Travelling internationally as a vegan

Vegan Society volunteer, Dr. Lee Hawkins, shares his experience and tips for travelling the world as a vegan

I’ve been very fortunate to have many opportunities to travel internationally for both work and pleasure for more than twenty years. Australia is a long way from everywhere, but I’ve managed to see so many interesting places and enjoy great vegan food all over the world.

In this post, I’ll share some of my experiences of travelling internationally as a vegan, highlighting some of the surprising spots where I’ve enjoyed amazing vegan options, and I’ll also pass on five tips to make your international vegan travels much easier.

Amazing vegan experiences

With vegan food options being so accessible in most places, I’ve sometimes struggled to make choices of where to eat – what a great problem to have! I’ve noticed that vegan places are often not in the typical tourist areas of a town or city, so I’ve got to experience areas I probably wouldn’t have otherwise (and this has generally, if not always, been a positive experience!).

It’s also been worth seeking out vegan hotels/B&Bs and I’ve often decided to visit a particular place or area just because of the availability of vegan accommodation there. This has led to some great discoveries of interesting places, the most recent being Malham in the UK’s Yorkshire Dales (chosen for the delightful vegan hotel in this small village).

Travelling to new places also gives you the opportunity to ‘vote with your dollar’ by supporting vegan businesses. It’s not easy to run a vegan business so spending money at these places during your travels all helps to keep them alive and promoting veganism.

Visiting animal sanctuaries has also been a feature of some of my international trips. It’s always inspiring to see the great work these sanctuaries do in helping the animals and raising awareness. Farmed animal sanctuaries in the UK and US stand out as being particularly memorable (the latter being the Gentle Barn in Tennessee which does amazing work for the animals and young people).

You’re not immune to problems during international travel as a vegan, of course. I’ve been disappointed by vegan cafes not being open when they said they would be and even vegan hotels not being as good as expected. But good forward planning (with some backup options) and a flexible attitude should help you to surmount the problems you encounter along the way – always remembering what a privilege it is to be able to enjoy international travel!

The surprises

While exploring this diverse world of ours, some places have genuinely surprised me when it comes to providing great vegan experiences.

Czechia

When my work first took me to Czechia, a glance at some of the most common and traditional dishes didn’t fill me with confidence – pork dumplings, goulash and fried cheese!

However, it turned out that Prague was one of the most vegan-friendly cities in the world (even more than ten years ago) with an abundance of pure vegan eateries to choose from. Some places focused on creating vegan versions of those traditional Czech dishes, while others were much more creative. 

After multiple return visits to the country, I found the quality and variety of vegan food in Prague and Brno to be superb. It’s an amazing country to explore and the vegan-friendliness of at least the larger cities makes it all the more exciting as a vegan traveller.

China

I first visited China in 2012. My colleagues were great at doing local research and they often didn’t know that purely vegetarian restaurants existed. They always found places to try and, since I was always travelling to the same city in Guangdong province, we got to try them all and then return to the better ones. I found my colleagues very receptive to eating at vegetarian and vegan places, they all seemed to enjoy the different food and some even chose to dine at these places in my absence!

I’ve now visited China thirteen times in all and, not only haven’t I gone hungry, I’ve enjoyed some truly memorable vegan dining experiences there. The strong Buddhist tradition means that there are always decent options, especially Buddhist restaurants. These are often also very pleasant environments and my favourite restaurant in China is one such place, in a beautiful, serene courtyard in a historic part of the city of Zhuhai – a far cry from the shiny new shopping mall very close by, with its array of familiar Western fast-food chains!

If you plan to travel to China without close colleagues or friends to assist with ordering for you, I’d recommend only choosing vegan establishments so you can order safely. Otherwise, consider hiring a local guide (many university students offer this kind of service) to make sure you’re getting vegan dishes in non-vegan places or, as a last resort, ask someone you trust to write out a statement about your vegan dietary requirements (very clearly stating what you can and cannot eat, in Mandarin) that you can print out and show when you’re ordering.

It is worth noting that I found some travel apps did not work as well during my travels in China, so plan before you go and enlist local help – the China Vegan Society can also assist.

US

I’ve made more visits to the US than I can remember, mainly for work but often with holiday time tacked on. I found many different options when looking for vegan dining options in the US! There are plenty of great vegan cafes and restaurants in most cities.

