Traveling on a Vegetarian Diet

Hey all you beautiful people…

Can anybody give me some advice on traveling on a vegan/vegetarian diet? I’ve been to quite a few places in the world, and I have noticed that many places (that I’ve been to) eat diets heavy in meats and/or dairy products.

Are there any specific countries that eat diets high in vegetables, fruits, and/or nuts? Perchance I should consider checking these places out first.

¡Gracias por la ayuda!

Here’s a good article I came across recently:

http://www.welikeitraw.com/rawfood/2008/01/raw-on-the-road.html

I’d love to hear peoples’ thoughts on the best countries to go to if you want to eat healthy. I’m sure there are some countries where it would be super-easy and others where it would be very hard. Hmmm…

That’s a tough one.

Here in the US it seems fairly easy to find veggie dishes in ethnic restaurants. When you go abroad that is not always the case. My last trip abroad was to Taiwan – and I was vegetarian then. I found it very easy to eat there. :) just remember: “Bu Yao Ro!” (no meat!)

Other countries are not so sympathetic. The last time I was in Spain I was not vegetarian, but I tended to eat mostly veggie dishes anyway. It was hard to go out and not eat meat there. I hope that’s changed since then! I’m optimistic that as the world is growing and changing – people are becoming more and more health conscious and there will be a vast range of vegetarian options all over the world! wahoo!

Ummm…from my personal experience visiting areas of countries where people neither speak my language nor do I speak theirs (and no…I didn’t have a digital translator either. I know, bold move.) you end up getting to play the close-your-eyes-and-eat-whatever-strange-phrase-on-the-menu-that-your twirling-finger-lands-on game. While it was quite exciting for me and my friends because we could not decipher what was going to be brought to the table, I’m sure vegans may have trouble with this method. I would recommend many sessions on Edufire prior to your trip so you know exactly how to ask for fresh produce.

This is an interesting question to me as I am vegan. When I was travelling in France (I was vegetarian and not vegan at the time) I was given a pizza which was supposed to be without meat but had a little piece of ham smack bang in the middle!!! I told the server and he swiftly took it off my pizza and said ‘It was only a little bit’ !!!

I enjoyed reading about the raw food, thanks Jon.

Dairy would be a challenge for us. The kids and I all have issues with dairy. I would think asian countries…Sushi??? I look forward to hearing other suggestions about this. Good luck!

France can be hard for vegetarians and vegans, particularly as one moves toward the southwest part of the country. For better or for worse, this area is still the land of “foie gras,” and duck in a variety of forms is extremely popular. While we raise lots of fruits and vegetables, my vegetarian and vegan friends often have difficulty finding something interesting to eat when we go out.

Italy is really very easy as much of the food is naturally vegetarian or vegan, it isn’t necessarily labelled as such, it just is.

Since becoming vegan, I have found it extremely difficult to eat out locally although if you are in London, it is much easier to find a vegetarian restaurant. I am fortunate that I don’t live far away from Brighton, a seaside town that is quite a unique town/city with a high amount of vegetarian restaurants, a vegetarian supermarket and even a vegetarian shoe shop! It is definately a difficult part of travelling for me since becoming vegan. One of the first things I look for in a vacation destination is how vegetarian/vegan friendly it is.

When I was in Spain for a year, my best friend was a vegetarian. She found that if she asked about meat, they didn’t consider ham meat. When she told people she was a vegetarian they were seriously worried about her health. In fact, my boyfriend’s dad (Spanish) kept asking me about her all year to make sure she was OK.

As for advice, not sure since everywhere I have been has been pretty into their meat. I guess you just need to go to the supermarkets and make your own food a lot.

Hi Liz, your experience (your friend) in Spain does not surprise me. It is very difficult to find vegetarian/vegan food in so many couuntries and the hard part is often trying to make restaurants even understand. Even in England, where I would say they do have more of an understanding than say Spain for example, I asked for a pizza in an Italian restaurant and asked for it without the cheese but with more vegetables. He looked at me like I was a little crazy but said ‘ummmm ok’ :)

Ok, I’m addicted to pizza – no cheese? No way! :)

Pizza needs to be really good to be without cheese. When you get a really fabulous pizza you’ll not miss it. :)

But Sandra, you like cheese? Cool. Enjoy that too. That’s what it’s all about! :)