Today’s guest post is by Nancy Harder of Nancy the Gnomette. Like me, Nancy is a twenty-something traveler and writer. Unlike me, Nancy and her family lead a vegan lifestyle. As a dedicated carnivore, I was curious about how veganism/vegetarianism mixes with the traveling lifestyle. I asked Nancy to provide some pointers for staying true to your beliefs when far from home and how to eat vegan on the road.
I’ve been vegan now for 6 months. Despite periodic cravings for cheese, I’ve really enjoyed this life choice. I’ve never felt healthier and I feel empowered lessening my ecological impact (among other reasons).
Veganism isn’t for everyone. What you eat is as personal a decision as who you marry and what you believe. But if you feel like experimenting with veganism or are already on the vegetarian/vegan journey, here are my top 5 tips for eating vegan on the road:
#1: HappyCow.net
HappyCow.net is a worldwide vegetarian restaurant guide. While not comprehensive, the site is bound to have a couple of suggestions for most places. My home state, North Carolina (aka BBQ capital of the world) even has 118 veg-friendly restaurant suggestions. The site also allows you to specify only 100% veg restaurants. I’m stoked that the vegan foodie scene is gaining momentum too. You might be surprised at the vegan culinary creations going on nowadays. It’s not just tofu, granola, and Birkenstocks anymore. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that…) And this gives you great ideas on where to eat vegan on the road.
#2: Pack Vegan Nutrition/Energy Bars
Although there are many brands, LÄRA bars continue to be my favorite. The banana nut bread bar is pretty darn tasty. Like many of their bars, it’s also raw, for the raw vegans out there.
#3: Prepare snacks
Eating vegan on the road will often require a little more preparation. Mickey Ds, for example, isn’t quite vegan-friendly. However, if you throw some peanut butter, hummus, veggies, apples, and crackers in your bag, you’re set to go. If you can heat things, there are many vegan, even organic, soups out there. Some of my favorites are Muir Glen and Amy’s.
#4: Go for dark greens and legumes.
Did you know that a bowl of dark greens (e.g. kale, spinach, collards) has more calcium than a glass of milk? True stuff. And legumes are a great source of protein.
#5: Walk on the wild side – eat ethnic!
Ethnic food, especially Asian and African cuisine, have plentiful vegan fare. Some of my all-time favorite dishes have always been vegan in Moroccan, Ethiopian, Indian, and Thai cuisines. Just make sure to ask about fish sauce in Asian dishes, including curry dishes.
Experiment and try veganism out for a meal. You might surprise yourself with how much you already eat that’s vegan and the variety of vegan food out there. It may be easier to eat vegan on the road than you think!
Do you have dietary restrictions but still want to travel? Check out our Culinary Travel section for more information!
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Thanks for all the feedback and tips everyone! It´s so great to connect with other vegetarians/vegans. (We are few and far between down here in Argentina!) Aelle-I´m going to have to check out that vegan passport. That sounds fantastic.
.-= Nancy´s last blog ..My First Bike and Wine Tour in Mendoza, Argentina =-.
I’ve only recently been vegetarian. I used to always refuse to travel with picky eaters, but now that I am one, I’m learning it’s never as hard as it seems. Thanks for the tips!
.-= Adam´s last blog ..How to be Semi-Successful at Your Job =-.
Great post! I’m very excited to know about HappyCow.net. While I am neither vegetarian nor vegan, I do like to eat healthy on the road (which can be difficult sometimes), and it’s nice to know what my options are before I hit the road.
.-= Gray´s last blog ..Dueling Piano Shows, Part IV: Harrahs =-.
If you have access to a kitchen and a supermarket, grains like barley, millet, bulgar wheat, and quinoa make for a great meal. All you need is some boiling water. You can eat them plain, use them in salads, or as a more nutritious alternative to rice. I have found these dried grains all over the world. They are cheap, healthy, and extremely versatile…not mention delicious. 🙂
.-= Cari´s last blog ..My Lady Syria =-.
Thanks to everyone so far for their suggestions! Vegetarianism and traveling seem to go hand in hand for a lot of people. Even though that’s not my lifestyle choice I’m always impressed by how people manage to make it work even in less than favorable conditions.
Please keep it up with the advice!
Thanks for the tips, Nancy 🙂 As a vegetarian, I felt right at home in SE Asia since there were so many tasty options! I’ve found Indian food has some good vegetarian choices as well.
The protein bars pretty much saved my life on the road as a vegetarian. You really do just HAVE to bring your own snacks so that you don’t get caught in a bad situation where there is no healthy food readily available that you’re sure you can eat 🙂
.-= Shannon OD´s last blog ..A Little Route…My RTW Travel Route 2008-2009 (Part 2) =-.
And good call on the ethnic food. My company had to entertain vegan clients the other day (we work with Asia, so we do business with Jains on a regular basis) and I pretty much saved the day by finding a classy lebanese restaurant. The guys were soooo happy to have something else than lettuce to eat!
.-= aelle´s last blog ..Seoul under my hand – Tea and pastries =-.
Oooh, ooh, I was preparing an article on this exact topic! Great advice, Nancy!
I went vegetarian in Malaysia, vegan in Japan and have been a travelling plant-eater for 3 years now.
The best advice I can think of is to befriend the local veg*ns – through internet boards, local activism groups or meetups… They know the best addresses and products and can negociate with subborn waitresses for you if you lack the language skills. And this can be the starting point of amazing transnational friendships. I still send and receive care packages from vegans around the world on a regular basis…
Speaking of language skills, getting a vegan passport will halve your troubles. It provides a description of veganism and dishes suggestions in a variety of languages, so you can just show it to restaurant staff or hosts.
And my last thought, although definitely not unanimously shared in the community, is to accept that for every new destination there is a learning curve, and not beat yourself up too hard for your mistakes. To me, veganism is not about maintaining standards of purity. It’s about making the most ethical decision possible with each food choice – and sometimes, unfortunately, the choices are limited – by our environment, by our knowledge, by our ability to communicate. I just spent a couple of weeks in Korea during which I had to pick animal parts out of my food on a few occasions, because apparently there “small chunks of meat” counts as “no meat”. I don’t like it, but live and learn. I’ll know to make myself understood better next time.
And now I have a bunch of excellent vegan addresses in Seoul.
.-= aelle´s last blog ..Seoul under my hand – Tea and pastries =-.
Since you’ve mentioned India, thought I’ll mention this – there’s a lot of great vegetarian food in India, but just make sure that they are not milk based. Quiet a few Indian veg dishes have milk/cottage cheese in them.
.-= Abhi´s last blog ..Sunday Postcard: Maheshwar, India =-.