Latest / NHA Today Podcast / Plant-Based Cruising & Adventure with the NHA
Transcript
- Stephan Esser MD: All right, hello, and welcome to another edition of the NHA Today podcast. You know, the NHA has been on the leading edge of plant-based nutrition and lifestyle medicine for more than 75 years. we want to keep you healthy. But again, the goal is not just for you to be healthy, it's for you be out there living an amazing life, having adventures, changing the world for good, and having fun. Today I have on Wanda Huberman, who's the executive director of the NHA, and Lisa McCarrell, the director of McCarl Travel, herself a nurse with a master's degree in adult medicine. And a passion for plant-based nutrition. together we're going to be talking about some exciting opportunities for adventure. Ladies, welcome to the podcast today. ⁓ right. So I know together you've been collaborating on creating pretty cool adventures, a lot of them actually by So, before we get into the details, I want to ask the question ⁓ what sets these NHA voyages? Why are they Wanda Huberman: Thank you. Good to be here. Lisa McCarl, RN, MS, CTA: Thank you. Stephan Esser MD: different. I mean, with the size, the nutrition, the activity like what is it that makes why should people g be going on these amazing adventures? Wanda Huberman: You want me to jump in on this one, Lisa? Okay. So think what they do is allow you to maintain well we know what they do is they allow you to maintain your healthy lifestyle while exploring and having amazing adventures and making new friends and adding to your community of people who think and strive for the same things we're striving for, and that's lead living our best life. Lisa McCarl, RN, MS, CTA: Yes. Stephan Esser MD: I love it. So checking all of the boxes is what I'm hearing there. Very nice. Lisa McCarl, RN, MS, CTA: Yes, and I would like to add, I really enjoyed your talk on fun at the NHA conference, and support wholeheartedly. And part of fun building friendships, and part of our lifestyle is finding our people, finding our community, and spending time growing relationships. We've had so many wonderful friendships happen and we our travelers visit each other when they're not traveling. So much fun. Stephan Esser MD: ⁓ neat. I love it. So developing those relationships because a lot of people feel isolated when they make healthier choices, unfortunately, right? They're standard American diet in particular, right? They've people step away from that and people are like, What's going on? So, all right, so we get healthy food, we meet fun new people, have amazing adventures. I mean, this sounds all like stuff I want to sign up for. and the next escape, the the next adventure is November seventh through the fourteenth. that correct? Wanda Huberman: Yeah. Lisa McCarl, RN, MS, CTA: Ha ha ha. That is correct. And we're well, actually, no. We're going to Japan next week. Yes. Stephan Esser MD: Okay, so that's coming up fast. ⁓ my goodness. Wow. And is that is that one all full already? Okay. Lisa McCarl, RN, MS, CTA: I mean there might be a last minute cancellation if somebody is really determined. But ⁓ the ship departs from Osaka on 26, 2026. And we have tours planned in advance, ⁓ and and have spent more hours than we could ever count trying to arrange plant-based. ⁓ meals at hotels and on the ships. We even have NHA chef joining us to make sure our meals are all compliant. We have a group of about 68. The ship holds 212. So we're a good we we have a good portion of the ship. Stephan Esser MD: Awesome. Wow, nice. All right. Yeah. That is awesome. And so the next one that we know has sign ups though is November the seventh through the fourteenth. Where is that one going? Right? ⁓ what Lisa McCarl, RN, MS, CTA: Okay. We ⁓ the ship embarks in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and then visits Virgin Gorda, St. John's, Antigua, Martinique, Bequia, Saint George, Grenada, Tobago, ⁓ Bridgetown, Barbados. It's a wonderful itinerary. It's one of my favorite ⁓ ⁓ I've done it three times, ⁓ here we go again. Stephan Esser MD: Mm. Wanda Huberman: Yeah. Stephan Esser MD: Awesome. And what I'm hearing from you is these ships are a little smaller than it's not like these huge, massive I mean, what is the average numbers ⁓ these ships of just total customers? Lisa McCarl, RN, MS, CTA: Well, they vary. They vary. For our Antarctica expedition, the ship held about 220. for Tahiti, we had the entire ship and we had about 280 plant-based guests. And then this cruise is actually a cruise where we're preparing for larger groups. We have just about 20. So it's ⁓ we all private dining rooms. They're they've been wonderful in accommodating us. Stephan Esser MD: ⁓ wow. Okay. ⁓ nice. Lisa McCarl, RN, MS, CTA: And that one's with Azamara cruises and the ships hold about 700. the way that we make that small, a ship within a ship, is they're providing us a private dining room for breakfast, lunch, and then we're ⁓ they're starting our dinner earlier because we like to dine early and have those ⁓ hours before we go to sleep. and offer buffet and also seated dinner options. Stephan