For some people, travel is super easy. They can be spontaneous and just get up and go. For us vegans though, it can be a little more difficult.
Or at least, we think it’s difficult. But there are hundreds of vegan travellers out there (myself included), who have managed to travel without their veganism being too much of a problem.
So how do they do it? How do they breeze from destination to destination, finding nutritious vegan meals in places where the term ‘vegan’ might not even be understood?
At first, it was a mystery to me too. Newly vegan and struggling not to give in to any non-vegan temptation, I made my way to different destinations around the world. And somehow, I managed to 1) survive, and 2) figure out exactly what it is that makes vegan travel that bit easier.
Here are 20 tips to help you travel the world easily, as a vegan, so that hopefully, your plant based travels will run a lot more smoothly.
1: Travel with other vegans
The more vegan company you have whilst traveling, the more likely you are to stay true to veganism.
Finding vegan options can be difficult, but when there’s a whole group of you, you’ll encourage each other to keep going until you find the perfect place. Plus, you’re much less likely to give in to temptation when you’re surrounded by other strong willed vegans or vegetarians.
Traveling with other vegans can also be a lot less stressful. When you travel with a meat eater, they might not have the patience to help you find a restaurant or cafe with vegan options. You might feel pressured to just give in and eat somewhere without a single vegan option. That’s when you feel tempted to break your commitment to veganism, and that’s the last thing you want!
2: Don’t expect a ton of vegan options
Some places will have so many plant based meal choices, that it’ll be like a vegan heaven. But in other places, in fact, probably in most places, plant based living might be a preposterous idea to locals.
In these places, vegan options might be quite hard to come by, and might appear on menus by chance, rather than as strategically planned options for vegans. Every now and then, you’ll probably end up with some makeshift vegan meal that the restaurant or cafe has thrown together. And more often than not, these makeshift meals won’t be all that great, so do what you can to find somewhere that caters for vegans!
It might take a little searching, but even in places where meals are very meat orientated, you’ll find something. Just don’t expect a ton of options. If you’re expecting a whole range of menu options, you’re more likely to be disappointed. So tone down your expectations, that way if you do manage to come across somewhere that seems to be a plant based heaven, it’ll be a pleasant surprise.
3: Pack your favourite vegan sauce or salad dressing
Some people might think you mad for packing your own condiments, but any vegan traveler will understand completely. They’ll probably have done the same, or if they haven’t, they’ll soon be wishing they had!
Often, sauces and dressings that you wouldn’t even think to contain animal products, aren’t vegan. And even us plant based folk don’t want to be eating plain old leaves when we order a salad.
So sneak a few bottles or packets of your favourite sauces and salad dressings, and you’ll have your own flavour sachets to garnish any salads or sandwiches.
Also, no matter where you go, you’ll be able to find a supermarket. And if you can find a supermarket, you can always find at least some lettuce, and with your own sauces already packed, you’ve got yourself a flavoursome lunch.
4: Pack a bunch of vegan snacks
Packing vegan snacks is key to making vegan travel easy. The worst part about traveling as a vegan is that even when you’re super hungry, you’ve probably got a little wait until you can find somewhere with vegan options.
Having vegan snacks with you makes searching for vegan food in a new place a little more bearable. You can have a munch on some of your favourite treats to keep you going.
They also make day trips a whole lot easier. If you’re heading out on a hike, or even to a tourist attraction like a national park, you’re not likely to stumble across any vegan-friendly food options. With your own snacks already packed, you’ll be fully prepared for a long day trip, with your picnic all ready. As long as you’ve come prepared with snacks, you’ll have energy to keep you going all day, and you shouldn’t need to turn back in search of food.
5: Learn how to ask if something is vegan
One of the biggest struggles vegan travellers come across is communication. Those without any dietary requirements will often wing it, and order anything. It’s easy to work out the basics, but when you need to know if there’s egg or milk in something, that requires a little more knowledge of the local language.
Before you rock up in a new destination, do a little googling, and find out how to ask if something is vegan. This might go without saying, but you should also learn the language for ‘yes’ and ‘no’, just so you know what their response is when you ask.
You might already have an inkling about what menu options contain animal products, but some menu items might surprise you. And at least if you learn how to ask what’s vegan, you might end up finding a delicious meal that you previously thought was off limits.
