How to travel as a vegan

For a lot of people, summer means vacation, vacation means holidays and holidays means traveling (okay, vacation and holidays are a bit the same but I had to start this article one way, right?).

I will list 3 important points here for being as vegan as possible, even in another new country.

1) FOOD

When you aren't vegan, you can just eat everything the plane serves or if you travel with the car, you just stop at McDonalds or BurgerKing. But now, you believe that a life is more important than a steak, and you're conscious about all the cruelty and you don't want to support and pay for the mass-murder that leads to a cheeseburger. So you need something else.

PREPARATION IS THE KEY-WORD.

CAR

In the car, you can always bring your own vegan food. Fruit, raw vegetables, dried fruits (dates, figs, ...), nuts, bread, etc. It's really, really easy.

PLANE

I only went on a holiday with a plane once, and I wasn't vegan back then, so I do not know a lot about eating vegan on planes.

RESTAURANTS & STORES

In every restaurant, you can get rice and vegetables.

You can also visit local markets.

There is a website, www.happycow.net, where you can just enter your location or the location where you wanna go, and it finds you all the vegan, vegetarian and veg-friendly restaurants in the area, and also the health-stores.

This website is literally the best. invention. ever.

2) TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

As a vegan, you want to support no animal-cruelty at all.

So that means that you not only want to eat vegan, but like, not support any kind of animal-cruelty. It goes further than only what you put on your plate.

ZOOS

Zoos are prisons for animals. Don't go to zoos. They are horror, and not educational at all. The animals are not in their natural habitat, they're imprisoned and they go crazy. You would go crazy too if you had to stay in a little room for the rest of your life. And no, the animals are not well treated in zoos. They get food, but that's it. They can't act natural. DON'T GO TO THE ZOO.

CIRCUSES

Don't get me wrong, I love clowns and unicycles and acrobatics, but not the fact that lions and tigers and elephants and horses are exploited for human pleasure.

The animals are driven crazy by not getting food, by being hit with a whip, and other not fun things. It's not natural for an elephant to sit or for a bear to dance.

Please don't pay for other beings to be exploited for you. You are better than that.

AQUARIA & DOLFINARIA

No, just no. Not enough space, ripping smart animals apart from their family, etc. No.

ELEPHANT RIDING & TAKING PICTURES 

If you go to a country such as Thailand or Bali, you will see a lot of advertising for riding elephants, taking pictures with lions and tigers and others horrible attractions like that.

Please don't fall for it. You probably don't even do it for yourself but for the cool status that you get when you post a picture on Facebook where you are laying on a tiger. I tell you one thing: it is NOT cool to support that kind of cruelty. 

The elephants are beaten, and the felines are drugged. DRUGGED. So that you can take a silly picture.

Just don't do it!

3) MEETING OTHER VEGANS

As a vegan, it is amazing to meet like-minded people.

On Instagram, you can ask people that live in the place where you are going to meet, or you can make a Facebook-group.

Meet in a vegan restaurant, share your story which each other, your food, your dreams, have an amazing time. Make friends for life <3

Tip: if you are going to meet someone for the very first time, don't go alone. I really believe in humanity but there are still crazy people on the internet. Take it seriously and go with a parent or someone you've known for a while.

Holidays are amazing!

You have no work, you can relax, see new places, explore, laugh, try new (vegan ;)) food, meet new people, have new experiences, make new memories that will last a lifetime.

Also, staying at home is not a disaster, you know. You can explore new places in your own area, you have a lot of time to enjoy life, and do whatever you want. 

Tip: Don't write on the internet when you are going on vacation. There are also thieves on the internet. After you came back, you can show pictures and tell about your adventures, but don't tell anybody before you leave.

Vacations exist to be enjoyed.

So, enjoy! :D

I wish you an amazing summer :)

Lots of love! Charlotte