#301: "Broc and Roll" with Rip and Carrie - Surviving Airports, Road Trips, and Restaurants
Let’s face it—staying plant-based while traveling can feel overwhelming. Airports, unfamiliar restaurants, road trips… it’s easy to feel like your healthy habits go out the window.
But it doesn't have to be that way.
Rip and Carrie at the 2023 Austin Marathon
In this episode, hosts Rip Esselstyn and his producer, Carrie Barrett, dive into the real-life challenges plant-based eaters face when away from home.
Their advice for restaurants? Don't be afraid to be FAB.
Figure out what you can eat
Ask for what you want
Bring your own food
They break down each part of the FAB method with humor, empathy, and personal stories—proving that with a little planning and flexibility, you can thrive anywhere, even in the most unfamiliar food settings.
Whether you’re navigating airport terminals, hotel buffets, or international menus, this episode equips you with the tools to stay grounded in your health goals and enjoy the journey. Because being PLANTSTRONG isn’t just a way of eating—it’s a way of living.
Episode Resources
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Full Episode Transcription via AI Transcription Service
Rip Esselstyn 00:00:00
I’m Rip Esselstyn. And you're listening to the PLANTSTRONG podcast. Can you believe that we have rounded the corner to over 300 episodes of the PLANTSTRONG podcast? I can because I feel it. It's been great. But since 2019, our hope is is that we've been your trusted companion, keeping you inspired, informed, and empowered on your whole plant journey. Now, to celebrate this milestone, I thought it'd be fun to drop a short, entertaining and wildly informative minisode with my producer, Carrie Barrett, with our tips for eating whole food plant based when traveling and yes, even when eating out at restaurants. That's coming up right after this word from Plantstrong. A few months ago, we here at Plantstrong, we sent out a survey to all of you along with our customers, asking tell us your biggest struggles or challenges with eating a whole food plant based diet. Well over 1000 of you responded and a few common themes kept bubbling up. So I thought it would be fun to bring on my longtime producer of the podcast, Carrie Barrett, to address some of these topics and give you our honest and authentic advice. Carrie has been whole food plant based for over 16 years. She's also a coach, marathoner, a triathlete, and dare I say, a new fan of pickleball. She's also an integral part of our retreat team and talks directly with many of our listeners on a daily basis. So today, we're going to address one of the biggest hurdles, and that's how do you navigate traveling and eating out at restaurants? So let's just dive right in. Welcome back to another episode of the PLANTSTRONG podcast. Here I am with Carrie again, and we're gonna do our thing.
Carrie Barrett 00:02:22
Yeah, I love these little minisodes where you've invited me in as not just your producer, but as sort of the. The every woman who is employing this lifestyle in my daily life. And the challenges that we get from people and the questions that we get from people are all the same issues that I deal with on a daily basis and that you deal with on a daily basis. And I mean, there are tips and tricks that we can share and that we're excited to share. And this is a big topic, RIP this is a huge topic for all of us.
Rip Esselstyn 00:02:57
So what's the next topic we're going to dive into?
Carrie Barrett 00:03:00
We're going to talk about traveling and eating out at restaurants. Oh, boy.
Rip Esselstyn 00:03:07
You know what? It's. So let me just start by saying that I look at this as an adventure and how can I make this lifestyle work, meaning whole food PLANTSTRONG as best as I possibly can, even if I'm traveling, if I eat out and do it in a culture that does not support me in this endeavor. And so I think, if you look at it that way, is let's figure out how to make it work even when all the odds are stacked against us, and then that makes it an exciting adventure as opposed to, oh, my God, I can't make this work. This is too difficult. Nobody wants to, like, work with me here. There's no compromise. You know what I mean?
Carrie Barrett 00:04:06
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Now I have this. I'll start with a story that I think we can all relate to. So it was right before the holiday season, and I was getting together for a girls night. There were four of us going out to dinner, and somebody picked the restaurant that was not me. And of course, it's not a vegan restaurant, but. But I. And in fact, it is more of a steakhouse than anything else. And so right away, I want the audience to feel the panic with me. Feel. Feel the stress rise in your. In your gut like it does mine every time someone else gets to pick the restaurant. And I was like, okay, okay. And they know. They know the way I eat. But again, I'm like, all right, I can. I can go along. I can go along. And I looked. The first thing that I did was go online and look at the menu, right? And that way there was no awkward moments. There were no awkward moments with any of us when it came to ordering. And I knew exactly what was on their menu. I knew every vegetable that they had. And when I did get there, I pulled the. Our. You know, our server aside, and I was like, all right, hey, I'm just kind of the creepy vegan.
Rip Esselstyn 00:05:27
Any.
Carrie Barrett 00:05:28
Do you. Do you have any dishes that you make that are maybe not on menu? And so it was an easy deflection then, and I was able to get what I wanted. But I understand that stress rip of like, oh, my God, I don't want to do this, but here we go.
