For many vegans, traveling can be something of a challenge. If you’re worried about vegan dining while traveling in South America, you’ll be surprised how easy it can be to arrange if you’re prepared to go in the right direction. Basically, it’s about grabbing food supplies from home and learning how to maintain your vegan lifestyle while traveling.
Here are some tips to point you in the right direction before you start packing your bags and hit the road.
Use these tips and you’ll realize that it’s not difficult to maintain a vegetarian diet while traveling to South America. Healthy food options are always available.
1. Obtaining preliminary information
Search the internet for vegan restaurants and health food stores. One of the best places to start your search is an online directory of restaurants and health food stores with vegan and vegetarian options.
Look in any city near your hotel for vegetarian restaurants and cafes with a vegetarian menu. A list of health food stores that sell vegan products can also be helpful, and you can check it out on your city tour.
2. Connect with other vegans
To find possible places to eat, ask local vegans, they will share their experience and make recommendations. They’ll tell you which bakery has veggie treats and which café serves the best weekend brunch.
To find local vegans, or get recommendations from vegans who have recently visited the city, start by doing a Google search. You can usually find them by the name of the city and the words “vegan”. With this approach, you are likely to be able to find a local vegan blog or tourist reviews.
You can also connect with vegans on Twitter and Facebook by searching for the name of the city and the phrase “vegan”. There are also online and offline communities around the world where vegans meet and form groups online.
3. Snacks
It is very important to pack food before traveling. At the very least, don’t leave home without snacks for your plane, bus, train, or car meals. You never know when an unexpected delay will find you in a location where vegetarian options are not available. Take a snack bag with you – apples, bananas, nuts, seeds, homemade sandwiches, muesli, carrots, bread, pita bread, nuts, crackers, peanut butter or hummus.