Are you a vegetarian or vegan? Did you know that there are travel agencies and tour groups that cater to your dining needs and provide ethical holiday excursions? Fear no more! These groups organize sightseeing trips to a variety of worldwide destinations, similar to any travel agency would. However, the difference is that they provide their tourists with vegetarian and vegan meal options throughout the trip.Many of these veggie tours ensure that their travelers stay at vegetarian or vegan accommodations. These veggie-friendly bed and breakfast inns provide vegan breakfasts and meals each and every day. For those times when the tour group is out on the road sightseeing, the tour group will most certainly make a stop at vegan-friendly restaurants at mealtime. Non-veggie tour groups typically end up dining at restaurants which offer no vegan options on their menu. Some vegan tours even make arrangements for their guests to dine at the home of a local resident who will prepare traditional, local cuisine. What an amazing experience that is! This would be a wonderful opportunity to sample the region's cuisine. Imagine dining on vegan basmati rice and curry at a palace in India!
Another wonderful benefit of traveling with a vegetarian or vegan tour group is that they offer many activities which are geared towards the veggie-friendly tourist. For example, they may include vegan cooking classes where one can learn how to prepare the local cuisine. They may participate in a myriad of diverse, eco-friendly, healthy activities such as hiking, nature walks, yoga, meditation, or local music performances. Some holidays even offer the possibility of volunteering at an animal sanctuary in the destination country.
A vegan vacation is a fantastic opportunity to give back and help the animal population, experience eco-friendly, healthy living, and to experience, international, vegan cuisine. Some of the vegetarian and vegan-friendly travel agencies include Green Earth Travel in Maryland(It started over twenty years ago), Veggie Tours, and Veg Voyages. Carolyn of the popular healthy living website "The Healthy Voyager" is also starting a vegetarian and vegan tour program this year. These tours visit places such as India, Nepal, Peru, and the Carribean. Travelers can even find a vegan cruise. These tours are typically small in numbers so vegans may share community and friendship with other like-minded travelers.
Tips for vegetarian and vegan traveling solo
Vegans and vegetarians can find vegan food just about anywhere, but when you're traveling, finding good vegan food, or good vegan restaurants, can sometimes be challenging. For those who do wish to embark on a solo journey, there are some helpful tips you can follow to make your trip a more pleasant one. With a few tips, traveling as a vegan can be fun and easy. Here's how to prepare to travel, domestically or internationally, as a vegan:
Do Your Research in Advance
Before you leave, search the internet for the word "vegan" and the city or country you're traveling to. Your search will probably turn up restaurants, bakeries, clubs, bloggers and maybe even some bed & breakfasts If you find information in a blog, try to confirm it with the restaurant's official website or by calling the restaurant. The info in the blog may be inaccurate or out of date.
If you find a vegan or vegetarian club, check out their website for recommendations. You might even find that your travels coincide with one of their events.
HappyCow.net is an excellent site listing vegan and vegetarian restaurants, including user reviews, world-wide.
This is important: Print out the information or save it to your mobile device before you leave. Don't just bookmark it. Later, you may not have access to the internet, internet access may be expensive, or you may not have access to a printer. When you're in a cab in a foreign country trying to remember the name and address of that restaurant, you'll be glad!
If the website is in a language you don't speak, print/save it anyway so that you can show it to a cab driver, hotel clerk, or someone who can help you translate.
If you are traveling to a country where you do not speak the language, search for the word "vegan" and the local language to find a translation of an explanation of the word "vegan."
Get yourself a copy of the Vegan Passport from the Vegan Society. The "passport" is a booklet with translations explaining what vegans do and don't eat, in 73 languages, covering 95% of the world's population. As a last resort, drawings with a happy face and a yucky face get your message across.
Be flexible and be adventurous! If you're somewhere new, be willing to try to the local vegan food, whether it's a new fruit or a new dish.
Preparing for Your Flight
When you book your flight, be sure to request a vegan meal.
A week before, and a day before your flight, call your airline to confirm the vegan meal.