Rip Esselstyn 00:05:43
Well, what's interesting about what you just said there is that you almost without knowing it, we're employing an acronym that I have been using forever. And I've told people and I've written about it for well over a decade, and that is this is when you're eating out at restaurants, and the acronym is fab. Fab. The F stands for figure out what you can eat. Take a look at that menu. And. And what is it that does meet with your dietary restrictions? And typically, you've all heard this. You can make it work at a steakhouse and you just get all the sides, right. You get the sweet potato steak cut fries, you get the side of broccoli, the eggplant, you get a big old salad. But you can make it work. And typically those steakhouses have great sides.
Carrie Barrett 00:06:37
They, yes, they have sweet potatoes as big as your head. I mean, they are some of the best. They are some of the best.
Rip Esselstyn 00:06:43
And Mexican restaurants, you know, I just get a side of black beans, rice, a bunch of veggies, and then I say, can you send me some corn tortillas? Like 10 corn tortillas that are just steamed. And then I make my own tortillas there. Right. A little, a little tortilla taco factory there at my chair. But so the fab is figure out what you can eat. The a. And you did this beautifully when you pulled the waiter aside in your example is ask for what you want. Remember, you're the customer here. Typically most restaurants want to please the customer and so don't feel bashful. And I love the way you did it. You didn't create a scene. You pulled the waiter over and you know, as opposed to doing it in front of everybody and you just said, hey, is there any way that I could get, you know, this, this and this. And I tell people you can always call ahead.
Carrie Barrett 00:07:42
Yes, yes, I've done that before as well.
Rip Esselstyn 00:07:45
If you know the restaurant ahead of time, you can let them know your dietary restrictions, but you can also ask the waiter, is there any way you could ask the chef if instead of doing this stir fry in oil, they could do it with orange juice, water, beer, wine, anything besides, you know, the oil. That's 120 calories per tablespoon.
Carrie Barrett 00:08:10
Right, Right.
Rip Esselstyn 00:08:11
And you'd be amazed how many times this chef is happy to comply. Or you can go to a place and just say, hey, this is how I eat. Could you ask the chef if he could whip up something that is compliant and they'll do something. And I have found so many times that when we're taking an international flight because the only time you get the meals now we're on international flights. They stopped them domestically about maybe 15 years ago.
Carrie Barrett 00:08:37
I was going to suggest that when you're traveling, get the vegan meal.
Rip Esselstyn 00:08:41
But, but I get, I, I don't get the vegetarian because the vegetarian, they always have some sort of dairy in there, but you get the vegan or depending upon, sometimes it's even plant based, but you get that meal. And nine times out of 10. It's a home run.
Carrie Barrett 00:08:56
And you get it first.
Rip Esselstyn 00:08:57
And you get it first.
Carrie Barrett 00:08:58
Pro tip. If you're flying, especially internationally.
Rip Esselstyn 00:09:02
Yeah.
Carrie Barrett 00:09:03
Put your request in for the vegan meal. They come out first.
Rip Esselstyn 00:09:05
Yeah. And then. And then the B. And this is going to be applicable to a lot of things that we're going to talk about here, but the B is bring your own food, dressing, condiments, whatever it is, depending upon where you're going. I'll give you an example, and then I'd love to hear some of your examples.
Carrie Barrett 00:09:24
Sure.
Rip Esselstyn 00:09:24
But. So my example is, and I mentioned it in one of the earlier episodes, is we love, as a family, going to the Alamo Drafthouse. It's a place where you sit down, you watch a movie, but they also serve you at your seat. I always get the pizza without cheese, the red sauce with roasted onions and mushrooms. It's phenomenal. But I also typically will get a big old salad that they serve there. And they have a great. I can't remember the name of the salad, but it comes with all kinds of things. But I can't stand the dressing, so I bring my own dressing that's hidden in my little man purse, and then I pull it out at the appropriate time. So that's just an example.
Carrie Barrett 00:10:14
That's a great example. I have many that I could share, but one share one, one that sticks out is my late dad. My late father, one of his favorite places to eat was Longhorn Steakhouse. So after he passed and we were. I was in Ohio for the all the celebrations of life, my family wanted to go to Longhorn Steakhouse in his honor. Big family, like everyone. There were probably 20 of us there. And so I went and air fried. Before we left the house, I went and I air fried a block of organic tofu and heated it up. When I got to Longhorn Steakhouse, I did what we've already shared, which was I got a salad. I just got balsamic vinegar. I just asked them for balsamic vinegar for my dressing. Gigantic sweet potato, side of broccoli. And I threw my little slab of tofu on that salad. And I like, I was sort of the envy of the family. And it's amazing how many times when you get something that's maybe a little off menu, how many people look at your dish and go, that looks amazing. It happens more than you could imagine. And so those are my tricks for eating out. When it comes to travel, I much like you with your man purse. I am never without my little collapsible Lunch pail with me. And I don't care if my flight is two hours or an overnight flight. I always have that thing stacked with snacks or fruit that I've purchased before I've left the house. Now keep it in mind that you cannot pack hummus, you cannot pack peanut butter, but you can pack a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or you can pack a wrap that has hummus on it. You just have to be careful with, with TSA because they will confiscate some things. But I always have like the little cutie oranges, bananas, sandwiches, snacks that, that little edamame, like dried edamame you can get. You can even find some of that at the airport. I know Don Musailem, Dr. Don Musailem, did a little Instagram story on how she eats with all of her travels and she found soy nuts at an airport and just snacks on those. That was something that she had along with some fruit and stuff. So it's a big tip.
