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If you’ve ever been traveling before, you’ve probably noticed how each trip changes you a little. If you travel a lot, eventually you’ll be a completely different (and better) person than before you set out on your adventures. 

Read on to find out exactly how travel will change your life and your personality! 

1: You become more social

Regardless of how you’re traveling, you’re always going to meet new people. So even if you’re on a solo travel trip, you can expect to come back a little more social than when you set off.

The more you travel, the more used to socialising with new people you’ll be. You’ll be able to make friends within minutes of meeting them, and in developing your social skills, you’ll become a much more approachable person.

2: You become more confident

Almost every aspect of traveling is going to boost your confidence, even if before you left home you were super shy. You’ll be constantly meeting new people, learning to be independent, and problem solve, and by deciding to go traveling in the first place you’ll be pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone.

The more you go traveling, the more confident you’ll start to feel in yourself, as you’ll have to trust your own instincts, and even if you class yourself as an introvert, you’ll have to adopt a few extroverted tendencies for your trips!

3: You learn to problem-solve effectively

Whilst you’re traveling, you’ll be solving problems pretty much constantly. If something goes wrong with one of your bookings, or if you get lost (it happens to all of us), or even if you just don’t know what different food items are, you’ll be constantly finding solutions to problems that arise. Think about the language barrier for example, this a problem you’ll need to overcome daily on your travels.

Problem solving is a skill that will always be useful, even when you return from your travels. Whether you’re self employed, or returning to a job, every life path will involve solution finding and decision making.

4: You become more willing to step outside of your comfort zone

No one particularly enjoys stepping out of their comfort zone, not at first anyway. But traveling will force you to visit new places, try new foods, accept new cultures, meet new people etc.

And once you step out of your comfort zone, so much more of the world opens up for you to explore.

5: You become a much better communicator

Communication is something a lot of people, even seasoned travellers, struggle with when traveling. Most of the time, you’ll be traveling to countries where you don’t speak the language, and so somehow you’ll need to find a way to communicate with shopkeepers, cafe and bar staff, taxi drivers, everyone you come into contact with!

It sounds daunting, but you’ll soon master the art of simple language learning, body language, signs, and of course, Google Translate.

And once you’ve overcome the barrier of communicating with people all over the world, communicating with people who speak your language will be a doddle.

6: You’ll become more employable

All of the skills you learn whilst traveling will boost your employability. Your newly developed communication skills will mean that you’ll become a desirable candidate for any role that involves communicating with people across the company, or even across the world.

And of course every job you can imagine will involve problem-solving, and by the time you’ve finished traveling you’ll be a master at finding solutions to problems in no time at all.

The fact that you’ve been traveling is also something that’s often admired by employers, as it shows that you’re an open minded and confident individual.

7: You’ll broaden your horizons

There will always be people who never bother to venture beyond their front door step. Their jobs won’t be more than a stones throw away, and their friends will all live in the same area. But once you’ve seen some more of the world, you’ll broaden your horizons and the amount of opportunities available to you.

You’ll learn of opportunities all over the world, and you’ll meet people who could potentially be useful business contacts from a whole range of different countries.

8: You’ll develop a hugely diverse group of friends

Everywhere you go on your travels, you’ll meet new and interesting people from all over the world. Even after a short trip traveling, you’ll have broadened your friendship group.

Why is this important? Because by socialising with people from different backgrounds, you’ll learn about different cultures and attitudes. Plus, it’s always nice to have people to visit in other countries!

9: You’ll become more creative

Traveling always involves getting at least a little bit creative. You might have to get creative about where to stay, how to travel around a country, or even what to do from day to day (because if you’re traveling full time, you can’t just be a tourist every day).

The creativity you learn whilst traveling might be something that helps to form your ever changing personality, or something that you use in your professional or personal life.

10: Travel lets you just be human

So many people are falling victim to the system, and becoming more like machines than humans. Working 9-5 might put food on the table, but other than that, you’re not really exploring, or giving yourself a chance to develop as a human, rather than just as an employee.

