Practicing How to Stay Healthy On The Road part II

It is always difficult to stick to your healthy food scheme and giving the body what it needs when transporting yourself from A to B (to C etc.). The longer the ride the harder it gets. However, traveling by air is by far the most challenging in terms of staying healthy, alert and over all good; we are not even allowed to bring our own water for heaven’s sake! Even though I dislike long train rides too, at least I have the possibility to bring my own food. A 10 hour airfare is always a gamble for a vegetarian/vegan and even more so if you eat gluten-free, organic AND non-GMO! They hardly ever get it right. I have yet to figure out how to be able to eat during long flight hours, for now I’m blessing my food as hard as I can to not get sick. Flying between Costa Rica and Europe means transiting in The States, obviously a problem for the food aware person! All food is based on chemicals and sugar. Whilst a “snack” with British Airways from London means a vegan salad containing hummus, chickpeas, falafel and greens (!). They also had fresh lemon for my hot water, hurray!

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Oatmeal, brown sugar, raisins and hot water lemon.

Before even getting to the airport I started my day with oatmeal and hot cinnamon tea (not in the picture), which improve digestion and help me stay grounded. At Dallas airport, I found a classic American burger/fajitas restaurant where I asked for vegan food and ended up analyzing their special allergy menu for a good 15 minutes! The result? Black bean burger (without bread), rice and broccoli (instead of fries) and hot water lemon on the side!

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Vegan and gluten-free meal at Dallas Aiport

In conclusion, traveling by air is still a pain food-wise but hopefully they’re getting there soon enough. Airports around the world usually have snack stores with a variety of healthier snack options such as organic raw granola bars, nut mixes and fruit. In most restaurants you can ask about ordering off the menu and they’re cool about it and, as previously stated, mint (tea) is the herb easiest to find no matter where you are. What is more, they did allow me to carry my own water bottle through security, which is a great resource and helps in staying hydrated. Next time I’ll bring my thermos ;) 

Bonus tip: in the carry on bring a small bottle of olive, avocado oil or the like to rub on nails, hands, lips and other dry areas. I also like to carry some essential peppermint oil in case I get motion sick.

For more tips on how to stay healthy while traveling check out my previous posts:

How to Stay Healthy and Balanced while Traveling

Practicing How To Stay Healthy on the Road

What are your experiences with airplane food? Good or bad? Do you have any tips? Share in the comments below! 

Pura Vida

How To Get Rid of a Jungle Bug (or Parasite)

What To Do When You Get Sick In The Jungle

Sometimes when travelling you get sick. I’d say almost always when you’re visiting the countryside or more remote areas in a country. Like here, in the Costa Rican jungle. Costa Rica is a clean and healthy country. Puerto Viejo also has amazing food and the overall cleanliness is high. Yet, coming here you will experience some stomach troubles: diarrhea, vomiting, pain, fever, or all of it. There is a little jungle bug that wants to clean your inside. I say: let her do it! Don’t fight it or you will feel worse. However, there are things you can do to ease the process and get well again. I’ve listed some of them here. First off, in this article I talk about parasites/stomach problems and not for instance dengue fever, which also is somewhat common around these areas.

The Jungle Behind Town, Puerto Viejo Costa Rica

1.     Find a medicine woman/man or Shaman of the area who knows about the local plants and treatments. If you plan to stay for a while, I recommend doing this straight away so that in case of illness you know who to call for bush medicine. 

2.  Make sure you drink plenty or you will have to go to the hospital due to dehydration (if you’re the travel mate: make sure your friend drinks a lot)! I am talking about water, tea and coconut water- not coke! (this is nothing like the stomach problems you grew up with in Europe). The carbonic acid in sodas makes the stomach problems worse by adding a lot of air/gas to it, which you really don’t need more of. If you want sweet, I suggest making some sort of ice tea/warm herbal tea instead, or drink coconut water which also helps you stay hydrated. Chamomile is an acknowledged and widely used herb to treat various stomach/digestive problems and fever, among other things. You can find it in regular food stores all over the world. Make it a habit to always carry some with you. 