Even with all of the confirmations in the world, the airline may not give you a vegan meal. If you don't want to risk going hungry, be sure to pack some snacks in your carry-on bag. Since liquids are restricted, dry foods like energy bars, trail mix, crackers, soup mix, or vegan jerky are your best bet. If you carry on soup mix, you can ask the flight attendants for a cup and hot water.
The restrictions on liquids apply to substances we might not consider liquids. On my most recent trip, I learned that jars of peanut butter and jelly count as liquids.
If you are traveling internationally, you'll have to consider your destination country's restrictions, as well as the US TSA's rules on liquids.
If you carry fruits or vegetables on an international flight, keep in mind that you will probably have to throw away whatever you don't eat when you reach your destination because of restrictions on bringing in produce.
Packing
Don't forget to pack your own shampoo, conditioner, lotion, soap, and cosmetics. Finding vegan, cruelty-free toiletries is even more difficult than finding vegan food. I consider the complimentary toiletries in a hotel to be suspect, and they are usually poorly labeled.
Regardless of how you're traveling or how sure you are of the availability of vegan food after you arrive, pack some vegan snacks in case you're stranded along the way or if you reach your destination in the middle of the night and nothing is open
To find out more about this fascinating topic, and many more vegan travel tips, check out the "How To Travel The World As A Vegan" EBook and http://www.traveltheworldasavegan.com
The Ideal vegan cruelty-free products and guiding books for vegetarians and vegans traveler from amazon.com
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| The Vegan Guide to |
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| Vegetarian Walt Disney World Price : $7.65 |
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| Scotland in Green Price : $22.65 |
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This 25"/60 liter size wheeled travel pack features a quick stow and removable/adjustable suspension, the durable yet lightweight High Road Chassis, the best wheels in the business and travel durable fabrics. Practical organization abounds for the quick business trip to the multi-month long journey. Travel friendly features include; padded top and side carry handles, a hideaway courier bag attachment strap, panel access with oversized zipper pulls, a lockable main compartment zipper, and an ergonomic 2 position handle. Either rolling or on your back this is the best choice to get all of your gear to your desitnation. Consider adding a Daylite detachable daypack with your Sojurn.
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The Porter is a deluxe gear hauler that offers padded top and side carry handles, StraightJacket compression, panel zip main compartment with lockable pulls, daisy chain webbing on front panel, vertical zip front slash pocket, foam structure sidepanels, zipaway harness with adjustable sternum strap and rescure whistle, tuckway fabric hipbelt, shoulder strap attachments, 2 grab handles, internal mesh front panel zippered mesh pocket and internal zippered side mesh pocket. Volume: 2800 c.i./46 liters Weight: 3 lbs. 2oz./1.43kg. Dimentions: 22"h x 14"w x 9"d/56cm h x 35.5cm w x 23cm d.
Freature : Best Use: Adventure travel, Internal organization designed to accommodate bulky, oversized gear Multiple carry options, Osprey Excessory compatible with D-rings for easy attachment , Wear it like a pack or over-the-shoulder
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These are great packing cubes. I purchased the grasshopper color to compliment my Eagle Creek packing cubes. The material and the dimensions are slightly different than the Eagle Creek but I use both interchangeably. The mesh is great for both seeing whats in the cube and breathability. I recommend packing cubes to anyone using carry on luggage and/or wanting to be organized. I use the medium sized cube packed in an Osprey Backpack for an entire weekend away. Handles a 2 dresses, 2 capris,4 shirts, bathing suit and cover-up, underwear, swimsuit with room to spare.
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As traveling is my bread and butter, I can't afford to take too many chances slicing through crowds in foreign countries with conventional wallets sticking in my back pockets. The Pacsafe is a well thought-of travel wallet, providing lots of room for my cards, currencies and receipts, loose change - all in one compact but highly usable piece of travel gear while conveniently tethered to my belt or belt loop. Best of all, the chain stows away very discreetly in its own dedicated pouch or you can detach it completely (which defeats its purpose) if you wish so. With high quality materials and design, I think this is a very good investment at just $20.00!
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