By traveling, even if only for a little while, you’re letting yourself just be human for a while. Let go of the stress of working life, and just enjoy the world and all of its amazing sights. Have meaningful encounters with others, and even if you’re not a particularly spiritual person, you’ll be on quite a spiritual journey.

11: You’ll become more open minded

In order to travel long term, and to enjoy it, you need to open your mind a little. You’ll have to accept things that might previously have seemed strange, or different, and after a while, you’ll be used to keeping an open mind.

This can make you a much more accepting person, and it can actually make your life a whole lot easier.

12: You learn to appreciate the little things in life

Even those that like to indulge in luxury travel will find that every now and then, certain places won’t have all of the home comforts that we’re used to.

Simple things like clean water, or working toilets aren’t always easy to come by, and after traveling without access to such luxuries, you’ll learn to appreciate the little things in life.

13: You’ll make unbreakable friendships

Traveling with someone else is stressful, probably even more stressful than traveling alone. It puts strains on friendships and relationships and these strains often cause arguments and falling outs. So if you travel with someone, and your friendship survives the challenge, you know you’ve made an unbreakable friendship.

Strong friendships can be hard to come by, but when you make friends whilst traveling, you’ll soon be able to tell which friendships won’t pass the test, and which friendships are truly authentic.

14: You’ll face your fears

One of the biggest challenges a lot of people face whilst traveling is facing their fears, whatever they may be.

Traveling will present you with a whole range of challenges, so you’re bound to encounter something that has previously terrified you.

Whether you’re scared of bugs, adventurous foods, modes of travel, anything, you’re bound to encounter it on your travels, and it gives you the perfect opportunity to face your fears.

15: You learn to appreciate home, and what you have

If you’re desperate to go traveling, the chances are you’re probably also desperate to get away from the boredom of home for a while. But once you’re out and about in other countries, you’ll start to appreciate and miss home a little.

You’ll look forward to returning home after your travels, and you’ll start to appreciate perhaps more than ever what you have, whether that’s a warm home to return to, or a loving family.

16: You’ll realise that you’re actually quite a tough cookie

I’ve mentioned the challenges you’ll face whilst traveling a lot, so it makes sense that in facing these challenges, you’ll actually become a lot stronger in yourself.

Once you’ve been traveling, you’ll realise that actually, you’re one tough cookie, and if you put your mind to it, you can deal with anything the world throws at you!

17: You’ll grow wiser

This is a fact that often upsets people that haven’t traveled before, but it’s 100% true. The more you travel, the wiser you’ll become.

Why? Because you’ll be constantly interacting with different people and cultures, and taking on information and wisdom that you would never have stumbled across otherwise. You’ll grow wiser in your ability to understand different cultures, and in your ability to accept people who are the complete opposite of you.

18: You’ll develop a love of nature and the natural world

The world has some amazing natural sights, and in seeing more of what the natural world has to offer, you’ll become much more connected with the natural world.

In developing your love of the natural world, you’ll also become a lot more mindful, and reflective – nature just has that effect on people.

19: You’ll learn how to be alone

Even if you’re traveling with people, at some point you’re going to experience alone time somewhere completely new, something you might not have done before.

It might sound obvious, but for some people, being alone is something that’s quite daunting. But by learning how to not just be alone, but how to be happy whilst alone, you’ll make yourself a stronger person, and you’ll become much better at coping with stress independently.

20: You’ll learn how to live in the present

Planning for the future is all well and good, the only trouble is, some people spend their whole lives planning for a tomorrow that may never come.

Travelling teaches you to enjoy the present, and just for a moment, take a break from stressing about the future. Plus, only once you’ve actually given in to just living in the present will you be able to clearly see exactly what it is you really want from the future.

So traveling really can transform your life….

All you need to do is start living the travel lifestyle, and you’ll see the world whilst becoming the best possible version of yourself. 

