Embracing Vacation Temptation

Summer is a time packed full of activities, including the best kind of activity: vacation! Erin’s here today to share her best vacation ever. Hopefully you won’t be too jealous- I have to admit I am.

For a little bit more about me first, my name is Erin, I’m a 21-year-old marketing major in college, and a vegetarian. I became a vegetarian a little over a year ago after looking to pursue a healthier lifestyle and become more informed about what I eat and how it affects my body. I blog about my eats, fitness, college, my life, my puppies, my boyfriend, and lots of other random stuff over at Girl Gone Veggie.

If you were still wondering where my favorite vacation was, let me give you a hint:

Hawaii! In 2010 I spent the summer interning for a marketing company on Oahu. It was without a doubt one of the best experiences of my life.

I lounged a lot, and soaked up a lot of sun. (With sunscreen, I’m so pale I’d fry to a crisp without it!)

I saw incredible beauty. I’ve never seen a place so visually stunning, it felt like it was out of a dream.

I explored the island and wore lots of sundresses. I love sundresses.

I went to a luau and got to meet some of the dancers. The all you can eat buffet and unlimited drinks were pretty nice too!

I went to a lot of happy hours. ;p

I attended social events for work.

I climbed a mountain!

And took a submarine to the bottom of the sea!

I also ate a LOT of local food. I was not a vegetarian at the time so there were lots of meats and chicken involved. Here I was eating pineapple ice cream at the Dole Plantation.

A ginger fried chicken Hawaiian plate lunch with a bed of rice and mac salad. If anything would ever tempt me to taste chicken again it would be this bad boy right here.

The best pancakes ever with homemade macadamia nut cream sauce.

Guava stuffed donuts.

Pho.

The most amazing cream puffs from Liliha Bakery.

Chicken and cheese burger manapua.

Mochi ice cream.

Shave ice, it’s so much better than Italian ice.

Did I mention how in the three months that I was there I gained over ten pounds? I doubt its very surprising after seeing all those pictures. I ate what I wanted, when I wanted, and didn’t have a second thought about it. Pilates, which I had been doing daily for months leading up to the trip, was done maybe five times total while I was on the island. While I was up and moving every day I was definitely in vacation mode. And this may sound weird but I think that was perfectly fine.

So many people stress over how to stay on track or how to avoid temptations while they’re on vacation. But the whole entire point of vacation is that it’s not your day to day life. I normally don’t eat cream puffs after meals, or huge plates of rice and macaroni salad for dinner. I can’t enjoy those foods in Pennsylvania, they’re not very typical around here, so for me they were totally worth the splurge. While if I went on that same vacation now I would eat a lot differently I wouldn’t change my past eating choices at all. I lived that vacation to the fullest, and enjoyed every moment of a once in a lifetime opportunity. At the end of the summer I came home and went back to my normal food routine. A few months later I became a vegetarian and embraced a whole new food routine. I lost that ten pounds I put on after coming back from vacation. What has lasted are the incredible memories and pictures to remember my amazing trip.

I’m a planner. I love to organize and map things out and generally feel like I’m in control and have a handle on my life at all times. That vacation taught me that while planning is great sometimes you need to throw up a shaka sign and just hang lose. Life is way too short.

If you’d like to read more about my journey going vegetarian, fun trips I’ve taken, or just random posts about my life feel free to check me out at Girl Gone Veggie. I love new readers! I also Tweet up a storm on Twitter. And I’d like to give a big thanks to Heather for letting me guest post! I can’t wait to hear all about your vacation girly!

Question of the Day: What’s the best vacation you’ve ever been on? What made it so special to you?