How To Travel with a Particular Dietary Requirement or Preference.
I have two addictions in life that become quite strikingly obvious within the first five minutes or so after you meet me; food and travel. But, sometimes those two loves don't exactly cooperate nicely given that I have a dietary preference for vegan food. Whilst I will go to fairly great lengths to only eat vegan friendly food, for some people, eating a certain way can mean life and death - such as for a coeliac. I'm fairly blessed to have travelled quite a lot in recent years, from Europe, to Asia, back to Europe and closer to home in the Pacific, so I kind of like to consider myself a bit of a pro when it comes to finding places to cater to niche food requirements and preferences. For many, this is the nightmare of travel, but it need not be that way because finding food you can and will eat isn't as hard as you might think! Here's a few tips and tricks that I've learnt along the way;
1. Ask your Friends who've Travelled There Before/Friends who have the same Dietary Requirement/Preference as you.
Without fail the easiest way to travel with a dietary requirement or preference is to ask for advice from others in the same position as you who might have been to the city/country you are heading before. See, usually your gluten intolerant friends who've been to Paris themselves will have battled the food scene there and they'll know exactly where you ought to head to get your gluten free fix. The benefit in friends advice is that they've obviously been there beforehand, so if it was god-awful then they're the unfortunate souls who had to eat the food, and they'll likely tell you it is or isn't worth the trip!
2. Ask Google.
In the place of having no friends who might've been to the place you're heading (hello trip to Riga earlier this year...), ask everybody's best friend, Google. As the famous proverb goes, Google knows everything, including where the good vegan restaurants are and whether gluten free is a thing that exists in Thailand. The downside to Google? Well, it won't always tell you if the restaurant is good or bad as a friend might, so sometimes its a bit of a gamble, but half the fun in travelling is the stories of failure you can share later on!!! Happy Cow is my go-to website for all things vegan and veto - 11/10 would recommend! You simply search the city/town you're in and voila - there's a lovely little list with all the places you could go!
3. Check Instagram, particularly Hashtags.
A lot of people aren't aware that Instagram is actually kind of like a food encyclopaedia to basically everywhere and anywhere on the planet if you know how to navigate your way through the various insignificant hashtags to the ones that matter when travelling. In actual fact, I think I've probably found more places to eat through Instagram than friends, books and Google combined! See here's how it works. Say you're going to travel to Greece and you'll be in Athens and you're a vegan. What you want to do is jump on Instagram, chuck a sneaky follow to me over at @young_rebecca and then jump on the search page and type in #veganathens and see what comes up. Sometimes you'll be inundated with home chefs who coincidently call Athens home, but frequently you'll also find pictures people have posted from restaurants around the city, and, if they're really helpful, they'll have also tagged/checked in at the restaurant itself, so all you have to do is click on the location tag and voila! You have yourself a vegan or a vegan friendly restaurant. Oh the power of social media!!! Also keep in mind that if you have found somewhere vegan or vegan friendly and you post a picture of the meal there, also tag the location and #vegan__ <-- city you're in so that other people can use this trick too! Helpful hashtags include; #vegan(name of city), #glutenfree(name of city), #(name of city)vegan, etc.
4. Ask the Locals!
No body knows a place like someone that lives there. So, the best people to ask for food suggestions, especially if they're a little less common, are going to be the locals. Determining who is a local and who is not is probably the hardest part to this, but you'll never know unless you do ask. Speaking the language is also potentially a barrier here but when you have nothing to lose you may as well be polite and ask if they speak the same language as you and if the answer is yes then proceed with asking where the best vegetarian food in town can be found!!!
5. ASK.
In addition to asking the locals, also just ask anyone and everyone, even if they're also carrying about a massive digital camera and guide book with a large neon flashing sign saying 'tourist' on their head just like you - who knows, maybe they share your funny dietary quirks too. I recently travelled for over a month across north-eastern and central Europe completely alone. Yep, just me, myself and I for company. And, if there is one thing that I learnt in the whole experience it was that you just need to ask! I've always had a fear of asking strangers things, which is becomingly increasingly enhanced the more and more we rely upon the Internet, but when I found myself completely alone with no one to give me judge-y side eye (a fear of mine), I suddenly found myself asking people everywhere for things and some of the best experiences, restaurants, day trips, transport options and more were shared this way! The worst that someone can do is either say 'I can't help you', not understand you in whatever language you ask and give you a kinda funny look (but hey, you never have to see them again) or say no. No one grows a second head to eat you, no one yelled at me (in my experiences) and 9.8 times out of 10, people gave me advice and answers that were actually helpful! So, if you are after a gluten free restaurant, politely ask a passerby if they know where you might find one, and if they don't know, then ask the next passerby, or your hotel receptionist, or a tourist information desk, etc.!