If you need a little help getting started though, why not check out the ultimate travel course?

In this course you’ll be taught by none other than Nomadic Matt how you can leave your 9-5 job, and find freedom anywhere in the world!

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If you’re a travel addict who loves to write, it makes sense that you’d be interested in pursuing a career as a travel writer. It’s the uultimate dream come true, traveling the world and getting paid to write about your experiences and discoveries, am I right?

I’m lucky enough to have made an income by travel writing for my own website (this one) and for other sites. So for anyone that’s looking to do the same, here’s a guide to how you can do the same!

What type of travel writer do you want to become?

First thing’s first, you need to ask yourself what kind of travel writer you want to become. There are a few different ways to make money writing travel articles, and you can do any you set your mind to.

Conventional travel writing

A conventional travel writer writes for another company or publication. In this role, you’ll be given a salary, and possibly even a travel budget. This is probably the most secure type of travel writing income, as you’ll have a contract and a monthly income.

However, it might not be as flexible as travel writing for yourself. You may be required to travel to certain destinations, rather than just anywhere you fancy and deadlines are likely to be strict.

Freelance travel writing

Another way of making an income by travel writing is to write travel articles for different clients as a freelancer. You can sign up to become a freelancer on sites like freelancer.com and upwork.com. With freelancer jobs, you’ll be able to work from anywhere in the world, and set your own rates.

There are a few downsides to freelancing though, one of the main ones being that work isn’t guaranteed. You’ll need to apply for travel writing jobs, so much of your time will be spent sending out applications. And if you’re to be successful, you’ll need to perfect your cover letters.

You’re also unlikely to find jobs that give you the freedom to write about your own travel experiences. There will be some out there, but most of the time, clients will be looking for specific articles, which will require more research than just writing about your own experiences.

Most of the time, you will also be ‘ghost writing’ so you won’t be able to claim credit for the articles you’ve written, which can be gutting, especially if you’re super proud of an article.

Travel blogging

This is my favourite form of travel writing, purely because you can write whatever you like, whenever you like, and when it comes down to it, how much you make is up to you.
Okay, so you probably won’t make any money at first, but as your audience grows, more money-making doors will open.

You could monetize your blog with ads, affiliate links, or even with digital products, like travel guides which you can sell on your site.

The only trouble with this is that it can take a while to build your audience and start making money from your blog. The only thing I can tell you is that if you keep going with it, and keep coming up with new ideas to write about, and new ways to market your blog, it will be a success.

How to fast track your way into travel writing

Start a travel blog

Whether you want to earn money writing for yourself, or you’re hoping to land a high-paying travel writing contract, starting a travel blog is something you just have to do.

If you haven’t blogged before, it can be a little daunting, the thought of putting yourself out there for anyone and everyone to see. But you quickly get used to it, and you could always blog anonymously.

Starting a blog, regardless of what the blog is about, is always useful if you want to go into writing, because by writing regularly, you’ll develop an authentic writing style. Once you’ve developed your style, writing will become ten times easier, and eventually you’ll be able to bang out a top-quality article in no time at all.

If you’re hoping to get a job as a travel writer, having a travel blog up and running will show potential employers that you’re a writer capable of engaging an audience. No one wants to take a risk on a writer without a portfolio, and your blog will quickly become your portfolio.

If you’re hoping to make money writing travel articles for yourself, having a travel blog could be the answer to your dreams. If you post regularly enough, build up a good following and draw a good amount of traffic to your site, there’s nothing stopping you from monetizing your blog.

If you’re hoping to make money writing travel articles as a freelancer, you’ll have a portfolio in place to show potential clients that you specialise in writing about travel. This will help you stand out from other freelance writers who will write about anything and everything.

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Nomadic Matt is possibly the King of the travel blog industry, he’s the prime example of someone living the utlimate dream. So if you want to learn how you can transform your blog into a profitable business, check out his travel course!

