07 Jul 2016

Disclaimer: this is not an article promoting veganism or any kind of diet to any kind of person, eat whatever the heck you like, I ain’t gonna judge.

Being an annoyingly animal-and-earth-conscious person can be a hard task when travelling the globe, particularly in countries where meat and dairy are in practically every dish. You feel rude when rejecting the undoubtedly divine local cuisine, and fellow travellers give you a hard time for refusing it too. No one likes to be the seemingly difficult or “fussy” one, especially when in a foreign country surrounded by new friends, so it puts you in a bit of a predicament.

Don’t get me wrong it’s definitely do-able, you just have to know how to do it right.

Here’s some tips on how to live the vegan life in foreign countries without coming across as a complete douchebag.

1. Learn how to speak their language

See: Vegetariano, végétalien, ăn chay, vegano/a.

The very first thing you should do when travelling somewhere new is learn how to say and write the word vegan. A quick Google search will save you a whole lot of effort and embarrassment when it comes to ordering food, plus it’s a lot more respectful.

Side note: Not only should you learn how to say the word vegan, you should also learn other words or phrases that will help explain what a vegan is (e.g. no meat, no dairy, no eggs). Which brings me to my next tip…

2. Don’t assume everybody knows what veganism entails

As obvious as this one may seem, I know a lot of people who waltz on into foreign restaurants (and even places in their own country) expecting everybody to be an expert on veganism. Yes, the world is becoming increasingly more aware of our individual impact but that doesn’t mean every man and their horse will know how to whip up a meat-free, egg-free, dairy-free feed.

3. Use a translation app to read ingredients lists

Reading the back of packets is a pretty essential part of being a vegan. How else are we to know that most corn chips have milk products in them and refried beans are sometimes made with pork lard? Don’t make the mistake of assuming a product is vegan overseas just because it is back home. This will probably wind up with you buying fruit juice and later realising it’s mixed with milk (my first rookie mistake in Spain).

4. Let the people ask the questions

Contrary to the stereotypes (and despite the fact that I’m writing this article), I’m not a very active promoter of my animal product-free lifestyle. I don’t share it on social media and I put off telling new friends as long as I possibly can. Not because I’m embarrassed by my ethical decisions or not educated enough to have substantial justifications, just for the sake of defying the widely perceived perception of preachy vegans. Aka I don’t want to be ‘that guy’. But despite having mastered the art of politely refusing food with meat, dairy or eggs in it and sneakily ordering vegan options in restaurants, people eventually pick up on my eating habits and the standard questions follow suit.

“How do you go travelling as a vegan? Isn’t it hard? What do you eat?”

As repetitive as answering these questions becomes, you can’t blame people for asking. Veganism isn’t a super easy concept to grasp if you haven’t actually spent time looking into it. I wasn’t 100% sure of what vegans ate before I took the time to google it. My trick is to come up with a short and polite response then change the conversation as quickly as possible.

And if that fails, just tell everyone you’re allergic to everything. Or pack your own snacks everywhere you go. Or just don’t eat, whatever works for you.