Is it hard to eat vegan when travelling?

The objection

“You can manage at home, but travelling? Different countries, airports, language barriers, you’d starve or end up eating nothing but chips.”

The answer

The objection pictures the rest of the world eating the way Britain and the US do, and much of it eats far less meat. In 2023 the meat supply came to about 122kg a person a year in the US and 84kg in the UK, against a world average of 45kg, 8kg in India and 7kg in Ethiopia, according to food balance data from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which leave out fish [1]. The same data put Spain at 101kg, Portugal at 99kg, Greece at 82kg and France at 80kg, close to the UK’s figure or above it [1].

HappyCow, a guide app whose users add its listings, covers 185 countries [2]. In November 2024 it counted 244,584 businesses offering vegan options, from restaurants and cafes to bakeries, grocers, shops and hotels, according to its own figures as reported by Vegconomist [3]. Only 20,552 of those were vegan venues, 10,357 of them restaurants [3]. A 2018 post on the Vegan Society’s blog is frank that travelling as a vegan takes work, particularly abroad [4].

Is vegan food easier to find in some countries?

It is easier where everyday cooking leans on plants, though eating little meat isn’t the same as eating vegan. In Ethiopia, devout Orthodox Christians keep to a vegan diet on fast days, most Wednesdays and Fridays and through long fasts such as the 55 days of Lent, which add up to more than 200 days a year (Michael and Baye, 2023) [5]. India’s meat supply was among the ten lowest of 176 countries in 2023, but its milk supply, about 87kg a person, matched the world average of 87kg [1][6], so in India dairy is the thing to ask about.

Can you get a vegan meal on a flight?

Virgin Atlantic, a UK airline, and Delta, a US one, both serve a vegan meal on flights that include food, as long as you order it at least 24 hours ahead [7][8]. Virgin’s has no meat, fish, eggs, honey or dairy and is available on all its flights [7]. Delta describes its own in similar terms in 2023 guidance for travel agents, and serves special meals only on flights with a complimentary meal service [8]. The Vegan Society, a UK charity, advises stating your dietary needs when you book any journey where food is provided, and warns of non-vegan extras such as margarine or coffee creamer [9]. On a flight with no free meal there is no special meal to request, so bring your own.

How do you find vegan food where you don’t speak the language?

A listings app and a few written phrases cover most of it. The Vegan Society’s travel advice is to check apps such as HappyCow, and it sells the Vegan Passport, a pocket-sized book explaining what vegans do and don’t eat in the languages of over 96% of the world’s population, with a picture guide as a fallback [9]. Knowing the local word helps in shops; in French, for instance, vegan is végétalien [4].

What should a vegan pack for a trip?

Pack light food that keeps, for transits, flights and stays away from cities. The Vegan Society’s advice on shopping abroad is pitched at cities, where it says many supermarkets carry basics such as soya milk, though it adds that fresh fruit and vegetables can always be found [9]. For hand luggage it suggests ready-to-eat vegan sausages, instant noodles and powdered plant milk, and it advises packing your supplements, because fortified foods can be harder to find abroad [9]. A 2018 post on its blog recommends snack bars made from fruit and nuts, which take up little room and weight [4]. If you’re self-catering with meat-eaters, the approach used in a mixed household carries over: one plant-based dinner that the others add to.