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TRY TO NARROW IT DOWN TO A NICHE

Travel writing is super competitive, so if you want to improve your chances of standing out from the crowd, try narrowing it down from just ‘travel’ to a more specific niche.

There are so many different niches you could explore, here are a few different niche ideas you could try out:

-Travel writing for minority groups
-Travel writing for a specific area (you could literally just write tons of articles about the same city or country)
-Budget traveling
-Luxury traveling
-Specific activities and where to do them (kayaking, cycling, hiking, driving, bungee jumping, paragliding)
-Food travel (you could review food in different countries)
-A type of travel (flying, cruises, driving etc.)

These are just a few travel niche ideas you could try, but there are so many different niches you could try. And the great thing about going for a niche is that many niches are pretty much untouched, so it wouldn’t be too hard for you to establish yourself as an authority.

BUILD YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWING (ESPECIALLY ON INSTAGRAM)

Building your social media following will give you an audience that’s already interested in you and your travels. Whether you plan on monetizing a travel blog, or writing for another publication, you’ll have an audience to share your articles with.

If you’re strapped for time, just focus on Instagram. Travel is a particularly visual industry; people want to see as well as read about adventures. If you post pictures of your adventures on Instagram, you’ll draw people in, and it’s more likely that they’ll be intrigued by your content. They’ll want to know the story behind the pictures.

You’ll also improve your chances of being head-hunted for travel writing roles. If potential employers, or even other blog owners see that you’re already a travel writer with quite the following, they’re more likely to consider asking you to write for them.

CONSIDER STARTING A YOUTUBE CHANNEL

The key to good travel writing is personality. Everyone can write flowery language about a destination if they put their mind to it, but if you really want to keep people interested, you need to weave a little of yourself into each article you write.

People want to get to know the traveller, as well as the destinations they visit. It makes travel stories relatable, and you’ll interest people on a personal level.

One of the best ways to show people your personality is to put yourself out there on YouTube. You could start a travel vlog, and give your audience the opportunity to see your adventures, rather than just read about them.

People will get to know you as a person, and in doing so, they’ll become interested in your articles. So by starting a YouTube channel, you’ll boost audience engagement with your articles, and you could even monetize your channel. You just need to find the confidence to put yourself out there.

(I haven’t yet started a personal YouTube channel, but it’s coming, I promise. For now though, you can check out the Travel Lifestyle YouTube channel.)

TRAVEL!

However you plan on travel writing, if you don’t travel very often, you’re not going to have a lot to write about.

You don’t have to travel full time to be a travel writer, you just need to visit enough places to fuel a few articles.

For example, if for whatever reason you’d rather do weekend city trips every now and then, rather than longer multi-country trips, that’s absolutely fine! As long as you travel at least more than the average joe, you’ll have more than enough to write about.

Plus, if you’re hoping to land a job as a travel writer, the first thing employers will look for is an interest in travel, and what better way to show your interest than to have several trips already under your belt?

FIND TRAVEL WRITING JOBS

If you’re planning on simply travel blogging, this step won’t apply to you. But if you’re hoping to be a freelance travel writer, or a full time travel writer for another publication, this is the final, and possibly the hardest step to achieving your dream job.

Luckily though, if you’ve taken all of the previous steps, you’ll already be the perfect candidate for any travel writing job you go for.

So where can you find these dream jobs? For freelancers you can simply sign up to sites like Upwork or Freelancer, and search for travel writing jobs on those freelancer platforms. Or if you want to extend your reach, you could always try Reddit. There are so many subreddits where you could advertise your travel writing services, or find clients looking for travel writers.

If you want a more permanent travel writing job though, with an established company, take to every job site you know, and apply to as many travel writing jobs as you can. The more you apply for, the more likely it is you’ll land your dream role.

If there’s a specific publication you know you’d like to write for, you can search their website for opportunities, or even send them an email applying for a speculative position. A large percentage of opportunities aren’t actually advertised, so you definitely won’t be wasting your time. And even if they don’t have anything going at the moment, you can ask them to keep your CV on file.

