11 Tips On Travelling As A Vegetarian/Vegan
It is challenging to travel while being a vegetarian, especially abroad.
Many products and dishes presented in the menu are not amenable to literal translation, and it is a lot of work to understand what it is cooked from.
Explain your position to friends or acquaintances, who you can make during the journey, and sometimes it is also not easy.
So, how to travel while being vegan?
Traveling to a new country is always exciting, but for a vegan or vegetarian, it is twice as exciting.
However, here are a few useful tips that will help you move freely around the world, eat tasty, healthy, and regular meals, and have no worries that you will starve.
No matter what diet you keep, you can eat a delicious dinner while traveling the world anyway.
If you are a committed vegetarian, then on a trip abroad, you can hardly change your habits and beliefs. In almost any country, you can do without meat.
Of course, it will not always be economical and convenient.
Therefore, it is still essential to choose the state in which you can have vegetable food quickly, and you do not have to feel uncomfortable.
An excellent opportunity to go to the raw foods diet, lose weight, and cleanse the body will be introduced to all tourists traveling to Bali or another tropical country.
In particular, in the city of Ubud, Bali, one can enjoy not only the sights of Ubud but also vegetarian and raw food dishes, combining all this with classes in yoga studios.
Probably the vegetarian country is India. Here, initially, 80% of the population consumes plant food only.
The very “ideological” vegetarianism originated in the state of Gujarat, and in the city of Surat several years ago opened a five-star vegetarian hotel, by the way, the first in the world.
There is a menu based on plant food in this country in any cafe.
Vegetarians will feel comfortable if they visit the countries of Southeast Asia: Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore.
Thus, in Thailand, the national cuisine consists mainly of fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Be sure to try the papaya salad and rice noodles with curry.
In this country, an annual festival of vegetarian cuisine is held. There will be no problems with snacks in the intervals between sightseeing Pattaya.
If you prefer to relax in European countries, go to Italy. Vegetarianism has been practised here for a long time, and even the first route Organic Tuscany is offered to tourists.
This route provides food-amazing dishes of plant origin.
In each region of the country, you will be provided a specific dish: in Piemonte – white truffles, in Venice – asparagus, in Sicily – sharp capers and, of course, do not forget about focaccia.
Being in England, you can easily find vegetarian restaurants. There, even in the usual rural pubs, you will be offered vegetarian dishes, although their range is not so great.
The restaurants in Belgium have developed a whole program, according to which vegetarian days are announced here several times a week. Many restaurants on certain days treat their visitors with plant food only.
Also, vegetarians will be able to have a great rest in Greece, on Crete, where more than 800 dishes are prepared without meat.
1. Book the right cruises, meals on the plane, hotels, and tours
Most hotels offer a buffet for breakfast, where you can find oatmeal, nuts and dried fruits, vegetables, berries, and fruits.
However, it is better to see photos of tourists before booking a room.
Besides, many airlines have the opportunity to order vegan, vegetarian, kosher, and even gluten-free meals. Be sure to find out if your airline has such an option.
However, hurry up because usually, you need to warn about your food preferences at least one week before departure.
If you are going on long excursions, which include lunch, tell your guide about what foods you do not eat, so that they don’t accidentally put a plate of meat cooked accordingly to a local recipe.
2. Leave things to technology
In almost any restaurant, you can find vegetable dishes. However, if you want to go to a thematic place, technology will help.
If you know English, be sure to download the Happy Cow application to your phone – a service that itself finds nearby vegetarian and vegan restaurants and cafes in both urban and more distant places.
3. Prepare for your trip
If you still worry about the fact that you cannot eat properly, stock up on an arsenal of snacks.
Cereal bars, dried fruit, nuts, and small packages of nut paste can help you “have a bite to eat” when you feel hungry.
Always keep a few juice bottles handy.
4. Learn the cuisine of a country you leave for
Among the national dishes of many countries, there are those that are suitable for a vegetarian, but it is better to know about it in advance.
The Italians have the Four Cheeses pizza; the Japanese have rolled with cucumber instead of meat.
If you inquire about the intricacies of national cuisine before the trip, then the restaurant will always be able to order something.
Particular attention should be paid to the food that is sold on the street. If the tour is replete with excursions, then when viewing the sights, you still have to intercept something on the go.
Besides, street food is cheap and well saves money.
Pancakes with a lent filling, pita with vegetables, oriental dishes – something just can be picked up in any country.
Again, Indian and Arab quarters, Lebanese and Turkish kebabs will come to the rescue, and only you need to know where they are.
5. Choose a place with a kitchen and a fridge
The easiest way to keep a diet on a journey is to cook for yourself, but for that to happen, there must be conditions for cooking in a hostel or a rented apartment.
If you managed to remove such housing, then in any store it is not a problem to buy cheese, bread, vegetables, yogurts or something from semi-finished products.
In European supermarkets, departments with vegetarian or Indian food are more and more common.
Of course, cooking takes precious vacation time, but finding the right place for a banal snack can cause even more problems.
6. Tell airlines about your eating habits
Most airlines care about vegetarian passengers and can provide the flight with the necessary food, but to do this, a few days before departure, you need to call the reservation center and tell about your preferences.
Eastern and Asian airlines are much friendlier for vegetarians, and when you buy a ticket, you can immediately indicate the type of dishes you eat (VGML – Vegetarian meal or VLML – Vegetarian Lacto – ovo meal).
For example, Etihad and Turkish Airlines will have some food without meat, but there is not so much of it, therefore, without specifying preferences in advance, you can stay hungry.
If the airline does not provide such a service, then, of course, you need to take something with you, especially if you have a long flight.
7. Warn fellow travelers in advance
If you are traveling with friends or family, then warn them about your gastronomic preferences in advance, so that you can stock up on food with you. Usually, people frequently relate to such requests if they do not report at the last moment.
8. Make snacks
No matter where your trip will take place, in the city or nature, several hikes will occupy most of your day. Inspection of museums can also be considered as a hike.
Therefore, a great way to not get into a problematic situation in search of food is to make snacks yourself from the ingredients you prefer. Thus, your lunch will be not only useful but also tasty.
9. “No cheese, please!”
When you dare to eat in a cafe and restaurant, ask the waiter what dishes are not added cheese, milk, and eggs. He will be happy to advise you on the menu.
This way, you will save a lot of time, avoiding leafing through the list of presented dishes, in which not all ingredients are indicated.
You can also ask the cook to cook you something from the vegetables in the kitchen.
10. Volunteer to cook dinner
If you are traveling with a family that is skeptical of your passion for vegetarianism, then suggest cooking your favorite dish for them.
It is a great way to break the ice between you and your loved ones.
Also, you will personally control the entire course of cooking, and no one will dare to add to the dish something that should not be.
Here are a few vegan recipes you can try.
Volunteer to cook dinner.
11. Do not lecture
The most common problem when communicating between a vegan and a non-vegan is that vegans often try to teach their opponent, asserting that their lifestyle is better than the right one and try to entice the other person to their point of view.
Not everyone will like this attitude.
Respect for others is a pledge of a healthy society.
