My concerns for travel to South America

1. Food.  Could a country prided for it’s steakhouses be vegan friendly as well?

2. IBS.  Tied with the above, but my GI system is so sensitive there’s more to it’s “issues” than just diet.  Foreign anything (and everything) is a risk – even the act of traveling offers enough stress to induce a flare up.

3. Fitness.  Exercise is the source of stress relief I seek.  It’s more of a mental release from the daily grind of nursing and such – so I didn’t anticipate having much stress while on vacation.  But I’m still addicted to working out (in the sense that 2 weeks off is a source of minor concern).

Aside from those three things, I was friggin’ stoked to leave winter behind and say hola to the warm December sun in Argentina.  And with that, away we went for two weeks of summer holiday!

1. Turned out to be a non-issue.  Buenos Aires was just as vegan friendly as NYC or LA.  Seriously.  I loved it!

2. Minor flare ups happened.  It was annoying, but I have an absolutely wonderful husband who knows my GI system is a (horrible) wild card.

3. We had gyms at both places we stayed.  Both were excellent with treadmills, bikes, weights, and fantastic city views.  Kyle and I were pretty relaxed about our work outs but still managed to fit in some sweat time on most days.  Nothing over 30 minutes though – this is vacation after all!

So those are the basics you should know before I share the details of our trip.

Merry 80 degree Christmas!

For the first half of the vacation we had a full kitchen, so we found a local supermarket to stock up on essentials, like bread and lactose free (soy) milk.

Despite having access to an oven and pots & pans, we didn’t really cook much aside from breakfasts.  We had a coffee maker, so we spent mornings relaxing and sipping java.  In Argentina, the day’s start late and end late, so lazing about in the AM was hardly abnormal.  It was also a holiday weekend when we were there, so not much was open before noon.

Local grocery stores have veg-friendly products galore and the bigger supermarkets have even more.

From chestnuts & chia seeds, to butternut squash and kale, there was no shortage of hippie essentials.

To be honest, I was in complete awe of the gluten free awareness of the country.  Quinoa and chickpea flours?  A completely GF deli?  Yes.

Maintaining a “specialty” diet in Buenos Aires is definitely not hard.

When it came to exercise, I was glad to have gym access, but we were active enough on a day to day basis that I doubt my fitness level would have declined at all over the course of the two weeks.

Kyle was as eager to hit up the gym as I was though, so it was good that we were both on the same page.  It didn’t interfere with our ability to relax, so I I think that made it the perfect amount of activity.

We walked.  We rented bikes.  And we walked some more.  We definitely covered miles of the city on foot.  And we had a blast.

Don’t worry.  We took advantage of our apartment’s juicer, too.  🙂

And the country’s finest (Malbecs).

I can’t wait to share all the yummy things we ate and places we went!  If you’re considering traveling to BsAs, I 100% recommend it.  I had the time of my life and would return in a heartbeat.