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Thread: Ever been somewhere where there is nothing vegan?

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    Default Ever been somewhere where there is nothing vegan?

    Has anyone ever been somewhere on holiday or something and not been able to find a single piece of vegan food? What would you do if you did? I was just thinking about this earlier because although Ive been in a lot of places where the only vegan food I can find was some sort of fruit, or a bag of crisps, Ive always managed to eat something. But I was just asking myself what Id do if I went somewhere and there was for some reason nothing vegan available for a few days...Im not sure that such a place really exists since every part of the world eats some kind of fruit or veg...but if I did, I wouldnt mind skipping a few meals but after a bit Im not sure what Id do/how Id feel. Just wondering if anyone has found themselves in that situation and how they handled it or how they potentially would?

  2. #2
    told me to Mr Flibble's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ever been somewhere where there is nothing vegan?

    No - not unless you go on a packaged holiday where the only food you can buy/eat is non vegan. And if you did that you'd be stupid
    "Mr Flibble - forum corruptor of innocents!!" - Hemlock

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    baffled harpy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ever been somewhere where there is nothing vegan?

    I've been on the fruit and crisp diet myself once or twice but I've never yet been anywhere where you couldn't get fruit or crisps.

    I mostly tend to travel to places where I know getting food won't be too difficult, which is probably a bit of a cop-out.

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    Rice Dream Digital Ghost's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ever been somewhere where there is nothing vegan?

    Quote Mr Flibble View Post
    No - not unless you go on a packaged holiday where the only food you can buy/eat is non vegan. And if you did that you'd be stupid
    I agree.

    Generally you can find basic vegan items in supermarkets (or local markets) in every part of the world.

    Maybe if you were on a cruise or something you would end up in a situation where it might be hard but surely they would have something.

    Personally I don't mind living on mainly raw fruit and vegetables sometimes - as at least I know that they are vegan.
    The day breaks and everything is new.

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    Mrs. Beane fondducoeur's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ever been somewhere where there is nothing vegan?

    My aunt took all of her sisters and girl nieces to Jamaica in April. We stayed at an all inclusive resort. It was crazy expensive to get cab rides away from the resort, and all of our meals were included there, so I couldn't leave the resort. I had major trouble...even though Jamaica itself would have been fine, the resort food for the rich- mostly- Americans was horrible. I should have at least been able to eat salad every meal, but they kept running out. I was the annoying girl that kept begging the wait staff to find more lettuce. They had fruit off and on. But I really did have a couple of meals were I couldn't find anything. I talked to one of the chefs at the beginning of the trip hoping maybe they would keep me in mind and have some sort of available food, but that didn't happen. Anyway, I had bought like a box of clif bars, so I ate a ton of those. And there were two evenings were I was able to convince an employee to make something for me. I would have felt bad begging, but I was really hungry and I am under the impression that this resort stay was expensive. It was a great trip otherwise though.
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    Barry's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ever been somewhere where there is nothing vegan?

    I generally find that it's the travelling part of the holiday that trips me up. Airports and plane food = total rubbish, especially if you're like me and book cheap flights that have 10-12 hour stopovers! Last time I got stuck at heathrow and it was RUBBISH...
    Todays empires, tomorrows ashes...

  7. #7
    JC
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    Default Re: Ever been somewhere where there is nothing vegan?

    I'm going to my sister's wedding abroad and the resort is one of those all inclusive places. She's already there and says there's not much for me, so i'm gonna stock up on nakd bars for snacks. If there's nothing there at mealtimes i'm going to complain until they make something, and not back down - I'm not paying all that money for food and not eating any of it!

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    Default Re: Ever been somewhere where there is nothing vegan?

    Quote JC View Post
    I'm going to my sister's wedding abroad and the resort is one of those all inclusive places. ... If there's nothing there at mealtimes i'm going to complain until they make something, and not back down - I'm not paying all that money for food and not eating any of it!

    Have you given the hotel heads up that you're vegan? What has been their response? I#ve recently e-mailed a couple of A/I hotels we were looking at as possibilities for next year and they've said it'll be fine to cater for me and for me to let them know the week before and they'll plan lots of scrummy stuff for me (ok, they didn't say that but one can live in hope that that's what they meant when they said to remind them the week before!!)

  9. #9
    JC
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    Default Re: Ever been somewhere where there is nothing vegan?

    Quote purpleflipflop View Post
    Have you given the hotel heads up that you're vegan? What has been their response? I#ve recently e-mailed a couple of A/I hotels we were looking at as possibilities for next year and they've said it'll be fine to cater for me and for me to let them know the week before and they'll plan lots of scrummy stuff for me (ok, they didn't say that but one can live in hope that that's what they meant when they said to remind them the week before!!)
    Oh, i never thought to do that! I'll give it a go though, thanks for the tip!

  10. #10
    helen105281
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    Default Re: Ever been somewhere where there is nothing vegan?

    We went away for the weekend recently and the hotel was booked by BBs sister and she did not think to check if they could do a vegan breakfast. When we called they said no. There were beans and stuff so we could eat something but at least we were prepared for a rubbish selection. They had no soya milk either and nowhere for us to store some. Always best to check where you are staying though as most places don't cater for us as standard.

  11. #11

    Default Re: Ever been somewhere where there is nothing vegan?

    ugh.
    I've never been to those all inclusive places. That being said, we've never had any problem finding vegan food; and we've been everywhere from rural S. America, to the US S.West on roadtrips, and Europe.