6. Google Translate your Particular Needs/Preference BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE WIFI.
This one day not too long ago, I found myself in Northern Thailand, and, you guessed it, I was hungry and eagerly attempting to hunt down a restaurant that could make me something vegan. But, I do not speak Thai, and the small town I happened to find myself was not overly Westernised, meaning that English was rarely understood and spoken. In Thai, (as far as I am aware) the word 'vegan' roughly translates to sound something along the lines of 'Mangswirati' - i.e. NOTHING AT ALL LIKE THE ENGLISH WORD. With the gift of hindsight I can tell you this, but at the time I had no idea at all, so I actually ended up eating some plain rice and stir-fried veggies, which was fine, although I very much believe that had I been able to accurately express what I wanted, I could've had many more options. So, the moral of the story here is that Google Translate is your friend, and if you are travelling to a country where you do not speak the language, always translate your dietary requirements/allergies/preferences and save them as a note in your phone beforehand so they are easily accessible when you're out and about without wifi!
7. Hit up the Local Farmers Markets and Supermarkets.
I LOVE FARMERS MARKETS. I feel this is part of the reason I am so in love with Europe because they always just seem to pop up all over the place and it's honestly one of the best things ever! Farmers markets usually stock a whole heap of fresh, easily identifiable, and, most importantly, CHEAP, produce meaning that if you are intolerant of something, because the markets haven't yet crafted something into a dish with about 50 different ingredients, you can be certain that the raspberries do indeed only contain raspberry whereas the meal in the restaurant could be hiding things. One of my top tips for all travellers, not just those with food fetishes, is the classic picnic - first stop always being the famers market. I mean, look me in the eye and tell me with full conviction that there is something better than fresh berries grown in the countryside, a crusty loaf of fresh sourdough and some other bits and pieces under a shady tree in the summer. You cannot. No body can. Because there is nothing better. And, if you're doubting me then you evidently have not been to the farmers market in summer, in which case I refer you to this little paragraph!
Being the curious mind that I am with the never-ending desire to see more and go to more places, these points will no doubt be added to in the future, although I do think they make an excellent starting point!! Travel freely fellow wanderlusting souls!!! Not all who wander are lost.
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| This is literally my favourite sight in the world - looking out the plane window over the clouds and the undiscovered places below. I'm definitely a window seat girl to the core. |
1. Ask your Friends who've Travelled There Before/Friends who have the same Dietary Requirement/Preference as you.
Without fail the easiest way to travel with a dietary requirement or preference is to ask for advice from others in the same position as you who might have been to the city/country you are heading before. See, usually your gluten intolerant friends who've been to Paris themselves will have battled the food scene there and they'll know exactly where you ought to head to get your gluten free fix. The benefit in friends advice is that they've obviously been there beforehand, so if it was god-awful then they're the unfortunate souls who had to eat the food, and they'll likely tell you it is or isn't worth the trip!
 |
| The spread at Sadhana Kitchen in Newtown, Sydney. I had a friend who had been here before and she insisted that I absolutely MUST go. That raw vegan lasagne was the actual next level. I'm still dreaming about it and its been 5 months.... |
In the place of having no friends who might've been to the place you're heading (hello trip to Riga earlier this year...), ask everybody's best friend, Google. As the famous proverb goes, Google knows everything, including where the good vegan restaurants are and whether gluten free is a thing that exists in Thailand. The downside to Google? Well, it won't always tell you if the restaurant is good or bad as a friend might, so sometimes its a bit of a gamble, but half the fun in travelling is the stories of failure you can share later on!!! Happy Cow is my go-to website for all things vegan and veto - 11/10 would recommend! You simply search the city/town you're in and voila - there's a lovely little list with all the places you could go!
 |
| Cheers to Google for enlightening me to the fact that in Krakow one can get vegan ice-cream and sorbet. LIFE IS GOOD. |
A lot of people aren't aware that Instagram is actually kind of like a food encyclopaedia to basically everywhere and anywhere on the planet if you know how to navigate your way through the various insignificant hashtags to the ones that matter when travelling. In actual fact, I think I've probably found more places to eat through Instagram than friends, books and Google combined! See here's how it works. Say you're going to travel to Greece and you'll be in Athens and you're a vegan. What you want to do is jump on Instagram, chuck a sneaky follow to me over at @young_rebecca and then jump on the search page and type in #veganathens and see what comes up. Sometimes you'll be inundated with home chefs who coincidently call Athens home, but frequently you'll also find pictures people have posted from restaurants around the city, and, if they're really helpful, they'll have also tagged/checked in at the restaurant itself, so all you have to do is click on the location tag and voila! You have yourself a vegan or a vegan friendly restaurant. Oh the power of social media!!! Also keep in mind that if you have found somewhere vegan or vegan friendly and you post a picture of the meal there, also tag the location and #vegan__ <-- city you're in so that other people can use this trick too! Helpful hashtags include; #vegan(name of city), #glutenfree(name of city), #(name of city)vegan, etc.
