Vegan Flight Attendant Training, Week 1

I have embarked upon the first of four weeks of living in a hotel during Flight Attendant training! Having no means of cooking anything would be an eating challenge I was determined to not solve by eating take out everyday, though Charlotte, North Carolina has many vegan options around. To follow are some meal planning tips and must-have staples if you are experiencing the same or similar eating challenges.

Find a well-stocked store for your initial shop!

This shop will ensure you have the basics stocked in your hotel fridge… stuff you don’t have to buy every week.

My basic shop included:

• Some liters of sparkling water
• A good salad dressing ( I got Mother Raw’s Ceasar. )
• A good yogurt ( I got Cocoyo Pure, thee best yogurt.)
• Peanut butter
• Jelly
• A loaf of good bread
• Vegan butter
• Greens (Enough for week 1 lunches, Mon-Fri)
• Nuts (Tons of all kinds)
• A variety of vegetables for salad making
• Granola
• A sweet treat (I got the best vegan cookie, the OG, Uncle Eddie’s.)
• Salty snacks (My criteria: What has no “natural flavor” and what’s on sale)

A good dressing makes an everyday salad feel way more satisfying… I never skimp on salad dressing if I am buying store bought.

Elevate the items in the hotel’s Breakfast Buffet!

You want to want to complement the items that may be made available from say a daily breakfast buffet that are vegan or to replace the heavily processed versions of some commonplace eats.

Berries and banana are from the hotel’s Breakfast Buffet!

Here their berries and banana are again in my high brow yogurt and granola.

There is also the toaster! Forget their yucky bread. Put in your own and spread it with your vegan butter and jam.

Of course you will want to try some of the local vegan eateries too! I am giving myself the weekend explore some of the area’s great vegan food. I’ll be back with those posts soon.

Some other tips and things to bring that have been helpful:

Bringing pieces of home is so important, things that will help you heel like you are not isolated in a hotel room away from all your loved ones for an extended period of time. Though the training curriculum will keep you busy, it’ll leave you a bit raw and in need of hugs you cannot get. My encouragement board is helping, as is having an organized space with room for the many functions of existing. Having previously been a teacher, I put to use some old school supplies.

My favorite are these heavy duty magnets I used to use in my classroom. Since hotel doors and entry ways are often metal, I have easy storage solutions.

Training Uniform?

If you are like me, you didn’t have much business attire in which to bring. All of my training gear is second hand and I will likely donate most of it back to a thrift store when done as I don’t have much desire to look like a maître d’ longer than I have to.

For vegan shoes, I got a few pairs of vegan heels from Dream Pairs.

The Flight Attendant uniform is all-vegan… but there is a regulation belt that is leather that was ordered in my bundle as it is required. Once I have it I can better assess the possibility of replacing the style with a synthetic one possibly?