I’ve had fine dining experiences of the highest quality in New York in particular (even including a Michelin-starred vegan Japanese restaurant!) as well as good, healthy and inventive dishes in other cities.

Other

Sometimes I’ve found vegan spots in the most unexpected places! Airports can even yield surprises – there’s a vegan organic cafe in Qatar’s amazing Hamad international airport and there used to be vegan cafes in both Los Angeles’ international airport and Dublin airport! The lovely food and beautiful medieval surroundings of a vegan restaurant in the old town of Tallinn in Estonia was another unexpected but fantastic experience.

Keep your eyes open and you might just come across a vegan gem.

Tips

My five top tips for easy international vegan travel are:

1. Plan in advance

Vegan travelling always benefits from some planning. Planning is especially valuable when it comes to international travel to places you may be completely unfamiliar with and where a language barrier may come into play too. I have a few suggestions to guide your planning:
 

2. Use the HappyCow app

The HappyCow app is an invaluable tool when travelling as a vegan, especially to unfamiliar places. You can use it as a great planning tool before your trip, as well as using it in real time when you’re on the ground in a new place and need to find a local vegan place. 

I’ve found HappyCow to be the most useful app when travelling and the fact that it’s the most popular app of its kind means there are always plenty of recent reviews to get a good impression of whether a vegan place is worth visiting or not.

Many people seem to think HappyCow only lists places to eat, but it’s also great for finding vegan shops and even accommodation. I’ve visited several vegan clothes shops in Germany and vegan shoe shops in the US and Portugal.

Don’t rely on the opening hours shown on travel apps.  Details are often out-of-date in the app, so always check the eatery’s own website or social media to get their most current information. I speak from experience having travelled specifically to a number of places only to find they weren’t open at the times stated.

3. Go where the local vegans go

I’ve found that local knowledge is gold when it comes to finding the best vegan places, so it’s worth searching out some local vegans to find out where they go (and where they avoid!). 

I’ve got some of my best tips from vegan bloggers, so search for blogs from vegans in the places you’re visiting (being careful to check that the information is current).

Most places have local vegan groups or meetups where fellow vegans can share tips and even invite you to vegan-friendly events. Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram are great resources for finding and engaging with these communities.

4. Attend vegan markets and other events

A great way to try new foods & products – as well as an opportunity to meet local vegans (and get more great recommendations from them!) – is to attend vegan markets and other events in the places you visit. You can often find these by simple web searches or come across them via posts from the vegans you’re following thanks to the previous tip!

A recent example of this working well was during a visit to the Portuguese capital, Lisbon. Arriving around midday on a Sunday, the city’s monthly vegan market was on until late afternoon, so it was worth the bus ride out of the city to check it out. There were a great range of vegan food options and other vegan vendors to explore at this busy market, so it was a fun afternoon interacting with the local vegan community and learning more about veganism in the unique context of their city.

Past UK visits have included taking in the London VegFest and attending the Vegan Camp Out, both much larger events that created many great vegan memories. I find it really inspiring to see vegans en masse in these types of events.

5. Book airline special meals

Airline food can fill the gap especially on the long-haul flights required to travel overseas from Australia. 

Most full-service airlines offer the option to pre-book ‘special’ meals so it’s worth doing this well in advance of your flights. There are usually a number of vegetarian options so make sure you select the one called ‘vegan’ or similar (with code ‘VGML’) to be sure you get the vegan offering. 

In my experience, ordering the special meals doesn’t necessarily mean you get them – it’s worth checking with the airline a few days before you travel to make sure your VGML request is actually registered against your flights.

Even with all this preparation, I’ve still had occasions where the special meals didn’t eventuate, so I always pack emergency supplies just in case! Energy/bliss balls are a good option for a filling hit of energy, while fruit, nuts and muesli bars also work well.

Conclusion

International travel can be incredibly rewarding and eye-opening. Doing it as a vegan is not very difficult, providing you do plenty of planning before you go and are prepared to be flexible when need be.

By embracing the local food culture, seeking out vegan options and packing your own snacks, you’ll be able to savour the journey and enjoy some amazing new experiences – all without compromising your values.

Dr Lee Hawkins is a mathematician and IT professional. He has been volunteering with The Vegan Society since 2020. He migrated to Australia from the UK 25 years ago and lives on the Bellarine Peninsula (near Melbourne) in the state of Victoria, with his wife and rescue dog.