Yes you heard that right, I am a vegetarian and a racer. Not the simplest thing, and not always enjoyable, but a choice I happily make. I'll start off with two stories from the race so far, followed with a lot of information and tips for future vegetarian racers.
During month 5 (Moldova), a bunch people from different teams decided to take a couple days off and go to Odessa, Ukraine for a little getaway. The first night we were there, we decided to eat at an authentic medieval restaurant. It was underground, looked straight out of the middle ages, waitresses in costume, and meals that would have been served way back then. While we were waiting for our food, the waitress brought a complimentary appetizer. It was a cracker, with this strange cream/paste on it. I waited until a few people had tried it and assured me there was no meat… I was told it tasted like a strange hummus. So I ate it, and it wasn't bad at all. The next day, I was eating at another restaurant, and on the menu was a picture of the cracker/paste thing I had eaten the day before. I was curious and looked beside the picture to see what it was I had eaten. Well, it was a cracker, but it was not hummus. It was liver paste. Yuck.
Near the end of month 7 (Thailand), I was on a lunch date with a Thai woman from Bangla Road named Kay (not her real name), and two of my teammates. We had a great lunch and wonderful conversation. Kay didn't want us to leaver her after lunch, and offered to take us to a market. We were having a great time, looking around at trinkets, spa products, and foods. While we were smelling soap at a little stand, Kay went and bought us a snack. We all took one from the package she presented us with, and I watched as my teammates took a bite. Now please note, whenever we are offered food we don't recognize, I wait for someone else to try it, and if it has meat they always look at me and shake their head or nod if I can eat it. So they nodded at me, and I happily took a bite. This snack looked like a strange rice cake, with syrup and some sort of dried plant on top. One bite in, I thought it tasted fine but plain. Second bite I got a little more of the topping, and after swallowing realized it tasted strange. Then in the midst of my third bite, I heard my teammate asking Kay what it was. Kay, in her best broken English, said it was a rice cake with sugar and pok and seasoning. As I am chewing my third bite her words are playing in my head as I try to place the very strange taste… rice, sugar, pok…pok… PORK! She was saying pork but with her accent and poor English it sounded so different. I looked to one of my teammates who had walked a ways ahead with me and said 'Would you like to finish my pork snack?'. She looked at me with a bit of shock and happily finished the rest of it.
Two accidents. It is bound to happen. And my first bit of advice for future vegetarian racers, is prepare yourself. I would be shocked if you didn't eat meat at some point on the race. You can't always tell what a food is. When it happens, don't make a big deal, just swallow what's in your mouth and politely pass your plate off to another teammate.
Before the race, I ate 90% vegan. After talking with alumni who ran their race vegetarian or vegan, I decided to make some changes. I added eggs, more dairy, and seafood/fish to my diet. After being gone 7 months I can really say that I am glad I made those compromises. Eggs have been a necessary source of protein, seafood/fish is in everything in Asia and has made eating easier, and dairy just gives you a lot more options.
I also ate mostly natural, organic, and healthy at home. The reality is you won't eat healthy on the race. You will start drinking soda because it's the only cold beverage available. You won't eat a lot of fruits or vegetables because they aren't always available. And you won't eat organic because there is no such thing.
Being vegetarian on the race is not easy. You will go without food…often. Be prepared to watch your teammates eat an awesome meal, while you sit and wait for them to finish, knowing you will go hungry that night. This is common, and yes, it sucks.
You won't get food on most of your flights. AIM doesn't notify the airline of diet restrictions, so when they ask you if you want to beef or chicken and you say neither, they won't have a special meal for you.
People will talk about dead animals, killing animals, and eating animals. If you stopped eating meat for animal welfare reasons, you might have a hard time with this. But you can't control people or what they talk about, and you're going to have to get over it and show grace. Your teammates don't need to compromise or stop talking about whether they will kill the goat with a knife or a machete, but they probably will talk about it less if you ask nicely.
You will spend significantly more money on personal food then your teammates. My personal budget has been $100 per month, and I have almost always gone over… and it is always for food. Take advantage of the months when you have a real grocery store and eat fresh. Most months your only regular option will be pre-packaged food.
Be ready to receive feedback on various aspects of your diet choice from teammates who don't know any better and have never been exposed to alternative diets. They don't understand, and that is okay. Show grace.
Be smart. Do your research and know how much protein and iron you need and what foods you can get it from. It's easy to go a few weeks without eating any protein and not notice until you start getting lethargic and foggy. Pay attention to your nutritional needs, and make sure you are getting what your body requires. Usually this means buying eggs, beans, and leafy greens to add to meals. I advise bringing a vegetarian specific mutli-vitamin (extra iron and B12).
Here is my take on the continents so far:
Central America:
Be prepared to eat a lot of beans and rice. From my experience and knowledge, contacts are willing to accommodate when they prepare the food. Normally, you will eat what everyone else eats, without the meat. Or if it is something like meat soup, you will be served plain rice. In Nicaraguan I ate the same beans and rice 3 times per day for the entire month. On off days I stuffed myself with pizza and sandwiches from the city nearby just so I could taste something different.
Europe:
Both months in Europe, my team prepared its own food, so it was not difficult. Most restaurants have plenty of vegetarian options. The times our contact made us food there was always some sort of vegetable (usually potato) side dish and bread.
Asia:
This continent hasn't been as hard as I thought. If you choose not to eat fish for the race it will be difficult. Fish sauce and oyster sauce are in absolutely everything, so you will really be restricting yourself. It is possible to go without fish, but you will sacrifice and eat a lot of plain rice. In Thailand, our contact cooked for us, and often they would take a portion of the food out before they added the meat. Other times I ate plain rice with soy sauce. Malaysia (where I am now) has been quite easy. English is a common language, and a lot of people understand when I say 'vegetarian'. There are lots of roti stands, and you can order meat-free fried noodles or fried rice… and fish sauce is used less here then in Thailand.
Some countries have been harder then expected, other much easier then I had ever thought. You don't really know what you're going to get until you're there. Remeber, God will always provide. He won't let you starve, even if that means eating rice. There are also a lot of vegetarians who start the race with the best intentions, and by the end are eating meat because it was just too hard. If you choose to start eating meat, that is okay. It doesn't mean you failed. And you don't have to answer to anyone or justify your actions.
I haven't been to Africa yet, but at the end of the race I'll put up a part 2 that will cover the last 4 months of the race. If you have any questions at all please email me or ask in the comments and I'll respond.
