Why I'm glad I ditched my Blender on Vacay

For those of you who may not know the clinical insanity that is my relationship with blenders, I will give you a very quick summary: Quite simply, I’m obsessed with blenders. That’s why I’m SmoothieGirl. For the past several years, I have made 1-2 shakes for breakfast/pre- and post-workout, and usually another one later in the day as a “tide-me-over” snack that is very, very filling and satisfying (not to mention yummy-licious).

We have traveled by ship a few times and lo and behold- the cabins have American power outlets! Halleluja, the angels sing! So I have schlepped my blender with me time and time again. Let me just assure you that it is no small task.

Oh, the blender is rather small- it's a Back to Basics, and the blending container is also the drinking container- nice and convenient, right? Not when you are taking it on planes and having a zillion other things to pack.

In my recent attempt to move toward some sense of eating “normalcy”, I decided at the 11th hour of packing for the latest trip on October 8th, 2009 to try something wildly different. I would abandon my blender and pray that it would not make me abandon ship.

Here is the result of my little experiment….



6 reasons I’m glad I ditched my blender on vacay (Janetha gets bonus points for actually noticing that I included 7 reasons and not 6-that's one smart cookie!):

1. Ice ice Baby

I cannot tell you what a pleasure it was to be free from the constant tackling of our poor, unsuspecting room steward for buckets (literally) of ice every.single.day.and.night. Once a room steward actually pulled my husband aside and asked him, “What does she DO with all that ice?” Talk about embarrassing :-/.

2. TSA Terror

No, I am not a terrorist. But that did not stop me from sweating bullets (remember the scene from airplane when he's trying to land the plane and sweat was pouring off him like from a hose? Yeah, kinda like that) every time I walked through Security with my blender and blade attachments (you’re CU-RAZY if you think I’m checking THAT in my baggage and risk LOSS of my bag!). TSA always, ALWAYS insisted upon searching my bag after x-ray and a lengthy interrogation. I was lucky that they never confiscated anything but it didn’t stop my heart from racing every single time. After a while I learned to just hand them the most dangerous-looking parts and tell them exactly what it was for. “Hi I’m Deb and I’m a Smoothie-Holic”………………”Hi Deb”.

3. Do not Disturb

I was always terribly concerned that I would awaken or alarm our neighbors, so I had an elaborate home-made “sound tunnel” in which I blended my shakes. Sure, it may have looked like an ordinary canvas carry-on travel-bag, but it served as the “Cone of Silence” on many a trip. Once I forgot my “Cone of Silence” and had to resort to running the hair-dryer while blending my smoothie….you know, so the neighbors would think I was doing my hair. Then, I actually had to do my hair! When I stepped out of the room, they looked at me with such disappointment...'just a modified bob? We were thinking Dolly Parton or Amy Winehouse!'

4. Water, water everywhere

Well, in order to make a shake, I had to procure lots of water. Either that meant buying it ($refinancing the house, hello!) or taking it from dispensers in the food court or gym. Why did I feel like a common criminal taking water?! Even if I worked out in the gym where I was topping up my Sigg, didn’t I somehow EARN it?!

5. Baggies, lots of baggies (but not THAT kind)

Oh man, the baggies: two or three kinds of protein powder (what if I wanted chocolate and not vanilla, soy and not whey?), then of course the xanthan gum, guar gum, , PB2, Cinnamon, Cacao Nibs, cooked and dehydrated wheatberries, cooked and dehydrated rhubarb (yes, really), stevia. The list goes on. If I told you that my blender had its own little carry-on bag, I would not be lying.

6. Hygiene- I’m a fan

The fact that I constantly used blender containers meant that I needed to do some washing up. Let me just say that having the bathroom double as a kitchen was LESS than thrilling for someone who is quite fond of keeping bacteria and viruses (spirochetes and fungi too) away from her person as much as possible. While as fastidious as possible, the ick-factor was starting to get to me.

7. You’re Cold as Ice

(Not to be confused with #1 Ice Ice baby), I have noticed that I am no longer frrrrreeeeezing everywhere I go, all the time. In the past, I complained that ships (and all public places for that matter) go totally overboard (sorry) on the A/C. There’s an energy crisis, people, let’s embrace 78-degrees okay? I have been well-trained to carry one scarf and a sweater or jacket on my person at all times. After about 3 days sans blender/smoothie, I realized that I was dragging all of my spare clothes around the ship and never actually using them. My theory: I’m not ingesting 3 pounds of ice per day- surely that would have an effect on core body temp, no?

Six reasons I had Blender-Separation Issues:

I haven’t gone all Pollyana on you, and in all honesty, there WAS a downside to not taking my lil’ Blender…In no particular order, here are my top 6 reasons I missed my Blender on Vacay:



Ready?



Here they are…





1. Hunger
2. Hunger
3. Hunger
4. Hunger
5. Hunger
6. Hunger



‘Nuff said.

Bottom Line:

It’s nice to be able to know that I can survive without the Blender (really, really nice!), but it really, truly does help me with my afternoon hunger. I didn't seem to be suffering in the mornings, when I normally would ingest two shakes...food for thought (shameless and unstoppable punster at work).

So there you have it. It’s still a love-hate relationship.

AND SOME THANKS ARE IN ORDER!!!

How sweet is Averie from Loves Veggies and Yoga to send me a lovely care-package? I got some vegan macaroons, flax balls (donut holes) and PB drops- do you notice a few small bites have been taken?! Must test them ya'know! :-) Thank you for the time and effort to send these Averie!



And this next one was from my sweet friend Lara from Thinspired who I met up with in the UK over vacay...SUCH a great idea: coffee infused hazelnut spread! Can't wait to replicate this pup in my V-mix when I run out! Thank you Lara!



And the next one: Thank you for not infecting me with H1N1, the Croup, the Plague or whatever it is that you have, Luvie. Notice how he's wearing a mask like the Japanese do...seriously genius- I wish we did this in the states. In Japan, it is TOTALLY COMMON to see people wearing masks when they are sick. It is to protect the people who are NOT sick. Love that.

Notice Sam is mid-meow. Why do I love taking photos of cats mid-meow? My college roomie says it's because they look like they are ROARING!! I am Kitty, hear me ROAR! :-D




Is there anything that you absolutely must travel with when you go on a trip?