Even before the big day, a good first idea is to learn about the local cuisine of the country you’re going to visit.

Obviously, it’s a very interesting thing to do whether you’re vegan or not. It lets you know in advance what you should absolutely try!

That being said, as you do your research, try to see if it’s a country where it seems easy to eat vegan food. It’s quite possible that some of their traditional diets includes vegan dishes or dishes that can easily be made vegan. By knowing this in advance, you may already have some options to suggest to the cooks.

Don’t worry, if the country doesn’t have a very plant-based cuisine, you still have ways to get by without it being too painful! Just keep reading.

Airports are one of the places where you are likely to have a hard time finding vegan options. If you’re not prepared, you may have to eat something non-vegan or be starving. We certainly don’t want that!

So what can you do? First, when you’re booking your tickets, make sure to mention that you’re vegan if you have the option to do so. If this option doesn’t exist, it informs you in advance that you may need a plan B.

Second, you can try calling the airline directly to see if they can prepare a vegan meal for you.

If this is not possible, eating just before arriving at the airport is definitely your best option. Plus, it’s MUCH cheaper.

Finally, filling up snacks in the duty-free section is also a good idea.

This changes everything. If you can rent an Airbnb or opt for a youth hostel with a kitchen, things will be infinitely simpler. It will allow you to do a little grocery shopping and cook some of your meals. Not only will you eat vegan food much more easily, but again, it’s so much cheaper. Win-win situation!

Even when a country doesn’t have many plant-based options in restaurants, fruits, vegetables, nuts, or legumes are fairly easy to find in every grocery store and market around the world. 

If you prefer to stay at the hotel, it’s good to know that there are 100% vegetarian/vegan hotels in many countries. You can find them at https://www.veggie-hotels.com and even on HappyCow (I’ll talk more about it in the next section).

Of course, you won’t find one in every city. However, if breakfast is included or if there’s a restaurant in the hotel where you want to stay, you can call before booking to see if they have options for you. 

Lastly, note that you can find vegan hosts via Couchsurfing. If you don’t know what this is all about, make sure you read our article that gives you tons of options for traveling on a budget. 

Traveling without tasting food in local restaurants may be unthinkable for you, right? For us too. And as a French-Canadian, believe me, we know how hard it can be to find restaurants that offer vegan food!

So then again, you’ll have to do a little research. Here’s what we suggest:

– You can check Yelp, a great website/app that allows you to find restaurants near you. This way, you’ll be able to read other people’s comments and also find out if the place you’re looking at has plant-based choices.

– On the other hand, the HappyCow app is a game-changer. It was free at first, but now you have to buy it for a few dollars. Considering the headaches and the time it can save you, it’s definitely worth it!

This application will show you all the vegan/vegan-friendly restaurants, bakeries, stores, etc. around you. You can even create groups for each place you plan to visit with all the restaurants you want to try.

-Finally, we would also recommend Vegaholic, which is an app powered by Barnivore. This one is for alcohol only. (Yup, unfortunately not all alcohols are vegan.)

So if you find yourself in front of the wine list of a non-vegan restaurant, for example, you can enter the name of the bottle you want and see if it is vegan.

You may not be able to find restaurants with menus that are compatible with your diet. If this happens, you can try to see if they can modify a recipe for you. This is often possible. I understand that it can be embarrassing, but it’s worth a try.

When the time comes to make yourself understood, having a few words in the local language in mind will help you enormously. It’s especially true when you’re away from the big cities where it’s easier to find someone who speaks English.

Not to mention that locals are often very happy when you try to express yourself in their language. They will probably be even more inclined to accommodate you.

I encourage you to learn and write down a few complete sentences, but let’s say you should at least know the very basics:

I’m vegan/Please no milk/ meat/eggs/ butter/lactose/honey/gelatine/buttermilk/whey 

In the same vein, there is a guide called the vegan passport. It’s multilingual (about 78 different languages) and includes basic phrases to explain what veganism is, as well as drawings to make it easier to understand.

No matter where you are in the world, you can simply hand the guide to the waiter and ask him to read it. That way, you’re almost sure to make yourself understood.

It exists in paper format, but you can also simply download the application. I haven’t personally tried it yet, so let me know how it went if you did!

Finally, if you’ve tried all of the things above to express what you want and the other person still offers you meals containing dairy products, for example, you can always try to say that you’re allergic.

The idea isn’t to lie but to find a way to make them understand that they really can’t put these products in your meal.

If you are taking B12 supplements, don’t forget to bring them with you, as it can be difficult to find them in many places. You’re going away for a long time? Make sure you bring as much as you can.

On another note, many shampoos/toothpaste/creams, etc. aren’t vegan. If it’s something you’re also concerned about,  don’t forget to think about it. This is especially true if you plan to stay in a hotel and use their shampoo. Bringing your vegan shampoo bar is a safe option.

Finally, keep in mind that in many countries of the world, the vegan phenomenon isn’t at all a known thing. Many people have never heard of it and have no idea what it means.

For many, not eating meat and dairy products is something that has never even crossed their minds. Therefore, it can be very difficult to understand.

Moreover, some areas are poor and the locals will still be happy to offer you what they have to eat (possibly meat).

We won’t lie, it can be very tricky at times to be vegan elsewhere. Consequently, it’s up to each person to set their own limits and determine how they’re going to behave.

That being said, remember to be grateful when people try to accommodate you and to be kind and patient when you explain yourself. Chances are you haven’t always been a vegan, right? Don’t forget that.

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