A Month is TOO Long!

It's been a month since I have posted and in that time enough has transpired that I need to write about it!

I just got back from Italy and Switzerland. I had an amazing time. In preparation for the possibility that I wouldn't be raw, I went raw 100% ahead of time to clean stuff out and get into the zone so that when I got back, I could go right back to eating raw.

I did this without sadness, as I had eaten more non-raw than I needed in Italy. I am very clear that eating raw while traveling is not hard if you have access to local produce, a few knives, and a kitchen. But the kitchen is just to keep the debris off the bedspread. Coming back to my own kitchen with various blending, chopping, straining, and drying machines was dreamy. I also thought of things to travel with next time (small containers for oil, dressing, etc).

Most raw folks I talked to recommended fasting for the plane trip. It was easy when I was raw going to Europe, and much harder as I was tapering off my non-raw food program. Good to know.

Traveling poses the most challenge when there are no raw options available when you go out to eat. Dressing is usually the unregulated factor and if you're early in your raw life, it's a tough thing to come up against. If you're used to saying "no dressing" or you're a whiz with olive oil and balsamic (and don't mind the monotony), then you're set. But I was not such a whiz and sometimes didn't opt for the simple mixture. Also, since I had never been to Italy and tasted the regional cuisines, I was intrigued enough to try. Will I ever learn that pasta is pasta around the world? Who knows. I'm not beating myself up AT ALL, since I had such an enjoyable time, but I also know that when I go back, I don't need to "try" the gelato. I've had it. It's good. Case closed.

Here's what a blogger said about eating food in other places that could easily apply to raw food:

"But this is why local food is so grounding — literally — like a lightening rod captures the electricity and brings it to the earth, eating the food of a place literally connects our living energy with the physical world around us. Eating the food of a place connects us to that place by actually bringing it inside of us — and instead of distancing our relationship to creation (as do the Burger Kings and frozen dinners in fluorescent-lit cases), they bring us closer to the awesomeness of the world, and the awesomeness of being alive."
-From The Jew and The Carrot (author Anna Stevenson)

I agree. The more veteran raw foodists will not have an issue with worldwide travel. Food is food. Have a lemon in Italy if you're craving local food. And right they are. But also, I felt okay about my choices at the time. Hindsight doesn't need to always make me feel bad about myself.

For the record, I'm back to 90-100% raw (don't always know when I eat out at restaurants) and loving it. I feel great (as opposed to okay) again and even though I still like the smell of cooked food, I don't usually crave it. I'm not over my love of salads (I hear at some point that I'll get tired of greens, but with all the various dressings, I'm still excited).