It isn’t always easy being green! Food is an important part of travelling and gives you a great insight into different cultures. Yet, with many cultures still favouring meat-based protein, travelling as a vegan can be challenging at times. However, the world is changing, becoming more inclusive of plant-based diets as well as becoming more aware of the dangers of excessive meat consumption.
To celebrate veganism all over the world, 1 November has been named World Vegan Day! Expat Explore offers tours for all types of travellers and to make sure our vegan travellers get the most out of their trips, we’ve put together some handy vegan travel tips!
Have a look at our top vegan travel tips:
Learn useful phrases
Language barriers tend to be the most challenging factor when it comes to ordering food abroad. While it’s easy to browse menus for vegan options or to ask for alternatives in your native tongue, it can be incredibly tricky to do this in a foreign language. Once you’ve picked your destination, take some time to research a few phrases in the local language. Learning these phrases will go a long way in ensuring your vegan taste buds are satisfied!
Phrases like “is this vegan?” or “does this have egg in it?” will be a huge help in confirming that menu items fit your dietary requirements. Google translate is also a very useful tool to have on hand for unexpected translation issues.
Travel tip: To make things even easier, you can even purchase a vegan passport which contains extremely useful multi-lingual vegan phrases from over 96 languages!
Find popular vegan destinations
While it can be hard to find completely vegan restaurants in certain places, the number of vegan-friendly cities is ever-growing! Some of the world’s biggest and most popular cities like London, New York and Berlin are home to many vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants. These restaurants cover a range of cuisines; from local delicacies to international favourites and creative innovations.
Many of the world’s top chefs have also embraced the plant-based movement. You’ll find plenty of vegan-friendly menus at high-end, even Michelin-starred, restaurants. If you make a list of the restaurants you would like to visit while travelling, you can map out your day accordingly. While it may take a bit of extra planning, being vegan certainly does not mean missing out on great foodie experiences!
Related: Visit London when you embark on a Great Britain tour!
Notify your accommodation, airline and tour leader before hand
Most hotels are equipped to deal with all types of dietary requirements. If you contact your accommodation beforehand to inform them that you are vegan, they will surely do their best to ensure that you are satisfied. For long flights, notify your airline at least 72 hours before your flight so that they can arrange your meals.
When booking a tour with Expat Explore, you can fill in your dietary requirements when you complete your pre-departure important passenger information before your trip.
Pack some vegan travel essentials
When on tour, you may find that you’re very busy going from one attraction to another. If there’s only time to grab a quick street snack, it may not always be possible to find the right options. Carry a couple of your favourite vegan snacks in your bag just in case of emergency! Anything that’s high in protein, carbohydrates or fat will help to keep your energy levels up.
Fruits and nuts are always excellent options and can be found all over the world. You could even take this opportunity to try unique local varieties! If you worry that, by asking for substitutes at local restaurants, you may lose out on flavour, pack a bottle of soy sauce, hot sauce or different spices to keep things tasty.
Learn about the local cuisine
You may be surprised to find that many dishes commonly found abroad are vegan-friendly! Beloved international cuisines such as Mexican, Indian, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines focus largely on natural ingredients. These delectable cuisines feature plenty of fresh vegetables, locally-grown grains and flavourful spices, making meat-free dishes commonplace within the cuisine.
On the other hand, certain dishes may appear to be vegan but could contain sneaky ingredients like fish sauce or chicken broth. This is particularly common in Asia, for example, in Japan, where miso soup is predominantly vegan yet often contains bonito (fish flakes). In these cases it is important to research local dishes and ingredients before your trip so that you can be prepared to ask for substitutions.
Related: Do you know what vegetarian foods look like around the world? These are some of the world’s top vegetarian dishes.
Use these handy tips and don’t let any dietary worries hold you back from your travel dreams!
Start planning your next trip with Expat Explore. Just think of all the foreign vegan dishes waiting to be discovered… and devoured!