Some Advice for Traveling Vegans

Many vegans have found themselves starving while they are traveling and not being able to find any foods free of animal products on the road. When you have your kitchen organized and a variety of vegan options around your kitchen its difficult to adjust to staying in hotels, spending days in your car, and eating food bought in gas stations.

Stock up with snacks for the road, and dont be afraid of taking too much. Nuts, healthy granola and some vegan energy bars are convenient foods to pack and eat when traveling, but at the end of the day if you want a full meal, these small snacks won’t satisfy your hunger. Unless you are traveling in a trailer, you probably don't have an oven or even a microwave to cook food, but there are many products you can take with yourself and enjoy without cooking such as putting a full salad in a container or making a whole grain sandwich with some almond butter or hummus.

If you are stuck in your car driving to another state or country, ideally you’ll drive by a few Whole Foods where you don't have to worry about finding delicious vegan food and have a large variety to choose from, but most of the time all you can rely on is the dreadful gas station food. Most gas stations are filled with only processed foods, but you can always find some fruits, nuts or vegetables to enjoy while driving. You can come across a few restaurants where you can find vegan appetizers, but you should always ask the waiter/waitress to make sure the foods don't have any animal products in them.

On the road many vegans drink their nutrients; you can make your own fresh organic juice at home before you leave or just add nutrients to what you regularly drink in the mornings (ie. squeeze some lemon juice into your tea) to stay healthy. Vegan protein shakes (cow’s milk replaced with almond, soy or coconut milk) are sometimes also a great option if you know you won’t have time to stop by for food because they supply you with most of the nutrients you need to make it through the day, but still shouldn’t be a replacement for solid foods.

Every vegan should be prepared to be faced with difficulties of finding something to eat in a new environment, so the key is to plan ahead of time, pack extra food and not being afraid to ask the locals for help.