Esser MD: Wow, nice. So all kinds of options for people. And then, you know, so this is gonna be a Caribbean cruise. So that's the seventh through the fourteenth. So for our viewers, where can they go to sign up for this? Wanda Huberman: They can go to our website, go to healthscience.org, and up in the upper corner you'll see a green tab that says travel. Click on that and then go down and it's going to give you all the contact information for Lisa McCarrel how you can reach her insight. Stephan Esser MD: Awesome. So Lisa McCarl, RN, MS, CTA: To be part of our I'm sorry to interrupt, to be part of our NHA groups, they must book it through me because I directly work with the culinary teams, with Wanda, of course, they provide a certain they provision a certain amount because as you know, we eat probably two times the amount or three times the amount of leafy greens at the very least, but then all of our nuts and seeds and g bombs. Stephan Esser MD: Okay. Right, right, right. Lisa McCarl, RN, MS, CTA: So they provision specifically for the size of our groups. So all the NHA cruise groups go through me and I'm Lisa.mcarrell at gmail dot com. Stephan Esser MD: Nice. Beautiful. We can hopefully have that in the show notes below so that people can easily click on these things. And because I know there are going to be some people excited to sign up. And so got the healthy food kind of rounded up there. So and then all of the other sort of embarkments, right? Going out and doing different adventures at different stops, that pe the people can select that just like they would on a standard cruise. Is that correct? Okay, very nice. Good. So because this will be a beautiful time of year, November. All of you people up north, it's getting a little chilly in November. You Lisa McCarl, RN, MS, CTA: Correct. Yes. Stephan Esser MD: Get a little way to the Caribbean for a little, this would be beautiful. So Lisa McCarl, RN, MS, CTA: We always have fun with Wanda and Mark snorkeling. several of us are certified divers, but I think we're not gonna be scuba on trip, but we'll be s snorkeling, kayaking, swimming, hiking. W there's a lot of ⁓ mountainous terrain in some of these islands, so they make for great hiking. Stephan Esser MD: Beautiful. Awesome. Awesome. And I mean it's just it's so wonderful, right? Because you know, growing up in this area, right, of of healthy living, you always had to pack all your own food and be so conscientious. And yet you all are taking care of that, ⁓ which is so wonderful, right? You know, kind of that you're making the food accessible and easy. So let's eat up and then go on these adventures. And so that's the November seventh through the 14th. And then there's another one coming up in new year in May, right? This is a voyage in Italia. Right. So tell me more about this Italian cruise, you know, because we all want to know will will there be SOS plant based Italian food to eat on this cruise? What what's what are the what's gonna go what's gonna happen there? Lisa McCarl, RN, MS, CTA: Yes. Wanda, I'll start with the cruise and then turn the land portion over to you. But I will say that prior to May, we have another huge group of 70 going to Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, and Cambodia. And that one is on wait list. And so if we had any cancellations, we may be able to add a few people for the February embarkation. However, Stephan Esser MD: ⁓ wow. Lisa McCarl, RN, MS, CTA: Italy. it's also on wait list, but it's a phenomenal cruise. It starts in Venice and we go down the coast of Italy and over to Positano, Sorrento, Wanda and I are gonna visit Capri. You can see antiquities, you could we I think we're signed up to go to Herculaneum. so many fabulous cultural sites. but also fabulous food on the ships. And it will be the same format where we have private dining with buffets, but also the option to have seated dinners. ⁓ And then after that, not all, we're disembarking Rome ⁓ and I'm a group up to Tuscany ⁓ where we join World Vegan Travel. And Wanda can tell about the Tuscan retreat. Stephan Esser MD: Awesome. Nice. Tell us, tell us, we want to hear. Wanda Huberman: So we rarely do places twice or three times because the world's so big, but this Tuscan village, I've done it three times. Lisa's gonna host it this year. it is ⁓ a little just this quaint favorite medieval ⁓ town San Giuliano, and we're staying at an organic agri villa where they truly go out, it's farm to table. ⁓ Stephan Esser MD: ⁓ my goodness. Wanda Huberman: completely vegan and we take over the whole agri villa they it it was a a monastery and they have this outside pizza oven and it's just spectacular and is a very intimate small group group the villa can hold about 24 people and so it too is sold out for 2027 we have four rooms left for 2028 and mark and i will be leading 2028 Stephan Esser MD: Wow. Wanda Huberman: All of these are on our travel page and so chefs they are just getting. Stephan Esser MD: Wow. Clearly we need to sign that one up multiple times a year, it sounds like. My goodness. Wanda Huberman: Yeah, yeah. So it's good to sign up in advance. send