Drinking water at a farewell dinner party

Day 7

The last couple of days have been busy, with me being out of the house quite a lot. Usually, that wouldn’t be a problem but Live Below the Line makes it a bit harder. I tried to plan ahead and although it worked on Tuesday, when I cooked my meals for the day to take with me, it didn’t quite work yesterday. I had to go home each time I was hungry to cook soup - not a very portable meal anyway.

I didn’t mind as much until a dear family friend from New Zealand invited me to dinner and drinks to say goodbye to him and his wife as they are moving back to Auckland. I said I would love to come but that I would be fine for dinner. I didn’t mention anything about the drinks but knew I had to kindly decline them too – on a farewell night!

I had some very interesting conversations over my glass of water while everyone else (it turned up to be a dinner party) enjoyed a festive pre-Christmas dinner. I kept telling myself that as a vegan I wouldn’t have been able to eat much anyway but that’s not true. I know my friend would have made an effort for me.

Everyone wanted to know more about Live Below the Line and interestingly, I didn’t have as many questions about what I would eat as I had in the past. People there seemed to be aware that living on under £1 per day in developing countries means that little money has to cover everything, not just food. I enjoyed the conversations we had, raised awareness of extreme poverty and felt good about only drinking water all night. Farewells don’t have to be about food. It’s all about being together and having a great time, which we had. 

Today is my last day of the Live Below the Line challenge and I’m well prepared. I’m flying to Norway to spend Christmas with my family and take the last couple of meals with me – lunch to have in the plane and dinner for tonight. I cooked those meals at the beginning of my challenge to ensure I wouldn’t run out of food on my last day. Travelling without eating all day is not fun.

Moroccan chickpea tagine with polenta - my dinner on Tuesday.

Speaking of running out of food – breakfast this morning is a little smaller than usual but overall I still have some food left from my challenge! The planning ahead certainly paid off and provided enough meals. Now I just hope that security at the airport will allow me to take my prepared food with me. It’s hard enough not to have any water unless I find a water fountain once I walk through security…