Davidson's Tea Bulk, Herb Chamomile Flower, 16 Ounce Bag Buy on Amazon

3. Let it all come out. In the Caribbean tradition as well as for instance Ayurveda, the body and digestive system are to be kept clean or disease will occur. And in case of illnes, a washout or cleanse is necessary to heal. 

Pills such as ibuprofen or Dimor only stop the symptoms- they don’t treat the problem. Avoid these as much as you can, unless you want it to get worse (or are on a bus). 

4. When you want to start eating again, try some stomach stabilizing fruits like papaya and banana with cinnamon before moving on to rice. Papaya is a digestive agent and banana is a well-used plant to treat diarrhea. In addition, cinnamon is a wonderful herb used for many things, including digestive problems, nausea and vomiting.

Last night a banana three fell outside the cabin, let's hope the platains are ready to eat soon!

5. If you’re sick for a long time and the bug doesn’t want to go away, consider seeing a doctor to get antibiotics. Chances are that your belly won’t be happy taking a lot of pills though. Antibiotics can cause fungal infections for instance. Furthermore, you might end up not getting rid of the bug at all but carry it with you back home and having to go through several rounds of antibiotics. No fun :/

And yes, this post came into existence due to some vomiting around the house. We are now eating again and I have received clear messages that I should stick to the purest food possible from now on. Like this bowl of brown rice boiled with turmeric and culantro, carrots, broccoli, avocado, lettuce and pejibaye. 

Organic veggies from local farmers in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica & Chamomile tea

Do you have any Being Sick On The Road stories? Or more suggestions on what to do when you are sick with a parasite? Please share in the comments below!

Pura Vida

Things I don’t Like About Costa Rica

or 6 Things I Forgot Exist In Paradise

We have a tendency to only remember the good things about a place, person or other memory that has faded to a smiling grey veil in the back of our head. And it is in fact hard to come up with a list of things I don’t like about Costa Rica - or things I had forgotten that I don’t like maybe. I have let this stew boil in my head for the last two days and I have not yet managed to come up with something that is easily digestible. However, I can tell you about the things I managed to forget during the time I was away. 

Here goes:

1. Ants. Ants in the bed. Ants in the computer. And, of course, ants in the kitchen. Scorpions inside when it’s raining. Maybe boa constrictors should go on here as well. Even though I like reptiles, I don’t want a snake to fall onto my mosquito net and down in to my bed when I’m sleeping. Basically, any animal I don’t like to have in my home but get to host any way qualifies here. I still love them, and the jungle, but you get my point.

2. Con permiso. When entering someone’s house, this is what you have to remember saying, at least if you want to be polite and be part of the culture. I never remember. I want to remember. I really do. I know it is a significant cultural feature. I just NEVER remember. Nor answering propio in those cases I should (like after someone saying con permiso).

3. Toilet paper in basket and unreliable showers. The bathroom annoyance. Actually, I have never been annoyed with having to throw the paper in the basket instead of in the toilet; but it takes me a couple days to remember doing it. Not having a working shower (or a promised to be warm water shower that is freezing) on the other hand…. Yes, I admit it: it is annoying!

4. Being able to drink the tap water in Costa Rica. Just not in Puerto Viejo. It is such a blessing to be able to drink the tap water! It makes me both sad and annoyed that we don’t have that privilege on the Caribbean coast. I don’t like buying a lot of plastic, but I have to if I want to drink water. And if I forget buying water, then I don’t have anything to drink and remember this first when dinner is ready and the grocery store is closed. Always.

5. Mosquito nets. I usually don’t use one but depending on the house and how it is built, sometimes I have to. However, a net is not needed (depending on how you nervous you are about dengue that is) because of the mosquitos; there aren’t that many mosquitos here (if you think it is: go visit Northern Sweden during summer!). No, I want a net because of the rats and the mice and the gecko poo (that suddenly falls down from nowhere) and the huge grasshoppers or maybe some other flying creature that is lost. In some sleeping settings I simply prefer a net. But nets make me feel trapped so I don’t like it.

6. How you’re always out of lighters (or stuck with a bunch of non working lighters). You need a lighter for a lot of stuff around here, the most frequently situation is happening in the kitchen.