notice to our life members first and then our sentry members, then to all of our general members. So being on our newsletter and being a member is how you get early access. You can always monitor our webpage. And I want to throw in about the Caribbean and the Italy cruise. The chef for Azamara was so interested in how we eat. Stephan Esser MD: Right. Wanda Huberman: You may have met him, Dr. Esther. He came to our 2026 conference just to work in the kitchen with our NHA chef, who is going to be in Japan. Chef John Noakowski is leading the kitchen the ship in Japan. And Chef Jason, was at our conference and is well versed in this now, will be ahead of the in leading the kitchen for the Caribbean and for Italy. Lisa McCarl, RN, MS, CTA: Yes. Stephan Esser MD: Awesome. Wanda Huberman: And that wait list, don't get discouraged. Because we plan two years out for these trips, things happen, people cancel. so if you have an interest, please email Lisa, email me, get on a wait list, and a we'll be giving you a call. ⁓ Right. Exactly. are born. Those kind of things. ⁓ Stephan Esser MD: And fingers crossed that people bail out. They have a wedding or something they have to go to. Lisa McCarl, RN, MS, CTA: Right. Right, grandchildren born. That's so we do I can report that through the years we have offered a spot to everyone on our wait list. so our wait list really is an active group. It's dynamic ⁓ the it's fabulous. Stephan Esser MD: ⁓ that's hilarious. Right. That's good to know. What, you know, and I do like the fact that you schedule these so far out in advance that allows people to, you know, kind of think about things, plan stuff out, and right, put their money together so they're ready to, you know, kind of have that as a fun goal, right? For those of us who have a little more fixed income, et cetera. It might be something you put toward your goal. You know, this is a life experiences for sure. You know, and jumping ahead to 2028, right? You have another cruise scheduled for Europe. tell me about this one. Who's the target audience? Where is it going? Why should I get on it? Lisa McCarl, RN, MS, CTA: Well, we have another 2027 as well. We're back to Alaska. We are accepting names the wait list for that. And we have at least two cruises for 2028. The Spain cruise, Spain, Portugal, touches into Morocco. We are on wait list for that as of 10 minutes ago. And I'm we will fill it. And then we a domestic. Stephan Esser MD: ⁓ my goodness. Lisa McCarl, RN, MS, CTA: Cruise and that's with American Cruise Lines, who's doing a fabulous job for a lot of individual travel. I've sailed with them and love them. Very small ship, and it's going to San Juan Islands and Puget Sound. Stephan Esser MD: Wow, nice. I mean, gosh, you can everything, right? I mean, from Tahiti to Alaska to the Caribbean to Europe to Asia. I mean, you guys are really covering the globe, which is very exciting to hear, you know? Something for everybody, it sounds like. Lisa McCarl, RN, MS, CTA: Yes. Well, we have a group that did the polar plunge in Antarctica and are really, really trying to get to the Arctic region to do the Arctic plunge as well. ⁓ I suspect there are some on the Alaska trip, they're doing ⁓ plunges for people who like cold plunging. And Chilla Vrest says that's really good for us to shock our system like that. ⁓ Stephan Esser MD: ⁓ my goodness. That's that's that's gonna be that's the real plunge there. So, you know, jumping back to land-based travel for a bit here, I hear that you have a few rooms still available for the upcoming safaris, one in Botswana and the other in Rwanda. So I know we had a whole show on this. for those who may have missed that full podcast, why don't you give us a little nugget of what these adventures entail and ⁓ why people should sign up. Wanda Huberman: Yeah. Well, I'll jump in on that. World Vegan Travel is my organizer versus the cruises we organize with the cruise line and Lisa McCarl. Botswana, Mark and I did that twice two years ago. It was so popular, it sold out so quick that we just stuck around for three days and then a second group came in and we went back out. It is fabulous. You start in Cape Town, you could spend A week in Cape Town alone. It's beautiful culturally. It's wonderful. And then we take a bush, not a bush plane. We take a small plane and we fly to Botswana, where then take a bush plane and we go to ⁓ a type safari, and you are literally in the wild ⁓ and amazing. I ship food, they bring food, food is phenomenal. We take over ⁓ The camp can hold about 28 people. It's an entirely vegan camp when we're there. And we do that part of the safari for about four days. Then we get back on a bush plane, which is a fun experience in itself, and go to a a water based at the Okavango. And you the water base and then you fly back to Cape Town. So because I've done it twice, Lisa and Clayton will host that. So you get a chance to travel with them and Any of our travelers who have done that know that they are a barrel of fun and the consummate host. Lisa McCarl, RN, MS, CTA: Especially Clayton. more the I'm working the whole trip. Wanda Huberman: And then before