Holy Week is usually a time to go on vacation. However, rising fuel prices may deter some people from using their gasoline-powered cars, so they opt for electric vehicles and head to the mountains or beaches for some much-needed R&R.
My favorite kind of R&R, though, is a staycation. I stay home and read books, write, sleep, eat, and repeat. On Monday and Tuesday, I bought groceries to avoid going out during the long Easter weekend.
I’d panic if I ran out of red meat. I recently added back bangus belly and salmon, which I always had as paksiw. Since I stopped using apple cider vinegar, I’ve been making bangus belly tinola instead, and it’s yummy! Let’s see if salmon tinola will be just as good.
I’ve also stopped using coco aminos, so no more pork adobo. I’ve decided to simplify my diet further by using only salt, lard, tallow, butter, and water.
If these were still my high-carb days, I’d be stocking up on carbs: potato chips, corn chips, peanuts, pistachios, macadamias, diet soda, etc.
While grocery shopping, I’d see other carts filled with carbs. I’m sure I’m not the only carnivore dieter who feels tempted to give unsolicited advice to a high-carb shopper before they reach the cashier and spend money on breakfast cereals, pancake mixes, maple syrup, bananas, watermelons, oranges, red rice, pancit, sotanghon, misua, instant noodles, and other usual grocery items I used to buy.
I wish I had found more books about the carnivore diet, since I only bought a few months ago. The books I’m currently reading are still interesting, though: the autobiographies of Sinéad O’Connor (“Rememberings”) and Dennis Rodman (“Bad As I Wanna Be”). I’m hoping to finish them soon so I can move on to the many books I plan to read and reread—boxes and boxes of them.
Both O’Connor and Rodman were somewhat notorious at the height of their popularity, so reading their autobiographies at the same time makes comparison easier for me.
The more I read, the more I’m inspired to write. It’s a nice cycle, made possible by a staycation—the cheapest and simplest kind of vacation.
There’s no need to book plane or boat tickets, reserve accommodations, waste gasoline, or eat at restaurants. There’s no stress over delayed or canceled flights, rebooking, or rushing to airport gates after checking in at the last minute. There’s no travel time that can last for hours, and no need to look for clean restrooms along the way when traveling by land. There’s also zero chance of getting diarrhea from unfamiliar food—imagine dealing with that without a clean restroom, or even any restroom nearby.
I remember back in the ’90s when the advice was to bring a fan and a stick in case nature called in the middle of nowhere—the fan to cover your face, and the stick to drive away wildlife.
I don’t know if rising fuel prices will affect people’s Easter vacation plans, but a staycation has always been my favorite way to spend the Easter weekend. Nowadays, I’d rather stay home if there’s no gym.
