Eat, Sleep, and Dream Travel

Troubles of a Vegetarian Abroad

hallietraveljournal — Tue, 13 May 2014 16:42:00 GMT

I have been vegetarian for almost two years now, and I left America with really high hopes in regards to food. I thought that it would be easy enough to find vegetarian food all over, even if I had to make a few sacrifices here and there. I definitely wasn't prepared.

Language Barriers

Even in England I had this difficulty. At the train station in Leicester, the woman working at the coffee stand where I grabbed a quick bite to eat misunderstood my order and gave me a greasy meat filled pastry. The only obstacle in the West was being able to ask for fruits and veggies at the markets, which I found to be a very cool experience. Eastern Europe has definitely been the most challenging, though. There were many English speakers in Budapest, which was probably the most veg-friendly Eastern city. It was all downhill from there. For any vegetarians traveling in the Balkans, I recommend studying the cyrillic alphabet a bit before you come, or else you're in for a serious challenge. Many people don't understand "vegetarian," and looks can totally be decieving. Try to ask your hostel or hotel which restaurants have English menus, they can be lifesavers.

Misleading Street Food

Just last night I had a vegetarian nightmare... Kevin and I found this awesome pizza to go chain that has huge slices of pizza for about $1.50. The first time we shared a piece that was just cheese and brocolli, but when we went back for a late-night snack I ordered a slice that looked like it was just mushroom, and it turned out that under the cheese was mass amounts of shredded meet. It was so coated I couldn't even pick it off and had to give up. The thing tasted like it had been bathed in meat. Always look closely before making a choice, and when in doubt go for the obviously vegetarian thing. Sometimes you will luck out and the vendor speaks enough English, but don't count on it!

Cultural Differences

This trip has taught me that meat is a huge part in most European cultures. In Italy there are dead animals and limbs hanging all over the place, everything in Portugal is either meat or fish (seriously, everything), and vegetarianism is a completely foreign concept in the Balkans. This was especialy an issue doing work exchanges. I have been very fortunate to have hosts who catered to my dietary needs, but there have still been a few mishaps. I've had to eat my way around meat quite a few times, and it is important to remember to try to be as polite and gracious as possible.

Beware The Buffet

This sort of goes along with the warning about street food... Buffets are often unlabeled, and people are not often extremely willing to answer questions about certain dishes are. I accidently ate paté at apertivo in Florence because I thought it was bean dip. Making friends with locals is always a good idea, they can help you identify things and steer clear of meat-based dishes

Introduction

hallietraveljournal — Mon, 12 May 2014 01:57:00 GMT

Since I am 7 months into an 8 months trip, I'll start with an overview of where I've been and what I've done so far:

October 2013- I did a month long TEFL program in Florence, Italy. It was absolutely amazing, and by that I mean Florence was amazing, not the program. I do not recommend quick programs like this! But I will do a whole post about my experience there.

Novemeber-December 2013- I left Italy for the UK and headed to Leicester (pronounced like Lester) for a work exchange through workaway.info. I was killing time until my boyfriend, Kevin, met me to continue our travels. I spent a week housesitting alone in Cambridge, and he joined me for the second week.

January 2014- We had New Years in London (a disaster), and then headed down to Lisbon Portugal, then Ericeira. We did a wonderful week long workaway near Bajajoz, Spain, as well, and visited Seville and Granada. We also had a disastrous hiking experience.

February 2014- We spent the month working at an outdoor rec center near Murcia, Spain, then visited Valencia and Barcelona.

March 2014- We flew to Budapest and headed down to Zagred, Croatia, then over to Timisoara, Romania for a short work exchange, then off to Sibiu for a longer one.

April 2014- We worked for an English woman in a village called Vinograd in Bulgaria.

May 2014- We are still in Bulgaria but heading for Sarajevo and then Dubrovnik!

More to come!

Photos: Me & My Travels

hallietraveljournal — Sun, 11 May 2014 18:48:00 GMT

Becoming a Nomad

hallietraveljournal — Sun, 4 May 2014 07:36:48 GMT

Looking back through my memory to unravel how I got here, to this moment, is a daunting task. From the day I became determined to change my life and climb out of the dreary rut I was stuck in, to the instant I read about the World Nomads scholarship, I have been adjusting and transforming. When I think about it, it didn’t take much for me to get here. Maybe a bit of persistence and some naivety, sprinkled with passion and stubbornness. And yet, it seems like so much has happened in the past 365 days, or so...
You could say that I was on same road as most young Americans; degree, marriage, career, children. At one point, that was my dream. Then, suddenly, it became a tedious nightmare. I found myself straying from school and spending hours distracted by dreams of mysterious places and new experiences. I was no longer the girl who sought domestic bliss, my mind and my heart had evolved to desire new things. I began doubting all the things I had based my aspirations on for years. Eventually, I was fed up. Why couldn’t I ever take a risk? Why did I always play it safe? What was there to lose, money? So what. There was much more to be gained.
One major decision later, I was lost again. Sure, I could drop out of school, that was easy. The hard part was finding a way to travel the world with no money and, let’s be honest, few marketable skills. I was just starting to lose hope when I got the idea to become a certified English teacher. I did some googling and applied to a TEFL program in Florence, and voila, I had a plan. I would fly off to Italy and get certified, then get a job in Rome and live with my best friend while she studied abroad. It was a wonderful plan, until it fell apart. My sister got engaged and asked me to be maid of honor, and I had to accept. That meant I had only about 8 months to travel, so I said goodbye (for now) to my dreams of indefinite vagabonding.
In the end, it all came together in a whirlwind of new love and culminating desires, and my boyfriend of about three months decided he would join me on a backpacking escapade for two. And now, here I am, in a small village in Bulgaria after seven months of traveling around Europe, and I find my mind swimming more than ever. I keep coming back to the idea of inspiration; the people, places, and experiences that have inspired me, and how I can translate my thoughts and knowledge into a guiding light for other people.