A Day In the Life - Business Trippin'

Many thanks to the Foodista for featuring Dani California Cooks as “Food Blog of the Day” yesterday!

Every Monday I hop on a plane (sometimes two) for my job and return home on Thursday evening. I wanted to show you all a little sneak peek into my daily routine on a a typical Monday traveling day for work! When I first traveled for work 3 years ago, it was really tough to feel and stay healthy with all of the eating out and long travel days - you can read part of my story here. I’ve learned a few things since then, and now, I exercise most days during the week to keep me sane, get to know all of the better food options around my client site, and have become comfortable with ordering the way I want to in restaurants. If any of you travelers have go-to tips and tricks for staying well on the road, please, please pass along!

5:40am: I’m half-asleep in my taxi, all wrapped up in my puffer bracing myself for the cold weather to come.

7:00am: Lift off! I think I’m already asleep again.

8:00ish: Sleeping beauty (cough, me) arises. Time for a traveling breakfast - today it’s a banana and a Peanut Butter Think Thin bar - both brought from home. Think Thin and Lara bars with a piece of fruit are my go-to in-flight travel breakfasts. I make my to do list for the day and start catching up on e-mail!
9:30am: We land in Seattle. Check out that view!

10:00am: Sea-Tac Airport MAKES MY MORNING when I find out that Caffe Vita has almond milk as an option! Finally I’m fully awake as I sip on this latte.

10:25am: I board the second flight (AKA a helicopter) to Spokane.

11:00am: Lift off! Flight length is just enough time to do my makeup (sorry to the guy sitting next to me) and finish up some of those e-mails.

12:00pm: Land in Spokane, and find my way to my mini-rental car. Driving to client site I stop by the Main Market Organic Co-Op to pick up food and snacks! I think I ate five meals there this week.

1:15pm: Arrive at the office, and break into my lunch. Today’s salad is a spinach/kale blend topped with cabbage, marinated artichokes, goat cheese, grilled chicken, and a little white wine vinaigrette. Yum!

1-6pm: No fun pictures for you because I pretty much don’t move from my laptop. Couple of handfuls of pistachios along the way.

6:15pm: My wonderful teammate and I hit up the nearest Pure Barre for a lift, tone and burn session! Do my mismatched socks make anyone nervous? My boyfriend is a little OCD about having perfect pairs of socks, so I send him this photo and I’m sure I give him the heebie jeebies all the way in Cambodia. 7:10pm: I love that this was posted outside the Pure Barre studio. I really appreciate these visible reminders that force me to take a step back and think about all that I’m thankful for - health, strength, friends, family, good food, community, life - all that is listed below. Other things I thought about this week that I’m thankful for are is the crazy wifi capabilities that allow me to Skype with my boyfriend even when he’s in a remote island in the middle-of-nowhere Southeast Asia, teammates who are great to to work with and hang out with, and looking forward to my grandfather’s 92nd birthday.

7:30pm: Aaaaaand we’re back at the Main Market Co-op. I know this looks extremely unappetizing, but I promise that their Curried Chicken Salad is fantastic. It has raisins, apples, celery, chicken, and a delicious curry mayo. I put this on top of a bed of greens and called it dinner. I definitely would have preferred something warm since it was so cold out! But we were in workout clothes and wanted something quick, easy and healthy. 8:00pm: Made our way back to the hotel. Wrote this post and continued to work - but from my bed, and with The Voice on in the background, of course! You can’t tell here, but my room had just a lovely view of the parking lot. Valets were pretty much backing up people’s cars into my bed.