6: Take to Instagram for inspiration
When you set out, you might feel like you’re the only vegan traveler on earth, but don’t worry, you’re not. There are thousands of us out here, and most of us love to share our vegan experiences on Instagram.
Search your destination on Insta, and have a scroll through, and you might find some vegan food pictures. You can also try searching for #vegan followed by you destination. For example, I’m writing this eBook in the French town of Chamonix, so I searched for #veganchamonix. Now, this is a fairly small town, and one that not too many people have heard of, so my search might not have returned too many results, but the point is, I still got at least some results. Type in somewhere bigger, #vegansanfrancisco for example, and you’ll find thousands of posts. Most of them will be geotagged, or will mention the venue in the caption, so you can easily track down those vegan dishes that look delicious.
7: Learn the language for certain ingredients
As well as learning how to ask if something is vegan, if you want to go the extra mile, and make double sure you’re not going to slip up with any non-vegan foods, you might want to learn the local language for ingredients like milk and eggs.
This is going to make supermarket shops a lot easier. If you’re not sure if something is okay for you to eat, you can then simply scan the back for animal product ingredients.
Also, believe it or not, there will be places where the term ‘vegan’ is unheard of. You might ask what vegan options they have and be met with a blank stare. So if you can ask if something contains the things you’re refraining from eating, without using the term ‘vegan’, you’ll have found a way around that obstacle.
8: If you can, book self catering accommodation
Most people like eating out because it’s easier, and nicer, but for us vegans, it’s a heck of a lot more difficult than eating at home, and often there isn’t too much to choose from (which makes it even worse for fussy vegans!).
So to avoid the awkward eating out and searching for something you can eat, try and book self catered accommodation. This way, you’ll have the freedom to cook delicious vegan meals in your accommodation, with no questions asked, and no hours of searching.
Plus, booking self catered can make your travels a lot less expensive. Book through booking.com or Airbnb and often it’ll be much cheaper than a hotel, and sometimes as affordable as a hostel. Even if you do go the hostel route though, you can usually find hostels with kitchens, where you can do your own food prep. You also won’t then have to spend money on eating out, which let’s face it, can be pretty pricey.
9: Ring ahead and ask your hotel/hostel about the local vegan options
If you can’t book self catering, or if you’re just interested in going out to eat, ring ahead and ask about what vegan options there are locally.
This way, you’ll have a good idea of what’s on offer. If it turns out there’s not much around for vegans, you won’t be disappointed when you arrive. And if there’s loads of plant based options, you can plan all your meals (and your budget) in advance.
And if you haven’t yet fully decided on where you’re staying, ringing round a few different places can help you choose the best hotel or hostel. You might even find somewhere with a whole load of other vegans, and where there’s vegans, there’s like minded friends. Then hopefully, if you’re not sure where to find a suitable and delicious snack, someone else will be able to direct you to the perfect place.
10: Take to Pinterest for inspiration
Pinterest can be just as useful for finding vegan inspiration as Instagram. Search on Pinterest for vegan options in your destination, and you’ll find restaurants and cafes that you’d never have found otherwise.
Much like you would on Instagram, just search ‘(your destination) vegan’ or ‘(your destination) vegan restaurants’ and you should be met with some scrumptious looking search results.
11: Find other local vegans and vegan travellers online
It’s always great to make a like minded friend who lives a similar lifestyle to you, and finding other vegan travellers can really make your trip.
You can exchange stories, discuss veganism in depth, and you might even learn something from each other. Often, the best cafes are the ones you hear about from someone else.
Plus, if you’re traveling alone, or as the only vegan in your group, finding other vegans can be a fun reminder of why you chose to become vegan in the first place.
There are plenty of places you can find other vegans online. Try social media groups and communities, and you’re bound to find someone traveling to the same place as you.
12: Look for health food shops
The first mistake people often make is searching for ‘vegan’ cafes and restaurants. Sure, that’s essentially what you’re looking for, but there aren’t too many cafes that label themselves as such.
Instead, you want to look for health food shops. These often specialise in organic and healthy products, but as you probably know, veganism is pretty damn healthy, so naturally they’ll have plenty of vegan options.
