Linky-Dinks

Happy Friday! There's been some cool stuff floating around the interwebs this past week, which means it's time for another links round-up! I often share interesting articles and links on the Hungry Vegan Traveler Facebook page, but every now and then, there's so much that I'll save a bunch for one easy-to-digest blog page, rather than spam your Facebook wall. Enjoy!

No-Meat Athlete posted a round-up of tips from various people on traveling while vegetarian.

I haven't yet tested out any of Nomadic Matt's many travel tips, but he seems to know his stuff. He recently posted his 16 Step Plan to Realizing Your Dream, which simply breaks down every thing one needs to do in preparation for travel. As a disorganized someone who goes back and forth and back and forth on when and how to make my travel goals a reality, you best believe I bookmarked this article!

Via GloboTreks, reflecting on two years of travel blogging with 24 Things I've Learned about Life, Travel, and the World

Sarah Von over at the fantastic blog, Yes and Yes, wrote up a few tips for solo traveling. High gas prices be damned, I WILL ROAD TRIP THIS SUMMER!

Let food be thy medicine! Vegetarian Times posted an A-Z of healing foods (but you can skip the honey and yogurt because, well, YOU KNOW).

I watched this documentary the other night and loved it. It will truly have you give serious thought to where you put you trash, what happens to your trash, and how the waste we create affects everyone and everything. The people in this film are beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. (This doc is currently streaming on Netflix.)


In other news, I'm thinking about doing a raw week. Ever since I became kitchen-less, people have been suggesting it over and over. "You don't have a kitchen?! You should go raw!" But honestly, committing to eating completely raw for any time longer than a meal has always felt like too much. State of mind is important, too, though, and I think I'm finally at a place where I'm ready to do it. So... Keep up with Facebook and this here bloggy-blog, as I'm sure I'll rant and rave about it! (Whenever I actually start it, that is.)

Now Watch This

Have you heard about the new documentary, Hungry for Change? It's brought to us by the same folks who made Food Matters. Hungry for Change looks like a great documentary about the truth behind diet fads and weight loss and advertising and health. (And it features the dude from Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, and Kris Carr, who is just too stinkin' cute!) If you sign up on their website, you can tune in for their FREE worldwide online premiere March 21-31, 2012.


Doesn't it look amazing?! I'm super-stoked for the premiere.

I also watched the trailer for Vanishing of the Bees this morning. Bees are pretty darn important and awesome. I'm sure this documentary is fascinating.


And then I watched the short film, Sacred Economics, about the power of money and how to reconnect with our community through bartering and sharing.


So much cool stuff on the Internet / Youtube today! And today is another Writing Day for me, and well, you know how that goes...

Fat Sick and Nearly Dead

I'm a sucker for a vegan-related documentary, so when I spotted Fat Sick and Nearly Dead on hulu, I made a point to watch it.



In a nutshell: Fat, sick dude from Australia named Joe goes on a 60 day green juice fast and he loses a bunch of weight and eventually gets off his medication. For the last 30 days of his fast, he goes on a road trip across America for a change of scenery and talks to a bunch of people along the way.

The best part of the film is Phil the Truck Driver, whom he meets and later helps. Phil's transformation is amazing! I admit: I had tears in my eyes toward the end, I was so happy for Phil. I won't give away more than that, though.

At the beginning of the film, I thought, There is no way I'd go on a juice fast for 60 days. Then halfway through, I thought, Well, I could do a ten-day fast... And by the end of the doc, I thought, If someone gave me one of those nice Breville juicers, I'd go 30 days!

Also, the words "vegan," or "vegetarian," or even "plant-based diet" are never mentioned. All that's said is that, after the juice fast, Joe sticks to a "micronutrient diet" of "mostly whole foods." Meat and dairy products aren't mentioned, but I don't know if it's actually a vegan diet he sticks to. Still, it's healthier than the Standard American Diet (SAD).

Fat Sick and Nearly Dead is no Forks Over Knives, but it was still an interesting flick, I loved watching Joe and Phil's transformations, and it always gives me hope to watch people take charge of their health and wellness in a more nutritious way, letting food be their medicine.

Forks Over Knives on Netflix Streaming

Looking for a movie to watch this weekend? Forks Over Knives is now available streaming on Netflix!



Have you seen Forks Over Knives? What are your thoughts on this documentary?

PS. I know it's been kind of quiet around here lately, but I've been keeping up with the HVT Facebook page much better this past week. Check out all kinds of fun stuff over there!

Dinner and a Movie

A few weeks ago, Amber and I had a pretty chill evening that still included some Kitchen Time. We had a little dinner-and-a-movie night. Amber makes some pretty rockin' oat-and-black-bean burgers, so she whipped those up while I prepped a batch of kale chips. [Note: Every person whom I have introduced to kale chips, veg*n or omnivore, loves them. It's a fun way to get some greens in your diet.]

Preppin' the burgers

Snackin' on some greens while the patties fry up and the potato crowns bake

Here's my plate (no bread for me, thanks)

While we dined on diner-style fare, we watched this super-cute little movie, Flakes, featuring the always-adorable Zooey Deschanel.

Yeah, the trailer may not be very enticing, but trust me, it's a cute little flick. I mean, it's a CEREAL shop. In NEW ORLEANS. And there's a lot of talk about Airstreams, which is SO up my alley/out of my dreams. If you LOVED Empire Records, you'll at least LIKE Flakes. And it's available instantly on Netflix!

My favorite lines from the movie:
Neal: So what do you want to do tonight?
Miss Katz: Hold hands.

Yeah, I'm a total sap, in case you didn't know.

We paused the movie to make some cookies and cream-style shakes in the Magic Bullet, but there are no pictures, because I was briefly in heaven.

PS. Speaking of vegan dinners and movies, check out my new friend PJ's blog, which is ALL ABOUT vegan dinners inspired by movies! It's called Vegan Cine Grub.

People

I'm so fascinated by people. Being in a new area, whether it's traveling or moving, makes me very, very interested in the people of that area. Now that I'm in Florida, I want to meet everyone! Well, not everyone, but you know what I mean. Moving to a new city has rekindled my deep, fascinating love of people. I want to meet people and interact with them and converse with them and listen to their stories. I love to listen to people tell their life story, where they came from, why they're here, what they're doing, what's the most amazing thing that ever happened to them. And I'd much rather listen than talk.

Earlier this week, I curled up with a mug of tea and watched "24 Hours on Craigslist." I LOVED it. If you like This American Life (which I sure do), then you'll enjoy this documentary as well.


My favorite snippet was the couple who sold all of their belongings (on Craigslist, of course) and traveled the world. I want to watch a full-length documentary about them! They're living my dream! (All I need is stuff to sell and a dude!) All of the stories in this doc are so interesting. There are a couple of weird sex things toward the end (this is Craigslist, after all) that I personally found creepy, but otherwise, I just smiled a lot while watching this.

There's a girl I babysit from time to time. Recently, while she was having her piano lesson, I flipped through this lovely coffee table book.


Again, all interesting stories accompanied by lovely photographs. I only made it partway through the book, but I look forward to catching more of the stories in the future.

We live in such a big, wild, and wonderful world, full of fascinating people. I truly encourage you to get to know a new person soon. Or get to know someone who you see often, but don't really know. Ask questions. Listen, and I mean truly listen. Open up your mind, your heart, and your ears. You never know what amazing story is just waiting to be told.