How DO you do Vegan Abroad?

So, what I learned from Spain is that our biggest challenge was that we were not alone.  Being part of the group (and not making time to go to the markets, etc.) were some of the biggest hindrances to our staying happily fed during our time in Spain.  However, it was a choice we made, and I don't think either of us would have given up the time with our friends in order to have more spinach and apples for those ten days.  But perhaps had we been a bit more prepared, planned ahead a tiny bit more...

Looking back, there were definitely times when we could have popped into a grocery store for a few minutes.  I am sure the rest would have been happy come along or wait, had we just asked.  We were just sooooooo aware (as many vegans are, I think) of not making our lifestyle choice into their problem.  Maybe a little too aware.  Five minutes in a grocery wouldn't have had any major repercussions on our plans.  Of course, without kitchens, or knives, bowls, plates, etc, we were limited in what we could do, but that is the beauty of raw - it can be complicated, or it can be as simple as wash'n'eat.

We did go to an awesome market in Barcelona, a huge fresh market called the "Boqueria" right off Las Ramblas.  We found spinach there.  We bought two bunches, and ate the first one right away, though it was REALLY covered in dirt and the only sinks we had for washing them were in the hotel bathrooms, so that was a little problematic.  Without refrigeration, the second bunch didn't last long.  We could have made more time to prep and enjoy the spinach, but, again, there was a schedule to keep, so much of the second bunch ended up *sigh* in the trash.  (We did make spinach and lentil sprout sandwiches one afternoon, with hot sauce and mustard, and they were pretty amazing.)

Bringing the dried fruit and greens bars and nuts and protein powder was heavy (literally, it all weighed a lot) but definitely worth it, and helped a lot, especially for Mac and his desire to "beet up."  There was a lot of what they called dried fruit in Spain, but it was usually a sort of candied fruit, covered in crystallized sugar, candied pears and kiwi and such.  Having unsulfured, unsweetened, dried fruit was great.  Greens bars and nuts, too.  We may have gone overboard with two full packages of the protein powder (and greens powder), but we drank it every day, and the little glass shaker thing worked really well.

I had planned to bring sprouting bags and get some sproutable seeds once we landed, but I did neither.  I think that if we'd made a few more trips to the store, brought the sprouting bags, and taken a little (just a little!) more time to prepare a few meals, we would have been much better off.  All good lessons for next time...

If you have any tips for vegan travel, please share!  We'd love to get more ideas for how to do better next time...