Most health food cafes will also sell products for you to take away, so you can stop off for their to refuel, and also top up on some handy snacks for later.
13: Do some research before you set off
The last thing you want to do when heading somewhere new is to go in blind. You want to have at least some idea of what to expect when it comes to vegan food options.
Look up your destination on vegan blogs, and search for vegan and health food shops and cafes. Look at vegan travel blogs, because you never know, someone else might already have experienced your destination as a vegan, and if you’re lucky, they’ll have written an article with everything you need to know.
14: Pack enough eco cosmetics to last you a while
Finding eco cosmetics in a foreign place is even trickier than finding vegan food options. So if you want to have enough to last you, pack all you need. That is, if you don’t want the stress of having to find and ask for eco products in another language.
If you’re traveling for a while, of course you’ll need to stock up at some point, but you don’t want to be going on a wild goose chase the second you touch down in your destination.
15: Accept that you might have to eat a lot of raw foods
If you don’t have a kitchen at your accommodation, and there aren’t too many vegan options around, you might have to accept that most of your meals will be made up of salad and fruits.
You’ll always be able to find fruits and salad items in supermarkets, so if the restaurants aren’t too accommodating, you won’t be completely without meal options.So just don’t be surprised if there aren’t too many warm food items that you can eat. Everyone loves a good vegan burger, but realistically, you won’t find one in every destination.
16: Book your airplane meals in advance
As well as finding suitable food at your destination, you also need to think about what you’re going to eat on the plane, especially if you’re in for a long haul flight.
Airplanes can cater for vegans, but they sometimes need to know in advance if you require a special meal. If you want to play it safe, book your airplane meal before you fly, and you’ll avoid the risk of them selling out of vegan options.
On a slightly unrelated side note though, if you’re hoping to be upgraded, you might want to wave goodbye to this possibility if you order a vegan meal. Airlines often won’t upgrade those that have special diet requirements, purely because they’re not sure they’d be able to cater for them.
17: Double check ‘vegan’ options
Veganism might be an increasing lifestyle choice, but that doesn’t mean that the term is universally understood.So when ordering a vegan option, just double check that it doesn’t contain meat or animal products. Better to be safe than sorry, right?
Even if you’ve asked if something is vegan, and been given a confident yes, maybe just double check by asking about the ingredients. Sometimes, people will assume you just mean vegetarian, or they might just be keen to please you, as their customer.
18: Be 100% sure about your veganism
If you set off on your travels with doubts in your mind about your commitment to veganism, the chances are you’re going to be very easily swayed to eat something that’s not vegan.
Before you start your travels, remind yourself of why you became vegan, and if you’re serious about this lifestyle choice, be firm with yourself in the face of temptation!
19: Be prepared for mishaps
Sometimes, miscommunications happen. Even if you triple check every thing you eat. So you might end up with a vegan burger that’s not actually entirely vegan, but it’s not the end of the world.
As long as you’re not having full on hot dogs, or cheese fondues, you can still class yourself a dedicated vegan, even if you slip up occasionally.
What matters is that you’re doing your bit, whether for the animals, the planet or yourself (we all have different reasons for turning vegan) and that you’re actively doing your best to make a change.
20: Don’t be afraid to travel!
The thought of traveling as a vegan can sometimes be a little scary. It can be difficult enough to find vegan options in your home town, so it makes sense that you might be a bit nervous about traveling to somewhere where the term ‘vegan’ isn’t even understood.
But the main thing to remember is not to be afraid of going for it and starting your travels!
Once you’ve set off, and hit a few different destinations, you’ll realise it’s not actually that difficult, or different to normal travel. All you need is a bit of research under your belt before you go, and some self restraint when it comes to non-vegan temptations!
You’ll also see that no matter where you are, meat and animal products don’t have to be part of your diet. You’ll probably meet more vegans than ever before, and maybe even stumble across places where veganism is becoming the norm. You’ll see more of the world you’re changing, and remind yourself of why you became vegan in the first place. Trust me, travel can be an important part of the vegan lifestyle, and you definitely won’t regret taking a leap and going for it.
I live in the UK, in the country’s most uneventful city, where the most interesting story in the local paper is about banning dressing gowns in supermarkets.
I travel and I write, because surely there are more interesting stories than that to write about and share.