Tips in Staying Vegan Even While You’re Traveling
Staying at home and cooking your own vegan meal is easy. You know where to buy the ingredients and you can easily cook your own food. You don’t have the same luxury though when you are traveling. Finding vegan dishes could be a huge challenge. It does not mean though you don’t have to pursue your trip or stop being vegan. There are things you can do to stick with your diet during the trip.
Research ahead of time
There are definitely some vegan restaurants in the place that you are visiting. You just have to search for it in advance. You may also book a hotel near that place so it would be easier for you to access the said restaurant. If you really can’t find one, then at least look for restaurants with their menu published online. Check if they have vegetarian dishes offered. Make sure though that there is no meat hidden somewhere in the dish.
Choose the right hotel
You may have to spend more for a hotel room with a mini kitchen, but if you want to cook your own dish, then you have to find this type of room. If not, you should at least look for a hotel where the rooms have cooking equipment like heater, microwave oven or electric cooker. It will be easier for you to just shop for the ingredients and cook them in your hotel.
Check the national dishes of the country you are visiting
Most countries have a national dish which is vegetarian. It is common especially for rural areas. You can enjoy their national dish and at the same time be admired by the locals for trying out their pride.
Look for religious holidays
There are places where religious holidays are celebrated. During these holidays, you can find a lot of healthy options and most of them are vegetarian. For instance, during the Lenten season, most Catholic countries require people to avoid eating meat. You can easily find lots of vegetarian dishes sold during this time of the year. In Thailand, they celebrate a vegetarian week once a year. This is a time of the year when they have to cleanse their body. Hence, they only eat vegetarian dishes.
Important tip
Though it is easy to find vegetarian dishes and stick with your diet, it is important not to look demanding. There are certain cultures where being picky on what to eat is frowned upon. For instance, you will dine in a restaurant and look for vegan dishes when they clearly don’t have one. They will surely raise their eyebrows on you. Take note that not everyone understands this kind of lifestyle. You can practice it for yourself, but you can’t make others understand why you do it.
Nevertheless, with these tips, you can still maintain your healthy diet even while you are traveling. It does not have to be a big problem. You can enjoy your trip without worrying too much about the kind of food that you eat.
Photo Attribution:
Featured and 1st image courtesy of tiramisustudio / freedigitalphotos.net
2nd image courtesy of Stuart Miles / freedigitalphotos.net
