We have been wondering for a while about how easy or difficult it is for Vegans to travel and respect their lifestyle. Thus we decided to share with others their opinion on this matter. This is how we got in touch with Vivianne, also called Veggevi on Insta. She happily shared her own experience with us so keep reading!
About her veganism choice
Attitude Organic: “When and Why did you turn Vegan?”
Vivianne (Veggevi): “Well a long time ago.. I turned to veganism was in 2006, at the time it wasn’t as easy to be vegan as it is today.
Back then I was living at home and going to high school in a small town in Sweden and my options were very rare at restaurants, or just finding vegan substitutes for meat, dairy etc. I ate so much Fried vegetables with cashew and salads back then, that I get shivers when I reflect about my early vegan days.
Being vegan 2006 in a small town was very controversial; I had to “defend” my choice of veganism every day.
I did not have a community to turn to, to listen to, to get inspired by or to inspire like we do have today with Instagram and Facebook.
I am so happy to see that veganism is growing with each year, it gets more and more accepted for each day!”
About travelling vegan
Tofu dish at Hideaway in Gold Coast, Australia
Attitude Organic: “Is it easy to travel Vegan? It can seem hard for people with no experience. What are the best tips you can give to succeed?”
Vivianne (Veggevi): “I’m going to let you in on a secret; it CAN be easy, but you have to do a little research before traveling, a lot depending also what country you’re going to visit.
First of all, now in 2018 you most probably have a phone that you can connect to the world wide web at any time, and you have Wi-Fi almost everywhere.
Google and HappyCow is your best friends when traveling
What I usually do is that I do lists of places Id like to see and what food-options that are nearby.
A checklist before travelling abroad, to another city or even just to find new options in your own city:
- Research vegan options before leaving your house, this will prevent you from grabbing “anything” or a shitty overpriced salad.
- Learn the right word for “Vegan” in the native language of the country you are visiting.
- Download “HappyCow” it costs a little, but it is worth every penny. Here you can find restaurants near you (uses GPS) that are Vegan, Vegetarian and Veg.Options.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for vegan options! Even when you believe that there most probably are none, you can get surprised over the knowledge out there, but if yet they didn’t have anything it is a way of spreading the word, and raise awareness of veganism.”
The difficulties she faces
Starbucks Ice Soy Late in Krabi, Thailand
Attitude Organic: “What is the biggest difficulty you faced during a travel as a vegan?”
Vivianne (Veggevi): “No meat can mean many things; I’ve been asked if I eat fish and chicken more times than I can count. Sometimes it is just easier saying “nothing from the animal kingdom”, even this will bring further questions to the table. If you’re not in a great mood, it can be challenging to argument to defend your way of living to others all the time.
I am also a huge coffee drinker, but I need my soy milk in the coffe and this can be hard to find with locals in small towns, therefore I am always happy to find StarBucks wherever I go since they do always have Soy Milk.”
A countries overview
Acai Bowl in Gold Coast, Queensland Australia
Attitude Organic: “Which country you would say is the best to be vegan?”
Vivianne (Veggevi): “I love Australia so much, and one of the reasons is the fact that you can find vegan food everywhere, and everybody is aware of what this means.
I’ve had some of the best food experiences of my life in Gold Coast.
However I live in Malmö, Sweden which is also an amazing place for being vegan. Not only at restaurants, but we do have loads of supermarkets that have big variety’s of vegan options.”
Attitude Organic: “Which one is the worst?”
Vivianne (Veggevi): “Most mainstream summer resorts, like Greek islands, Sicily, most Spanish Islands etc. (these are the ones I’ve visited at least) You’re going to have a beautiful time, but food is very limited!”
And for the fun note!
Vegan Gyozas in Gold Coast, Australia
Attitude Organic: “What is the funniest story you have about asking for vegan food in a “traditional” restaurant?”
Vivianne (Veggevi): “Not that long time ago, I was in Denmark for a 2-day long team building meeting, so we stayed at the hotel of the venue over the night and got served everything at the local restaurant that belonged to the hotel.
I was surprised and happy to be given a “patch” where it said VEGAN on, so I would put this on my plate and they would then see it and serve me only vegan food.
Then I got served a beautiful plate with a salad and potatoes, definitely not enough to feed anybody with a normal sized stomach.
And I asked if they had anything else I could eat, and then I suddenly had to explain what “Vegans eat” and I got the question back from the chef: Do you eat gluten?
Oh dear..”
Pretty but sad salad in Denmark
Xoxo IG: Veggevi
We hope you enjoyed this interview and that it answered to some of the questions you have! We love the funny story, it gave us a good laugh! Thanks again Vivianne!
If you look for more vegan real life experiences, read our interview with Maike!