Rip Esselstyn 00:12:41
Yeah. And I do all the same things that you do. I do typically fruit that travels well, oranges, apples, bananas. I always put them at the very top of my of my backpack and eat those usually first. I love like you peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I make them on the Ezekiel 4, 9 bread. And depending upon how long it's going to be till I get to my destination, I'll either make one or three of those and there's been many time when I've had one the next day. And then I always carry a bag of either the chocolate granola, the PLANTSTRONG chocolate granola, or one of the cereals, the Ritz Big bowl cereals. And that way, for example, I can go to Starbucks, I can go to any coffee shop or smoothie shop and then just say, hey, will you sell me a 8 ounce glass of milk? Half the time they give it to me for free and I let them know it's for my cereal.
Carrie Barrett 00:13:44
Yeah.
Rip Esselstyn 00:13:44
And then I ask for a bowl as well and then I mix it up and make it and it's awesome.
Carrie Barrett 00:13:50
That's fantastic. The granola, I can assure you, saved me at an airport one time. We were coming back from our last retreat in Sedona last fall, and I got stuck in Denver for the night because of flight delays and missed connections. But guess what I had, I had leftover granola from the retreat and that was my dinner that night and it was my breakfast the following morning on the way to the airport. So, yeah, easily carry on a bull. And I think that that's just it. It's like, don't catch yourself unprepared. Find ways to have something on hand. And if you are a traveling executive, for instance, and you are always on the go, you should, you should have a routine and you should create a routine of like, these are the things that I never leave home without.
Rip Esselstyn 00:14:40
Well, and I'll just give you an example. Like, John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, traveled over 100 days a year for multiple, multiple decades. And he, once he went whole food plant based, pretty much around 2005ish, he would travel with his own rice cooker, a miniature rice cooker. And so he would make, make that in his hotel room. He, he would typically try and find a place to stay that had a kitchen in it so he could make his own food. He also, you know, especially nowadays, you can order from Instacart or any of these, these services and order your groceries from the closest grocery store. And a lot of times have them like Uber, have them delivered right to your hotel. And now you've got basically everything that you could want for the two or two days or a week that you're there. So again, I love what you said, you know, prepare ahead of time, figure out a routine that works for you and then stick by it.
Carrie Barrett 00:15:50
Just stick to it. Yeah. Another little travel food that we like to get a lot when we can are just the veggie sushi rolls that if you can find them with brown rice, even better, and take those with you on the plane. And we, like, we, we load up. I mean, I'll have like four packs of them on the, on the plane. And that way, once again, people are looking over at you like, man, you did. You did good. Like, I'd rather have that than this bag of Doritos or whatever it is, you know. So I think preparation is key here. And that is the key to almost everything that we're talking about with Plantstrong is just being prepared. And I think one of the things that we should talk about in a future episode is that barrier of timing and meal prep. So how do you fit it all in and get meals prepared? And so I think we'll talk about that in a, in a next episode.
Rip Esselstyn 00:16:45
Absolutely. But so for this episode, remember, remember, Fab. Figure out what you can eat at those restaurants, look at that menu, ask for what you want, bring your own food. And then when you're traveling, plan ahead, pack food. So, you know, a hungry stomach doesn't turn you into somebody that's going to have weakened willpower and do something that you're going to regret. And there you have it.
Carrie Barrett 00:17:17
I love it. All right, keeping it. Play it strong on the road.
Rip Esselstyn 00:17:21
PLANTSTRONG. I want to thank Carrie for co hosting this mini episode with me. I also want to thank all of you for sharing your fears, hesitations, and any burning questions that you have. And the next time that you go out to eat, remember the acronym FAB F. Look at that menu and figure out what you can eat. A. Whether it's the waiter or the waitress, don't be afraid to ask for what you want. And then lastly B bring your own food, salad dressing, whatever it might be. This will help alleviate some of the stress by planning ahead and I can almost guarantee you're going to have a wonderful and very healthy night out. If you happen to have any other suggestions or ideas or tips, please share them at speakpipe.com/plantstrong. I'll say that one more time because it's kind of tricky. Speakpipe.com/plantstrong and you never know, we may just play a few of them on a future episode. We've got a few more coming up and Carrie and I can't wait to brock and roll with all of you guys again in the future. All right, you guys, remember to always, always keep it PLANTSTRONG. The PLANTSTRONG podcast team includes Carrie Barrett, Laurie Kortowich and Ami Mackey. If you like what you hear, do us a favor and share the show with your friends and loved ones. You can always leave a five star rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And while you're there, make sure to hit that follow button so that you never miss an episode. As always, this and every episode is dedicated to my parents, Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr. And Ann Crile Esselstyn. Thanks so much for listening.
