Who’s doing some travel this winter? I can’t wait to dip my toes in the warm ocean down ol’ Mexico way. I’ve learned a few travel tips over my 20 vegan years…

First, pack as if it’s the zombie apocalypse! When I’m stuck places with no vegan food and I get HANGRY! It’s not pretty. At the very least, pack an apple and power bar. At the very most, pack a suitcase full of 40 pounds of vegan goodies in your suitcase. (Most airlines limit each suitcase to 50 pounds or less.) Like so:

Yes this may seem a bit extreme. However we were at an all-inclusive resort with limited vegan options. I scrounged up fresh fruit and veggies from the hotel but not much protein. We really did eat almost all of this!

From left to right: rice cakes, raw pizza bread, broccoli poppers, raw crackers, fruit strips, dolmas, nuts, coconut milk, kale chips, dates, raw macaroons, pumpkin seeds, raw fudge, peanut butter and almond butter. Not pictured: raw granola.

(Btw, the canned coconut milk was my solution for milk in my morning tea and cereal. I figured the can would survive the trip better than a milk carton. Stir in some water, and voilà! Just remember the can opener!)

Second – grab this super cool lil book called The Vegan Passport. It’s out of print but you can find it at Amazon used or get on a waitlist for it:

You hand it to servers in any country in the world, and in their language they can read what food you will and will not eat. The only country I’ve been disappointed they don’t include is Slovenia! Crazy! I’m half Slovenian and Slovenia even had a vegan president at one point! You’d think they made the cut, but no 😦

I’m adequate at Spanish but that’s about it. Por favor, no deseo nada productos de animales. No carne, leche, mantequila, manteca, o queso. Gracias! I normally stammer something along those lines in Mexico. Luckily in Tulum there are a TON of vegan options! How did I figure this out? Well…

Third – HappyCow.com! This website is basically the golden compass for vegans. Plug in any city and it’ll spit out vegan and vegetarian restaurants, veg-friendly food stores, and farmers’ markets in the area. Awesome!

If you’re lucky you’ll be lead to some of the most incredible vegan places on earth! We learned about Restaurare from Happy Cow, where we gorged on delicious food in a gorgeous jungle garden dining room!

Tip #4 for bonus points – we all want the whole world to go vegan, right?! So leave a thank you card everywhere you dine that serves at least one vegan option.

Any of your own tips to share? Pass them along in the comments! Thank you, and happy travels!

xo
Meghan