Having returned from my trip, I wanted to share my experiences in case it helps others (and perhaps someone can help me too!)
For the most part, everything I wrote about worked well.
We went to
www.happycow.net and found a lot of vegan and raw restaurants, and had an AMAZING lunch at one of the raw restaurants. Man, it was amazing!
Most of the time we went to standard, normal type restaurants, restaurants that did not focus on vegetarian, vegan or even organic food. So, I looked over all the menu items, ordered a salad and whatever other veggies looked good to me, and had olive oil and lemon salad dressing.
I thought about Double Helix a lot as I often should have asked for everything to be put on the side, for although I said I was "on a special diet and all the food has to be raw", I occasionally got some cooked food. One restaurant SWORE their spinach was raw, another did so with broccoli, but both were definitely cooked!
I was really impressed with how accommodating everybody was, and how helpful. One place even made some suggestions for what I could have (essentially having a special lunch during breakfast hours, making suggestions for veggies to add), and it was lovely.
One place I did intend to eat cooked food: There was an iconic restaurant, a famous landmark, and I'd always wanted to eat there. In order to really give it a solid try, I felt it made more sense to eat what they're known for, instead of getting raw food.
The first couple bites were good, but my body really rebelled against it. I had to force myself to finish (I didn't feel right about dumping the fish into the trash), but my stomach and digestive system was upset for nearly 2 days afterwards.
I did find that days of olive oil and lemon juice salad dressing got rather boring, especially on non-organic veggies (which didn't have much flavor), so next time I definitely plan to bring some spices from home to have different flavor experiences. I'll bring cumin powder for sure, raw dressing (if it's practical), and maybe some other spices like home-made taco seasoning or something.
The absoulte worst was eating at a standard diner where all the food was horrible (even the wine) and the only lettuce was iceberg. A salad of iceberg lettuce and a couple shaved carrots was completely unsatisfying, which is why I plan to bring a cooler with me so I can have some decent food for situations like that.
I ate my raw food bars and other raw snacks, but they weren't MEALS and weren't wholly satisfying after a couple days.
Some things I wanted to note I think would be helpful:
SUSHI:
You can get anything as a hand-roll, which is just the veggies wrapped in nori, no rice. However, the amount of veggies used (or fish for that matter) is really quite small, so when you turn such a thing into a hand-roll, your 6 filling pieces becomes one tiny piece.
I also had miso and kelp salad, but my 2 vegi pieces were not filling enough, so next time I'd have another salad or two in addition. This is also where I would be COMPLETELY comfortable asking the chef to make something special.
ITALIAN:
This is a GREAT place to mix up your salads and add a lot of flavor. I had a spinach salad with romaine lettuce, arugula, tomatoes, garlic, basil (and I asked for oregano but it never arrived). Topped with some olive oil this was one of the best tasting salads of the trip! (Outside the raw restaurant, of course!!)
My only true challenge was that after a while I was feeling very out of balance nutritionally, so I need to figure out exactly why and work on making sure that doesn't happen. I mean, one meal here and there isn't that big a deal, doesn't really affect me, but after several days I was getting rather grumpy.
I know I was exercising more than I normally do, pushing my body past it's limits, and getting practially no sleep and was exhausted. I wasn't drinking enough water (bathrooms were hard to come by), and we weren't eating on my regular schedule. Also, being so sick from that one fish meal, and then being so hungry after vegi sushi probably played a role too.
Perhaps all of these elements were part of it, perhaps some more than others. I want to figure out exactly what the issue(s) are so that I can travel joyfully, and not feel whacked out.
Truth is, I got so out of balance I ended up having a meal including a large serving of beef, as I know it would restore me quickly - but I wasn't happy that that was necessary, and while my body needed it, it also didn't sit well. I DID have my superfoods daily, plus raw nuts & food bars, but that didn't seem to be enough either. (I would ultimately like to find a way to "quick restore" myself with raw foods (or at least vegan foods) rather than beef & cheese.)
One thing too - while we brought a cooler, we also left it at "home base", and didn't have it in the car. Next time we either leave it in the car, or we get one we can easily carry with us!! That'll help me eat when I need to, since the food will then be available.
UPDATE: Last night I had the opportunity to talk to several raw food chefs and asked about my "crash" and the need for a "quick restore". I was told to eat seaweed (particularly dulse) and avocado. When and if this situation comes up again, I will try that, and update that here in case it helps anyone else.
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