How to Be Vegan On the Road, No Matter the Destination
Doesn't have to involve chips and lettuce.
As you probably know by now, I have a slightly unhealthy obsession with travel. Visiting as many interesting places as I can on our wondrous planet (before they disappear beneath a mountain of plastic crap) is top of my life wish list - nothing makes me feel as happy, inspired and “in my element” as seeing a new place. Whenever I’m out there exploring, I’m always aware of how exhilarated I’m feeling. It’s like I was made to explore. And the older I get, the more hungry for experience I am.
Also, as you most likely know, I’m a vegan. Which can mean that aside from being hungry for experience, I’m sometimes left just plain hungry.
While it’s definitely true that the world in general is a better place than ever for vegans, it also cannot be denied that some countries are welcoming towards plant-forward travellers than others. While this shouldn’t deter any of us from visiting those countries, there are a few extra precautions we could take when travelling there, to return with maximum memories and minimum hunger pangs.
Give a heads up.
Call ahead. Email beforehand. Giving a warning can sometimes be the difference between “here’s a really lovely chickpea curry with pak choi and just the right spice levels” and “uhm, well…we can do a green salad?” Also, take my advice here: make sure to sound exceedingly nice in your calls or emails. Lots of thank yous. Tons of appreciation. I also often throw in “I’m so sorry for being difficult”, which I know lots of vegans will bristle at. I know, I know - taking a stand against violence and oppression should not be seen as being difficult. But for restaurants and hotels in these countries, dealing with veganism is a dive into the relatively unknown and therefore indeed tricky. Acknowledging that makes us sound humble and relatable - and thus easier to cater for.
Explain yourself.
If you just say “I’m vegan” and expect seitan stews and aquafaba meringues to magically show up, you’re in for sore disappointment (the fact that Substack’s spell checker just flagged both seitan and aquafaba to me is testament to that). When I announced that I was vegan at my hotel in the Algarve, I was met with “oh yes, bread without gluten, correct?” And this was the Algarve, not a rural Argentinian village. In another hotel, in Spain, when asking for soy milk, I got the response “yes, we have cold milk.” So I learned to come prepared: before travelling to a small town in the south of Egypt, I saved an infographic to my phone that explained in Arabic exactly what “vegan” meant. You need to be clear on what exactly “vegan” means. Be specific about what you eat and don’t eat. Keep in mind that to many of these people, this is brand-new info. “But they work in food service, they should know about different diets!” Listen, do you want a nice meal or do you want to discover halfway through your Pad Thai in Benidorm that there are actually little bits of egg in it? I’m just saying, the choice is yours.
Realise that sometimes it will be a lot of the same.
Hear me out here: that’s not always a bad thing.
For someone who enjoys exploration, I sure like my food the way I like my outfits: repeated. In Naples, I had three pizzas in three days (very proud achievement, thank you so much). In Spain, I survived off paella. In Egypt, it was falafel every damn day. In Sicily, granita and panelle became my trademark. And in Morocco, I tried countless vegetable tagines. My point here is that if there’s one local dish that happens to be vegan, well then…you’ll probably be eating that a lot! And guess what, you’ll probably love it - since it’s a traditional dish over there, chances are they’ve really perfected it. Best thing we can do here is Not Complain and enjoy. Once you get back home, I guarantee you that paella time is likely to be over (well, we tried making tagine when we returned from Morocco. Not the same, I tell you. Not even close) and you can go back to quinoa and Beyond Meat in peace.
Be flexible.
I can hear the militant vegans unfollowing me already, but guys, you know this about me: I’m all about a pragmatic approach. Which means that if I’m, say, at a hotel buffet in Egypt, I’m not going to grab the restaurant manager and walk him through the entire buffet to guarantee that none of the 27 veggie-based dishes have honey dressing - I’ll just be happy that there are 27 veggie-based dishes and, unless I see suspicious little meaty bits or milky-looking sauces, fill up my plate. If I’m at a tiny family-run restaurant in Morocco, I’m going to shut up and eat the veggie tagine without whipping out my awful French to enquire about whether butter was used. I’ve been warned that the vegan meal is prepared next to the meat, and my response is always “that’s fine, thank you so much”. I’ve probably eaten more than a trace of milk or butter in my day, but unless you’re severely allergic, what’s really the alternative here, gang? Standing up and walking out? Buying cans of beans at the supermarket and angrily wolfing them down in your hotel room? Yeah, sounds really appealing and will without a doubt convince your travel companions to give up meat. Good luck.
Accept reality.
The reality being that you might not get to try as much authentic and local food as you might have if you weren’t vegan. Sure, sometimes you might luck out. Some traditional dishes - such as the aforementioned tagine in Morocco, panelle in Sicily, and some versions of paella in Spain - are going to be accidentally vegan. In other places, like Portugal, there could be vegan versions of traditional foods such as pasteis de nata. But if you’re in a particularly “meaty” place and happen upon ONE good vegan restaurant, just go there and don’t beat yourself up for not eating local cuisine every single day. I ate scrambled tofu and banana pancakes at The Vegan Lab in Egypt without any guilt over not having traditional Egyptian food for that particular meal. Life is hard enough as it is. Eat your tofu and be happy.
Find community.
Veganism may be a fringe movement, but it is truly worldwide these days. Wherever you go, there WILL be a vegan community there, no matter how small - so find it! I always sign up for local vegan Facebook groups, which are a godsend when trying to locate tofu or oat milk, but also just for a chat and maybe a meet-up - if travelling on your own, local vegan events can be a great way to find like-minded company. On our second day in Mexico, we went to a vegan festival in a park and it was absolutely brilliant. Don’t just sit on HappyCow, ask some locals for their advice. You might make some friends along the way!
In my experience, travelling as a vegan is a breeze - if you’re happy to adapt a bit. Sure, there’s the odd mishap, like that time my husband had to survive on sliced tomatoes and onions in a small Spanish town. But that night we went out for paella and wine and had a great time, coming home with full bellies. As someone who’s been exploring this world as a vegan for twelve years, my advice is to take the good with the bad, be flexible, and stay open-minded. It’s easier than you think. And if it isn’t, hey, there’s always chips.