Frustrations of a Vegan Traveller
Going on holidays as a vegan is something like realizing that the whole world is actually home. Means, what you had to hear at home, now the world will tell you. The whole world reminds you of the various degrees of exploitation that the animals face unnecessarily for our day-to-day life. Travel brings a whole new perspective to the topic of veganism. Here are some of the reasons why it’s frustrating to travel as a vegan:
1.Language barrier — Being a vegan, we need to be more conscious of the ingredients that constitute the food we consume. Without knowing the language of a new place, it becomes very frustrating to not know what’s in our food. This becomes more of an issue when travelling to a destination which has little English usage. It is the best if your travel agent can provide you a guide who gives you a list of common phrases that you can use to make the experience better.
2.Activities including animal exploitation — Everywhere you see there is animal exploitation in the common world. It becomes especially evident when you are travelling, as tourist attractions historically meant animal rides and other such activities. It is not unusual that one of the recommendations is to go to the local zoo or to ride tortured elephants or join a once in a lifetime experience with drugged lion cubs. Seeing this happening is highly demotivating and heart-breaking.
3.Finding travel mates — Travelling solo has its charm but so has travelling with other people. Being a vegan it’s very tough to find fellow travellers who also believe in the same principles as you. You feel alone even with millions of people travelling with you. Finding a vegan buddy to share your travels with makes it easier as you have someone to share costs with and find appropriate options in a world heavily tilted toward non-vegans.
4.The right food — Most of the restaurants and eateries have hardly any vegan options to offer. Us vegans have to really search left, right and centre to find something nice to eat other than salad and on top of it, all we pay high prices for it! Meat is considerably more expensive and yet we end up paying the same price for a meal devoid of meat or animal products. Most of the places don’t cater to the food habits of vegans. Cheese and butter are added in most of the cuisines around the world, which makes it very tough to get guilt-free food easily. Also, for instance, fish sauce is predominantly used in many South-East Asian countries even in the vegetarian dishes they prepare, making it difficult for vegans.
5.Expensive than regular holiday — The expenses for a vegan and eco-friendly holiday are quite high in comparison to regular holidays. Eco-friendly and vegan properties, eateries and attractions are very uncommon and hence we need to pay a premium to them for something which is far cheaper to maintain and provide than the regular non-vegan stuff. The reason that it happens is because there are very few in the world who actually want to go for these options. Being vegan and eco-friendly are still seen as things that rich and influential people want.
We would love for you to be a part of the amazing vegan vacation that Travel Love Repeat is organising in Bali from 13th to 20th April, 2019. Check out the details here. It’s your chance to experience the life of a vegan traveller. See them dispel the problems faced by vegans while travelling. See you there.