4. Ask the Locals!
No body knows a place like someone that lives there. So, the best people to ask for food suggestions, especially if they're a little less common, are going to be the locals. Determining who is a local and who is not is probably the hardest part to this, but you'll never know unless you do ask. Speaking the language is also potentially a barrier here but when you have nothing to lose you may as well be polite and ask if they speak the same language as you and if the answer is yes then proceed with asking where the best vegetarian food in town can be found!!!
 |
| I'm that strange person that asks the hotel receptionist if they can recommend their favourite supermarket juice to me. Weird? Yes. Good juice? YES. Would recommend 'Giraffe' juices for anyone ever in Lithuania. 11/10. |
In addition to asking the locals, also just ask anyone and everyone, even if they're also carrying about a massive digital camera and guide book with a large neon flashing sign saying 'tourist' on their head just like you - who knows, maybe they share your funny dietary quirks too. I recently travelled for over a month across north-eastern and central Europe completely alone. Yep, just me, myself and I for company. And, if there is one thing that I learnt in the whole experience it was that you just need to ask! I've always had a fear of asking strangers things, which is becomingly increasingly enhanced the more and more we rely upon the Internet, but when I found myself completely alone with no one to give me judge-y side eye (a fear of mine), I suddenly found myself asking people everywhere for things and some of the best experiences, restaurants, day trips, transport options and more were shared this way! The worst that someone can do is either say 'I can't help you', not understand you in whatever language you ask and give you a kinda funny look (but hey, you never have to see them again) or say no. No one grows a second head to eat you, no one yelled at me (in my experiences) and 9.8 times out of 10, people gave me advice and answers that were actually helpful! So, if you are after a gluten free restaurant, politely ask a passerby if they know where you might find one, and if they don't know, then ask the next passerby, or your hotel receptionist, or a tourist information desk, etc.!
 |
| So I really wanted this falafel wrap this one time in Helsinki but I wasn't sure if it was vegan and it was all very stressful and then I was just like 'Stuff it! I'll ask!' So I did ask, and as all good happy endings go, it was vegan, so I ate 8 in the space of 2 days. |
This one day not too long ago, I found myself in Northern Thailand, and, you guessed it, I was hungry and eagerly attempting to hunt down a restaurant that could make me something vegan. But, I do not speak Thai, and the small town I happened to find myself was not overly Westernised, meaning that English was rarely understood and spoken. In Thai, (as far as I am aware) the word 'vegan' roughly translates to sound something along the lines of 'Mangswirati' - i.e. NOTHING AT ALL LIKE THE ENGLISH WORD. With the gift of hindsight I can tell you this, but at the time I had no idea at all, so I actually ended up eating some plain rice and stir-fried veggies, which was fine, although I very much believe that had I been able to accurately express what I wanted, I could've had many more options. So, the moral of the story here is that Google Translate is your friend, and if you are travelling to a country where you do not speak the language, always translate your dietary requirements/allergies/preferences and save them as a note in your phone beforehand so they are easily accessible when you're out and about without wifi!
7. Hit up the Local Farmers Markets and Supermarkets.
I LOVE FARMERS MARKETS. I feel this is part of the reason I am so in love with Europe because they always just seem to pop up all over the place and it's honestly one of the best things ever! Farmers markets usually stock a whole heap of fresh, easily identifiable, and, most importantly, CHEAP, produce meaning that if you are intolerant of something, because the markets haven't yet crafted something into a dish with about 50 different ingredients, you can be certain that the raspberries do indeed only contain raspberry whereas the meal in the restaurant could be hiding things. One of my top tips for all travellers, not just those with food fetishes, is the classic picnic - first stop always being the famers market. I mean, look me in the eye and tell me with full conviction that there is something better than fresh berries grown in the countryside, a crusty loaf of fresh sourdough and some other bits and pieces under a shady tree in the summer. You cannot. No body can. Because there is nothing better. And, if you're doubting me then you evidently have not been to the farmers market in summer, in which case I refer you to this little paragraph!
 |
| Fresh German raspberries at the market in Bamberg? YES PLEASE. |
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