Botswana, we're going to Rwanda. And Mark and I have not done that. We will be hosting Rwanda. That's gonna be in November. Botswana be early December. They're kind of back to back. The world vegan host will do both. Rwanda is so exciting because we are going to do cultural things like participate in Unganda. And Unganda is just a day. The entire country sets aside. Stephan Esser MD: Awesome. Right. Yeah. Wanda Huberman: one day I think it's the last Sunday of the month, I might have that wrong, and they give back to the community, whether it's federally, locally, county, and people give service. And we're going to participate in that. And then we're going to hike up into the mountains and we have porters that help us. So if you're not, you're thinking I can't hike a mountain, you can do this. It's not, there's lots of support for you. And we're gonna find every group, you'll be in a very small group, and every group will find a gorilla family. And you're just gonna sit watch and to observe their family activity and you're right there. And the gorillas are walking around taking care of their babies and we get to be part of that. It's going to be amazing. Stephan Esser MD: Amazing. Amazing. Yeah. So those opportunities are still available. So I want to encourage everybody watching to go onto the NHA website, go to the travel button, click it, and go sign up for either Botswana or Rwanda for this fall, right? And then plan out your sea voyages of Wanda Huberman: Well for next fall, November t November twenty twenty seven and December twenty twenty six. Stephan Esser MD: In December 2027. Okay, so we still got some openings there. so sign up for those and get going. And then also all the sea voyages that we talked about that sound so compelling. I just saw some beautiful photos of the food, and we're gonna try to get those up for you all to view and see as well to kind of tantalize you a little bit with delicious food. Imagine having that food out the beautiful sea air and then the adventures and the I mean, just amazing, amazing. So Any other thoughts you want to share with our viewers today before we close up shop about all of these opportunities? Lisa McCarl, RN, MS, CTA: Well, we're making exciting plans for the future. We have been, we work for years in advance before we promote these years in advance. we're working with a company that ⁓ we think might be a good fit for Galapagos for 2029. And certainly looking our Antarctica cruise was so successful, we'd love to go to the Arctic with that same company, Seaborne Cruises, their expedition line, and We're always open to ideas. And you're interested in something we've spoken about, you we feel free to email me and start a list when I hear people are interested. And then when we have a lot of people asking for a specific destination, Wanda and I talk and ⁓ and out how it can happen. Stephan Esser MD: Awesome. Wanda Huberman: There's another location Lisa didn't mention. It's sold out, but it has a short, I think a short wait list. You tell me if I'm wrong, Lisa. in 2028, January, when it's cold in the north. We're going to Australia and New Zealand. So that's a great Lisa McCarl, RN, MS, CTA: Yeah. Yes. And that's a wonderful cruise. That's that's fabulous. And it's a great way to see that area. And you get a little bit of everything. one thing that it's great to go early to Australia to get more of a wildlife experience because that's where you really can see the kangaroos. And we have NHA members that live in Australia and they have an area where they go and they said that the Austr the kangaroos are just like deer. To us. They're happen around everywhere. so there's lots of I have to say that over years, the wildlife encounters have been some of my favorite experiences on our NHA travel. Stephan Esser MD: Amazing. Well, and that's at the heart of this. Wanda Huberman: And the the the benefit, Dr. Esser, of us doing this two years ahead is we lock in rates that are going to be better than what you can get now. And so yeah, so not only do you get to save and plan, you do get a bargain. And because we have group discounts, it it's a good value for your money. Lisa McCarl, RN, MS, CTA: Yes. The best prices. It's already doubled. Yeah. Stephan Esser MD: Awesome. So reasonable pricing, amazing adventures, spectacular sort of experiences, especially with the wildlife and all this, fantastic food, meet new friends, win, win, win across the board. So thank you both of you for joining today to discuss these awesome opportunities and for all the work you've done to put into them, all the love and passion that you're investing in the time and the effort. And I want to encourage all of our viewers today to go check it out. Go to the healthscience.org website, click on the travel links. and take a look at all the beautiful photos, the amazing itineraries, and sign up today. And with that, thank you ever both of you for joining and for all of your work. Lisa McCarl, RN, MS, CTA: Thank you. I hope you'll join us sometime. Stephan Esser MD: I look forward to it. All right. Bye. Wanda Huberman: Thank you. Bye bye. Lisa McCarl, RN, MS, CTA: Bye.