Reading this list, I realize it is a perfectly weird mix of nature/environment and language related issues. Seeing that those are some of my favorite fields, I understand I still have work to do. Great news in other words! I continue to be a humble student of the fascinating subjects that constitute life.

Speaking of, I will be offline and not reachable for the coming week or so. I will go to study indigenous traditions under the moon, and together with my sisters learn about the healing art of dance.

Where in the world are you reading this? And what healing arts are your favorites to journeying with? Contribute in the comments below :)

Pura Vida

San Francisco in Two Days

My favorite type of traveling these days is the visit friends-kind. A few years ago, I slowly started leaving the traditional way of backpacker traveling. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still always on a low budget and I've learnt heaps of stuff I still bring with me everywhere I go. That subject requires a separate post though.

I truly enjoy reading up on a country, learning its history and its most interesting geographical spots and investigate its art scene. Sometimes, however, it is tiring. When visiting friends they take you around and show you their favorite places in their (current) hometown, they know where to go and how to get there and usually I don’t even bother to google the place. Call me lazy, but I like just letting go of everything for a while. The absolute best part though, is of course to get to spend time with my beloved friends and at the same time see yet new parts of the world. So, that is what brought me to San Francisco for a couple days; to visit my dear sister and friend Lucy. Two days isn’t a long time and if you’re anything like me (and most of my friends haha) food is the main attraction on a go-visit-friend-trip. San Francisco is an ideal place for foodjunkies such as myself, besides being some kind of hippie haven (which obviously means that you’ll be most likely to find me in the bay area a couple more times)!

I’ve posted all of the delicious food we had on instagram so go there to check it out! What I want to share with you travelers is the Food Market in the Ferry Building- which is a must visit when in SF! There was an entire shop with different kinds of mushrooms for instance. And the gluten free Mariposa bakery. And all sorts of organic, vegan, vegetarian, whole food, veggies and locally produced food. I also had my very first Vietnamese food; lemongrass tofu and veggies and it is now my favorite Asian dish so far.

Another must-see is the Haight-Ashbury street that became famous during the 60’s and the bohemian hippie era. Simply because a lot of hippies moved there due to cheap accommodation. Today, the area is filled with lovely stores such as vintage, smoke shops, herb shops, thrift stores, crystal shops and tie-dyed clothing. Needless to say, I love it!

Tie-dye store Haight-Ashbury

Haight.Ashbury

Oh and for those who wonder: there are actually buses and they're cheap! So I simply took the bus Reno-San Francisco.

Back in Reno now, snow in the mountains and -2 degrees Celsius. Next week I’m heading to Costa Rica and probably warmer weather.  

What stories do you wanna hear from my travels? =) Please contribute in the comments below this post! 

Love & Light

Practicing How To Stay Healthy on The Road

I’ve been on the road since 5 am (it is now 11.25 am Swedish time). I still have a long way to go and many hours more in the air. I am trying to follow my own advice about staying healthy while traveling and (as suspected) it hasn’t been as easy as it might seem. However, I’ve managed to stay away from temptations like coffee and snacks ;) At CPH (Kastrup, Copenhagen airport) I had a sandwich (due to lack of time trying to find oat meal) and chamomile tea. Chamomile is great for relaxation and for the stomach so I was happy finding that! Needless to say, the breakfast we got on our way to London was awful. I had two sips of black tea, which is not ideal, and simply ignored the piece of white dough put in front of me. 

I am now at a café in Heathrow Terminal 5, waiting for my connection flight to Chicago. After having asked around for mint or peppermint tea and non-sparkling water in a few places, I eventually found a good spot! Since I want my stomach to keep doing its job, I was in the lookout for either ginger or mint. I’m extra happy to tell you that the tea is organic and I got to pay with dollars (tried Danish crowns but no go)!

It’s something about the UK, isn’t it? I mean, natural hand lotion for free in the airport toilet, organic and fair trade drinks and super friendly staff within most service areas.  

Not to mention the amazing view over London Eye and Big Ben as we flew in. Got me thinking about Sherlock. Of course.

When meeting friendly people in busy work areas all over the world, I think about Sweden. How come it’s not the same? Could it be because we don’t have the tipping culture? What do you guys think?