“Old souls” have always held a kind of fascination for me. Whenever someone says, “She’s an old soul” or “He’s been here before,” I’m fascinated because I (most definitely) do not have an old soul, and I (most definitely) have NOT been here before.

Indeed, I’m jealous of these old souls, and, frankly, feel a bit ripped off that they apparently came into this whole enterprise with a context.

In fact, I am (without a doubt) a new soul, and even at my advanced age, I’ve always felt like a bit of a novice at life. As a result, I am extraordinarily pleased with myself whenever I discover something that I can place in my good-things-to-know arsenal.

One of these “good things to know” in terms of plant-based eating is that you always always need to be prepared. And I don’t mean that you need to be prepared before you attend a dinner party or anything–as I’ve made clear in previous posts, I would never impose my plant-based choices on hosts (other than telling them that I don’t eat meat). I mean you need to be prepared when you travel or when you’re in a situation where you might get seriously hungry and, as a result, become tempted to eat something really crappy. Indeed, when I embarked upon the most recent version of this plant-based-eating journey last January, I was completely surprised when James said he would join me; however, his engagement with the endeavour has made me super conscious of being prepared for hunger (which, on a plant-based diet, happens every three hours–or, if you’re James, every thirty minutes).

This consciousness of James’s needs has actually made me more aware of my own, so, as a result, I always have a vegan snack ready for both of us just in case.

As we were packing for our months-long trip to the cabin, I started thinking about the very limited vegetarian/vegan options available on BC Ferries: a veggie burger with fries (both of which are invariably floppy, for lack of a better word, and really quite horrible) or a quinoa salad (which is actually quite good, but not always available and also incredibly expensive for a cafeteria salad).

So I actually prepared myself (James was not interested–haha!) a picnic of vegetables and hummus, vegan slim jims, and hibiscus tea:

I was so pleased with my little mason-jar-dip insert because I’d seen these inserts at Brick and Mortar (and they cost a pretty penny!), but read online that you can just use a Mott’s apple sauce container (which is what I did). I was delighted with my picnic because 1) I saved about fifteen bucks, and 2) I didn’t feel like crap after eating a shitty, floppy BC Ferries White Spot veggie burger and shitty, floppy fries. I love fries, but they have to be worth it, and White Spot fries are beyond horrible–they are, in fact, a betrayal of the form!

James, however, was not interested, and went the full monty. Extraordinarily, his meal was almost completely plant based (barring the mayo and the parmesan on his Caesar salad). Just look at that smug face!

The weirdest thing about the day, however, was that I drank only my latest super-healthy tea concoction ALLLLLL day long: dried hibiscus flowers, dried mint, fresh ginger, and fresh turmeric root. As a result, I turned purple.

SERIOUSLY, I TURNED PURPLE.

I’d just been reading about a guy who turned orange from drinking carrot juice, but it didn’t occur to me that hibiscus and turmeric (which are both so intense in colour that they actually stain knives) could do the same thing. And I didn’t notice it until I took off my Fitbit.

And just in case you’re worried that I’m dying, I’m not: I simply have extraordinarily thin skin (both literally and figuratively–haha!), and, as Dr. Internet will tell you, “the main explanation [for purple skin] is thin skin, often made even more fragile by years of sun damage and weakened blood vessels.” Apparently, the condition is “known by the unfortunate name of senile purpura,” and exacerbated by “a substantial excessive intake of aspirin, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories, vitamin E, or ginkgo biloba,” or, in this case, hibiscus (which lowers blood pressure)  and turmeric root (a very effective anti-inflammatory). I should have learned my lesson back when I used to include beet powder (another blood-vessel opener) in my morning smoothies and my face turned bright purple.

Holy crap, it’s time to cut back on the hibiscus:

Aaaand the song of the day is, OF COURSE, Purple Rain: