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Traveling as a Vegan can be a challenge, as most of you are aware. But we all know that it can be difficult to find good Vegan food on the road. I have put together a strategy that works pretty well. I thought I’d share it with you. (I don’t do all these things, all the time.) Feel free to chime in with any thoughts or ideas you have, because there is always room for improvement. Restaurants are very accommodating. Just say the three magic words “The Doctor says”. Ask for all the raw vegetables they have on one plate. I’m not 100% raw, so will accept some cooked vegetables if they have them.
Before travel, research your destination:
- Contact your Hotel or B&B to find out if they can accommodate your dietary restrictions. Be specific. Ask if they have a blender and a juicer.
- Find out which restaurants in the area are Vegan. Just google Vegan Restaurants and the location.
- Scope out the local health food stores, food co-ops, and farmer’s markets. Note the addresses. You may even want to print out maps to help you, as the maps that you get from the car rental places can be lacking.
- If you are traveling outside the country, do research on local cuisines. Many cultures are not as meat and dairy-centric as we are and you can find dishes based on lentils or beans. I’ve traveled in 52 countries and delighted in the delicious, beautiful fruits and vegetables in the local markets.
- Prepare some food to take along with you. Let’s face it, airport food leaves a lot to be desired, and delays are pretty commonplace. So it’s always a good idea to be prepared. We usually bring along some combination of the following:
- Two salads in Tupperware prepared in advance with a plastic knife, fork and cloth napkin. I hide a small bottle of salad dressing in the salad ever since I was held up for a half an hour when security thought it might be explosive. I put the Tupperware in double zip lock bags with rubber bands around them in case they leak.
- Bring a zip lock bag of sprouted mung, adzuki and lentils.
- Fruit (if necessary, peeled and sliced).
- Nuts and seeds.
- Dehydrated crackers, kale and other veggie chips and dried fruit.
- In cold weather, bring a small bottle of miso paste to add to hot water.
- Bring herbal tea bags.
- When flying in the US, I’ve brought my hand cranked Healthy Juicer and my Tribest Personal Blender PB 100. When we went to a remote Bahama Island beach house last year, we brought the Vitamix in the grandchildren’s suitcase since they had few clothes to bring. We also brought almonds for almond milk and their favorite granola, seeds to sprout, crackers, raisins and figs.
- Pack your chef knife and cutting board in the check-in luggage. Last time I forgot and security kindly sent me back to check in to put my large chef knife in my check-in luggage. Security told me that ordinarily they would turn a person with a knife over to the police.
Strategies while you are on the road: Bring small ziplock bags of 1/3 mung, 1/3 adzuki and 1/3 lentils. You can put the beans in the foot of a panty hose, dip them in water morning and night and hang them in the shower. Or you can sprout them in any cup in your hotel room. You can usually eat them in 3 days.
- The coffee maker in your hotel room is your friend. You can boil water to reconstitute a number of different things. And you can use the pot to heat up soups — just be considerate of the next guests and don’t put anything but coffee grounds in the basket — and clean out the pot well.
- Ask your hotel to empty out the mini bar so you can use the fridge for your food. We’ve had some success with this. Some hotels just won’t do it. But they may be willing to provide you with a mini fridge if they have one on hand.
- Consider staying someplace with a kitchen for at least part of your trip. Being able to prepare your own food can be quite helpful.
- You can find food at any grocery store – salad, along with lemon juice that doesn’t require refrigeration, are easily purchased. .
Traveling with a car. This opens up a wide range of options
- I brought my Greenstar Twin Juicer and bought greens at all the local markets to juice.
- I also brought my Tribest Personal Blender 100.
- Bring a cooler with some large rectangular plastic containers for ice (bought at the Container Store) Bring plenty of Ziploc bags. You can get ice easily.
When staying with non-Vegan family/friends:
- Discuss in advance what you eat. Most people are glad to buy an assortment of the following: romaine spinach cauliflower sprouts kale chard arrugula bok choy green beans celery zucchini carrot cucumber broccoli yellow squash radish cabbage red bell pepper mushroom avocado beet snow peas .
- Offer to bring something to share. Or offer to prepare something (make sure you can get your hands on the required ingredients).
- Regardless of how well-meaning your hosts are, always assume you will need to supplement your meal, and bring some of the above. If it turns out you don’t need it, you can always bring it home again. But far better to be prepared.
ENJOY!!!
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