OR…

START MARKETING YOUR BLOG

If you’re hoping to make money as a travel blogger, you’ll need to have a marketing plan in place. It sounds scary, but it can be really simple.

You just need to have a plan for how you’re going to attract more people to your website. You’ll need a little bit of SEO, write a few guest posts for other travel sites to get backlinks, and boost your social media following.

The more people you can attract to your website, the more successful your travel blog will be!

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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.

Have you ever boarded a flight only to feel a cold brewing a few hours later? You’re not the only one. Planes are breeding grounds for colds, flus and other illnesses, there are just so many germs going around! Luckily though, there are a few things you can do to avoid catching colds and illnesses when flying.

1: Wash Your Hands

Everyone knows to wash their hands, but the reality is that most of us don’t do it as much as we should.

On a plane, anytime you come into contact with other people or surfaces that lots of others have used, wash your hands! It sounds a bit extreme, but this is how germs and bacteria spread.

Wash your hands regularly during the flight, and make sure you use soap! The last thing you want is for any bacteria to be lurking on your hands.

2: Irrigate

If you want to avoid getting sick on your flight, you need your nasal passages free and clear. Irrigating your sinuses, either with a nasal passage clearing spray or a NetiPot, before and especially after your flight, will help flush away germs that you come in contact with.

3: Avoid touching your face

When you think about, you probably touch your face quite a lot throughout the day. Whether you’re scratching an itch or moving hair out of your eyes, it’s something you do fairly often. But if you want to avoid getting sick after a flight, it’s a habit you’ll want to break.

Even if you wash your hands regularly throughout the flight, keep them away from your face! You don’t want to spread any germs to your nose mouth or eyes.

4: Protect Your Hands

This tip might make you look a little weird, but you’ve probably gathered by bow that your hands play a huge role in spreading germs.

To avoid incidentally picking up any bacteria that could cause an illness, use gloves or a napkin, or even your shirtsleeves to open things like toilet doors on planes.

5: Hydrate

Hydration is key to staying healthy whether you’re on a plane or not. If you’re dehydrated this can cause symptoms of its own, and lower your immune system. Staying hydrated can keep you feeling good and healthy, and it can even help you conquer jet lag.

Plus, if you travel regularly, you might have noticed that the atmosphere on planes is pretty drying. The air con always leaves you with a dry mouth and even dry skin, so the chances are you’ll be craving water fairly regularly anyway.

6: Get Some Beauty Sleep

If you’re tired, your body is going to cope too well with fighting off any potential illnesses. Keep your immune system strong by getting plenty of sleep.

This applies to both on the flight, and before and after. You want your body to be at its strongest over your period of travel.

It can be hard to sleep on the plane, but try and get in as much sleep as you can.

7: Wipe Down Your Area

Your seat and your tray table is where you’re going to be sat for at least a few hours, so you want to make sure that your little space is clean.

Think of how many people have used the tray table before you. Sure, the cabin crew probably gave it a wipe down, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. So bring some antibacterial wipes with you anyway.

8: Come Prepared

To avoid sharing germs with the people that flew before you, it doesn’t hurt to bring things like your own pillow. Some airlines also recycle their headphones, so bring your own pair if you can.

9: Keep Your Distance

I know, I know, easier said than done, right? Most of the time, on a flight, you’re squashed right up to person next to you. But try not to get too cosy with the people around you if you can help it.

10: Stay healthy!

Whether you travel a lot or not, staying healthy is always a good thing to do. But if you’re trying to avoid picking up colds and flus on your flights, being healthy is a pretty good way to naturally fight off any potential illnesses.

If you eat a healthy diet, stay hydrated, exercise regularly and just generally make sure your body is always in fighting condition, you’re a lot less likely to pick up illnesses, regardless of whether you’re traveling or not.