Travel can be exciting, enlightening, and educational. It can also be frustrating, if you face flight delays, lost luggage, or reservation snafus. While those problems are often unavoidable, there are steps that travelers can take to make sure they have an epic adventure filled with vegan croissants, delectable dairy-free desserts, and whatever else their compassionate vegan heart desires! As a vegan travel advisor, I help people craft an unforgettable trip that’s full of vegan food and fun.

If you want to go on a vegan-friendly vacation, it’s important to choose a vegan-friendly destination! That may seem obvious, but it’s easy to get sucked into online—and most likely, staged—photos and stories think, OMG, I have to go there! But hold on before you hit the “buy now” button and ask yourself a few questions:

• Do you want your holiday to focus on food or be about exploring the beauty of nature, having a cultural experience, or something else? Set your priorities first because every destination is going to offer something different. Some places are great for stuffing yourself silly while others are terrific for seeing toucans in lush forests. While a tropical adventure may be beautiful, the food options might be underwhelming.
  
• Do you know what you’re getting from the get-go? I once went to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, which is a spectacular place to hike and kayak.  I knew beforehand that the restaurants wouldn’t interest me as much, so I was mentally and physically prepared. Be flexible and choose a destination that will reflect what’s most important to you. If it’s food, then choose cities like New York, Los Angeles, London, or Berlin.
  
• Are you relying on current advice, and not outdated assumptions? Things change fast, including a destination’s offerings. What a place was like last year could be very different from what it’s like today. Find out how up-to-date your information is before booking a ticket. One day, we may be able to step foot into a city and be bombarded by vegan treats and activities, but until then, it’s our job to find all of it.  

Here’s a few more things to keep in mind:

• Do extensive research: Searching for vegan food in Paris is a great step, but go a little further and search for vegan breakfast options, bakeries, ice cream, and look for food options specific to the culture — vegan ramen in Tokyo, for example. Save them with a pink flag. You can also search for vegan food tours (or other sights) and save those with a green flag to find them easily in your sea of saved restaurants.
  
• Not everyone will understand English. Assuming this is not only poor planning, it’s also rude. You don’t need to become fluent in another language, but it may be helpful to learn basic greetings and relevant questions and comments like: “Is this vegan?” “Do you have oat milk?” “I don’t eat meat, fish, cheese, milk, eggs, honey, or anything made from animals.”

YouTube and Duolingo (duolingo.com) can be great resources for learning greetings and learning pronunciation, and another useful app is Google Translate. It allows you to type in a phrase and translate it and you can take a photo of a label or sign and have it translate it for you. This is helpful when you want to buy something, but are worried it may contain a non-vegan ingredient.

Not every place will understand the difference between vegan and vegetarian.

If you’ve written out or know how to say, “I don’t eat meat, fish, cheese, milk, eggs, honey, or anything made from animals,” then the server can take it back to the chef to ensure everyone is on board. Your presence could influence staff to consider adding more vegan menu options.

Connecting with local vegan communities can help.  There might be a vegan Facebook group for the city or maybe sanctioned vegan meetup events. These folks know where all the best spots are and will probably share spots you won’t find searching Google. Prior to a trip to Las Vegas, I joined a local vegan Facebook group, and asked, “If you only have time to visit one spot, where would you go?” A couple of vegan Vegas spots were recommended again and again. If you can’t find a group, ask restaurant waitstaff what’s popular. You might get some delicious surprises!

Pack “just in case” snacks! While many cities are becoming more vegan-friendly, you’ve still got to get there — planes and trains can be problematic spots where hunger strikes with no options! Or if your vegan order gets messed up, you’ll have something.

While food is often the first thought when booking a trip, remember that other activities may involve animals. Never book an activity that involves wildlife, including petting or posing for photos with animals, riding on them, swimming or bathing with them, which is often common with captive marine life or elephants.

If animals wouldn’t behave a certain way in the wild, can’t easily come and go as they please, or if guests are known to post photos featuring animal exploitation (such as riding on elephants or camels, swimming with dolphins, or posing with tiger cubs, chimpanzees, or other exotic animals), take your money and run!

Even if you’re visiting a sanctuary, make sure to check out recommended places by organizations like World Animal Protection or the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries. Both organizations evaluate and stay in contact with sanctuaries to ensure they are operating in the best way possible.

About the Author

Rebecca Gade Sawicki is the founder of the vegan travel company Veggies Abroad. In an effort to align her career with her ethics, Rebecca left her 15-year career in 2021 to start the company. Veggies Abroad offers a myriad of services including small group tours, custom trip planning, and a podcast that combines the thrill of exploration with a commitment to ethical practices.