The perfect travel food!

When we’re traveling by plane, or won’t be staying with friends who own a high-powered blender, we bring our own travel sized version with us.  “Tribest” makes a fantastic and powerful travel sized blender that packs small but doesn’t disappoint with it’s performance.  We have a travel case for it, and several different sized carafes that double as cups to drink out of.  A great investment.

Snacks are key when traveling long distances by plane, car, or other form of transportation.  But with the security restrictions, it can feel like the only option is to pack a bunch of raw energy bars into your carry-on.  On occasion, I’m a fan of these bars.  But after a while I get really tired of eating nuts and heavier raw foods.  I like to pack chopped celery, carrot and red or yellow bell peppers.  Apples, oranges, grapes and bananas also pack well.

We also purchase individual nut butter packs by Artisana- perfect for topping celery sticks and apple slices.  I’ll also use these as a base for creamy soup, or salad dressing- recipes that the “Tribest” or a friend’s high-powered blender comes in handy for.  In a pinch, these nut butter packs also make great nut milks- just add water to blend, no need for a nut milk bag to strain the pulp away

I do make some snack foods and raw food essentials ahead of time, like granola, nori-snacks, frozen zucchini mushroom burgers, raw bread and/ or “tortillas”.  I pack these in my luggage, or pack a box with some freezer packs and check them onto the plane.  But I also enjoy discovering local health food stores in the area we’re traveling to.  We prepare ahead of time by doing a little online research about what stores, or even restaurants, are located where we will be traveling.  We’ve had fun exploring what’s available on the different islands of Hawaii, or on the east coast, Utah, Idaho, Arizona, California and beyond.

If international travel is a part of the itinerary, I might pack more food with us in case we can’t find fresh produce or foods to sustain us.  However, this is hardly ever the case.  With raw foods, being willing to try new things and be creative is really the key.  And there is such fantastic variety.  An adventure in and of itself!

So, although traveling in the raw can require a bit more planning and thought, the pay off is well worth it.  We don’t sacrifice our health or how we feel when we’re on the road.  And we share what we’re doing with those around us, which is always fun.  And for most, digestion and elimination are the first things to get imbalanced because of travel- something we don’t have to deal with because we take the time and make the effort to feed our bodies high fiber, nutrient dense foods that really nourish and sustain us on the cellular level and beyond.

We hope you’re inspired to travel in the raw, too!