Traveling very much does make me thoughtful...I usually drive and I'm almost always by myself. Even listening to the radio or CDs doesn't distract me (and as I recently found out, books on tape have a tendency to make me very sleepy--not good on the road!)
When I travel, I take food with me. I have been gone both of the last two weekends and I've had bags of groceries with me either time. That, or I've taken prepared food with me to eat. So consider the time I had to spend cooking and preparing food in addition to packing. I can stop at McDonald's and get fries and a milkshake, but that's about all I can eat there (discounting the "beef flavoring" in or on the fries--it's never bothered me). It is a big pain the ass sometimes to make sure, when more important things are happening, that I have food to eat.
But then I really started thinking...I seldom go out to eat because I'm too anxious about my choices. When I do go out, I check the menu beforehand. My friends always let me pick the restaurant if we do decide to go out. I always take my H2 blocker before I eat out at a restaurant where I don't know I can order 'safe' food. Salads are usually safe, but I have to be careful with dressings (eggs, vinegar derived from things I'm to which I'm allergic). This has perpetrated into the cafeterias at the hospitals where I work. I often take my lunch, but sometimes I can't wriggle out of eating something. I use the line that I'm a vegetarian, and if pressed, I'll admit to an egg allergy. I've gotten away with that here recently.
But this article (http://captainawkward.com/2013/03/09/459-do-i-have-to-destroy-my-health-to-be-in-grad-school/#more-5297) made me think. If you don't want to read it, here's a mini-summary: it's about being in grad school with a "hidden condition." IE--if you have a walking cast on, no one judges you for taking the elevator and for skipping events across campus. There are plenty of people who have "hidden conditions"; for the writer in the post, it's migraines and PCOS. The beauty of a hidden condition is that you don't have to divulge to everyone what's going on with you; you get to chose. Which is particularly good in some situations, but when you're in grad school and you have a million and one commitments, things get dicey.
I'm rambling here but basically what it comes down is that it sucks. It can be an invasion of your privacy to have to constantly excuse yourself from things because you can't do it--I have yet to find a clever way to get out of business dinners; I can't imagine what it would be like for someone with migraines trying to get through a difficult day at work. Not everyone around you needs to know the intimate details of your health history. Also, I'm in grad school and I've worked hard to get to where I am and I don't want anyone making exceptions or anything for me just because I have a health condition. So I hide it. Because I can.
But at the end of the day, when I drag myself home, I have to eat. I can't stop at fast food and pick something up. Do I have time to make it to the gym before my blood sugar tanks? Do I have a snack in my purse that I can eat? I will tell you that I have eaten food I don't like and don't want because someone pressed it on me--I was late to a dinner and my friend collected some fruit for me off the appetizer trays and it only had on it fruit I'm allergic to or that I don't like. Did I eat it? Yes, because it would have been rude to brush off the gesture.
I nearly passed out the other day in a relatively benign situation. As I excused myself to sit down and let the waves of hot/cold pass, I was extensively questioned on when I'd last eaten and whether or not I was pregnant (I'm sure you can all imagine my reaction to that!). I was fine, but later, to myself, I had to question if I've been getting good enough nutrition recently. Who knows what really happened because I ended up pinning it on too much travelling and both physical and mental exhaustion, but it brings home the point that grad school is a bitch of a time to try to take care of yourself.
When you barely have enough time to do laundry and go grocery shopping, try adding in something else. I'm sure there are boatloads of my peers in this situation. We all have things we like to keep personal.
I was way more rambly today than usual...sorry guys. :) I also finally had the opportunity to try oatmeal in isolation to see what kind of a reaction I have to it and I can tell you it's making me dizzy and quite frankly a little scatterbrained, which is pretty weird. also, oatmeal is pretty gross to eat when you know it's going to make you sick and yet you want to know what it's going to do to you.
alsooooo commas are being difficult today. sorry. and my consistency with capitalization. i apologize. it's the oatmeal.
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