    I just can't imagine, that with some language, and access to a market, that veggies wouldn't be found. Only in "all-inclusive" places can I imagine to be trapped into food.
    context is everything

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    Hemlock's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ever been somewhere where there is nothing vegan?

    France! They are obsessed with meat, dairy and eggs and you have to survive on fruit! I've stopped going there.
    Silent but deadly :p

  13. #13

    Default Re: Ever been somewhere where there is nothing vegan?

    I'm going back home to the Scottish Borders for the weekend so I'll probably have something to post here on Monday

  14. #14
    Rocket Queen
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    Default Re: Ever been somewhere where there is nothing vegan?

    I havent been away as such, to such places but i have found myself unable to find things at certain venues. For example buffets, where its all roast. Ugh.Obviously these were work dos and places I had found myself at, I wouldnt choose to go to.
    I have ended up just not eating, or just having bread and salada few times.

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    Gwydion's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ever been somewhere where there is nothing vegan?

    Quote Hemlock View Post
    France! They are obsessed with meat, dairy and eggs and you have to survive on fruit! I've stopped going there.
    http://www.gentlegourmetbandb.com/default.html

    Glimmer of hope I guess, if in Paris.
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    [LMNOP] ellaminnowpea's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ever been somewhere where there is nothing vegan?

    I've had a hard time finding vegan food whilst traveling a few times...

    One particular time was, at age 15, living in the Australian outback. I ate wheat toast every meal for days. All of the meals were prepared for us by the tour staff and what they could carry with them... I was somewhere between vegetarian and vegan at the time, and dealing with an ED, so I ended up eating some non-vegan foods eventually.

    Another time, I was student traveling in Spain, where our meals were all planned. I could find nothing to eat that was vegan!! So frustrating! I ended up drinking Irish whiskeys every meal. I finally found my way to the market without speaking a word of Spanish!

    In Hong Kong, I ate french fries from McDonalds every meal. My digestion hated me!

    The most recent trip was to Germany and Switzerland. We were staying in the Crown Royal hotel for a few days, so I could get anything catered there. But daytime vegan meals were sooooo hard to find! I rarely had anything but plain salad. And though they understood me, they didn't have anything on the menu for me! Later in the trip, we stayed in lodges in the forest and traveled through the swiss alps. Not much variety traveling through the Swiss Alps!! I went without food for a few days...
    “I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.” ~ Alcott

  17. #17
    JC
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    Default Re: Ever been somewhere where there is nothing vegan?

    Quote Hemlock View Post
    France! They are obsessed with meat, dairy and eggs and you have to survive on fruit! I've stopped going there.
    That gives me hope, i'm going to be spending 7 months of my life there as of next month! I'll be coming back awful skinny surviving on just fruit...

  18. #18

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    Default Re: Ever been somewhere where there is nothing vegan?

    Just got back from Curacao in the Carribbean. Not too vegan friendly. We packed protein powder, Cliff's builder's bars, and oatmeal in our checked luggage. Hotel room had a small kitchenette which was great. On our first day we asked the hotel where the nearest market was. We would regularly buy things like fruit and bread to bring to the beach, and it was great to be able to have a healthy, filling oatmeal bfast every day. We added raisins, nuts, fruit, and cinnamon - it was great! Restaurants were definitely tougher, but we always went for "ethnic food" like Indian, Thai, Indonesian, Chinese, and Japanese, so we made out ok in the end.

    Went to Japan a few years ago - not as vegan friendly as I anticipated! Here in the US Japanese food is healthy, you can always get veggie sushi or a nice stir fry or something. In Japan, everything has fish or fish sauce in it. We even went to this "haute tofu" place in Tokyo we read about in a guide book, it was supposed to be a really fancy gourmet tofu place. Well guess what, nearly everything had fish sauce! However the customer service was amazing and they were able to give us a great vegan meal anyway.

    Someone mentioned Hong Kong - there is a great veggie/veganish restaurant there called Veggie XP. It's Chinese/pan Asian food, lots of mock meat and exotic vegetable dishes. Really good!!

    Don't forget - wherever you go, no matter how un vegan friendly a place is, you can always find a pizza place to make you a veggie pizza with no cheese!

    Other tips:

    -research restaurants in advance

    -bring food in CHECKED luggage (nothing perishable, no fruit or veggies)

    -if staying in a hotel, choose a hotel with a kitchenette. hotel rooms with kitchenettes usually also have cups, bowls, silverware, etc right in the room.

    -if you don't speak the language, have someone you trust write the following on a notecard for you in the language of the country for when you go to restaurants: "I am vegetarian/vegan. I DO NOT eat meat, poultry, fish, dairy, or eggs. I DO NOT eat cow, pig, goat, fish, chicken, turkey, eggs, milk, cream, butter, or any other food that comes from an animal. I DO eat vegetables, fruit, grains, beans, rice, nuts, and seeds. Do you have any dishes I can eat?"

    -we had the guy at the front desk do that for us while in Japan, and it was really helpful

    -when visiting a place that is not vegan friendly and/or there is a language barrier, be really specific about what you can't eat. don't just say, "i'm a vegetarian, i don't eat meat, poultry, dairy, eggs," also specify butter, milk, fish, chicken, etc. this will help them understand if vegan is a foreign concept to them.

    one last thing to keep in mind - despite all of the above, try not to come across as TOO demanding, nitpicky, etc. what is our goal? to help animals, to reduce animal suffering, to influence others to stop eating animals. it doesn't help animals if people get turned off from vegetarianism/veganism because they see vegans giving waiters a very hard time, demanding to know every single ingredient in something, and making veganism seem as difficult as an olympic sport. thank you.

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