Interview with 30traveler

This is a guest interview with 30traveler.

1. Can you start by giving us a little bit of background about yourself and your blog. When did you start blogging?

I started my blog when I turned 30, which is why it’s called 30traveler.

But… I neglected it for two years. I’m 32 now.

I use the internet for trip research and I wanted to contribute my experiences on my own blog rather than writing reviews on Tripadvisor etc.

I like slow travel. This is partly because I’m vegan. As a vegan traveler, it’s easier to rent apartments or stay in hostels that have kitchens than stay in hotels. I like nice hotels though too.

I don’t particularly like doing typical tourist activities. I don’t like to pack my days with museums, monuments, bus rides etc. I mainly just like to walk, swim, bike, eat and have a change of scenery. Food is an important part of travel for me, just like it is for most omnis.

… and what did you expect readers to get out of it?

I’ve benefited from other people’s travel tips and I hope readers will benefit from mine. My blog is likely to appeal to people who share some of my travel preferences – slow travel, flashpacking (and mixing high/low budget travel), and vegan/strict vegetarian travel.

How did you start traveling?

When I was in grad school, I got a scholarship that included $3000 a year for travel. I’m from New Zealand so I used it to go to conferences in the US. One year I went to a conference in New Orleans. The flight to New Orleans from New Zealand would’ve cost $2,500 and for around $800 more in airfare I was able to do a 4 continent RTW trip, including places as diverse as Russia and Tobago. I ended up going to another conference in Australia at the end of the RTW and didn’t need to pay any of the airfare.

2. Let’s talk experiences – what has been the best experience you’ve had on the road?

I never thought I’d get the opportunity to live in NYC but since 2007 I’ve been spending two months a year there. I go for July and August, get to skip winter, and get to live in different neighborhoods in NYC. My all time travel highlight is sitting front row at a Broadway show, which I’ve now done quite a few times.

The worst?

The RTW trip I mentioned earlier was the end of 2004/start of 2005. We were scheduled to go to an island near Phuket for New Year but the Boxing Day Tsunami hit a few days before we were due to arrive.

There were several scary near misses I associate with that trip. We had originally booked to go to Grenada (in the Carribean) during our North America leg, and to Sri Lanka during our Asia leg. That year Hurricane Ivan destroyed most of Grenada and when we rebooked our ticket we decided we’d rather go to Thailand over Sri Lanka. So in any scenario, we had some narrow misses.

When news of the Tsunami came through we were in a hostel in Paris and I just remember it feeling chaotic and scary. It was the week between Christmas and New Year in Paris and I just remember it being cold, dark, and bleak.

3. What’s been your favorite country thus far, and which one are you looking forward to the most?

NYC is my favorite place, but a country mile. Probably the US, but really NYC specifically.

I’m most looking forward to going to Iran, Israel, Syria (when it’s safe again), Mexico, and the outer Cook Islands (the ones that aren’t Rarotonga).

4. When did you start being a vegan?

I’ve always eaten almost exclusively vegan while traveling. For 15+ years I was lacto-vegetarian (milk but no eggs, like Indians) and I went completely vegan about four months ago. Part of the reason I’ve traveled vegan is that people’s interpretation of what vegetarian means varies so widely e.g., some vegetarians are happy to eat gelatine, cheese containing animal rennet, or things cooked on the same grill as meat/fish or in the same oil. I’ve never been flexible about those types of things and it’s always been easier to explain vegan.

I became vegan after being vegetarian because I was stuck in a rut of relying too much on dairy products. I was eating lots of cheese, yogurt and ice cream, and wasn’t eating enough of the other vegetarian protein staples – soy, beans, and lentils. I wanted to challenge myself to diversify my cooking and eating. Adding the restriction of veganism has paradoxically increased the variety of food I eat.

Why?

I’m actually not an animal lover especially, I just find the thought of eating flesh and embryos gross! The kind of disgust reaction someone else might have at the thought of eating a pet dog or cat, I have to the thought of eating dead animal derived ingredients or eggs. I might go back to eating dairy at some point.

5. How difficult is it being a vegan traveler on the road?

Sometimes there is literally no other option to get sufficient protein other than bringing your own. For example, I went to a remote island group called Ha’apai in Tonga (in the South Pacific) at the beginning of 2012 and their diet is 99% meat and root crops. Their soil is basically just sand, which makes it difficult to grow fruits and vegetables, so even those weren’t available there. Luckily, some Peace Corp volunteers who had been stationed in Ha’apai a few years ago had written great blogs (People were sending them care packages from the US because they were losing the plot from lack of food variety and fresh vegies!). I knew in advance I would need to bring my own food. I did and it was no problem. I also bought a giant bag of mangoes on the main island before heading to the outer islands and scoffed about 4-5 mangoes a day.

Traveling vegan has become a lot easier because of the internet. It’s easy to research vegetarian restaurants before arriving in a city now.

I don’t usually have any problems because I’m organized. When I’m traveling to far flung islands that aren’t likely to offer vegan protein options, I take a camping stove and some easy protein options (e.g., cans of chili beans and Indian boil in the bag lentils). On the Perhentian Islands (Malaysia) earlier in the year, I bought takeaway rice from the restaurant where we were staying and cooked my own protein to go with it. They had tofu available but it contained egg so it was lucky I’d bought my own protein sources.

Where there is good food available, there is usually good vegan food available, even places like Paris (3 days vegan in Paris itinerary). On Ha’apai for example, the eating options for omnis weren’t good either. Most times when I travel the food is a highlight of my trip, just like for omnis. I mostly eat what’s available locally.

I know NYers who keep Kosher who take giant coolers full of Kosher food when they go to the Caribbean. People make it work.

Being vegan obviously makes it difficult to accept hospitality. I have same sex partner though too, so that’s more likely to offend conservative cultures than being vegan!

6. What are the easiest countries to be vegan in? The hardest?

Anywhere in the US with a centrally located Wholefoods is easy! For your non-US audience, Wholefoods are posh supermarket chain that has tons of options of vegans. They have elaborate salad and hot and cold food bars, and often have seating and a microwave for customer use, so you can even buy vegan frozen meals etc that require heating. They usually also have some vegan desserts.

I think NYC is the easiest city in the world to eat vegan in, which is partly why I love it. Unlike places like Los Angeles, NYC is so compact you don’t have to travel far to hit the vegan hotspots!

The UK is easy too because their food labelling is really good. For US vegans, it’s super fun to try the varieties of vegan cheese etc that are available in the UK.

Tonga was the hardest but that was due to the availability for varied food period, not about vegan food. In Europe I don’t generally go to omni restaurants and ask them to make something suitable. I either seek out vegetarian restaurants or make my own using local ingredients.

Even places that are easy to be vegan in (like Thailand) are not easy all the time. For example, eating on the go as a vegan is difficult almost anywhere. There often isn’t vegan suitable food available at train stations, from street food vendors etc. In places like Thailand or Vietnam where they have a culture of vegetarianism, it’s easy to ask restaurants/guest houses to prepare something vegan. If you don’t want your food to be cooked in a pan that’s used for meat, just bring your own and ask them to use it. People are much more likely just to think you’re a weirdo than take offence!

7. What are some of your interests outside of traveling?

TV, listening to audiobooks, restorative yoga, spending time with my family, and lately, riding my folding bike.

8. What are your upcoming plans, both travel and non travel?

My partner (we’ve been together 11 years) has a good job and hasn’t wanted to leave it, but is finally ready (or ready-ish) to make a change. I’m hoping that from mid 2013 we’re going to do some slow travel together (e.g., rent apartments for extended periods).

9. Can you give some advice to maintaining a healthy diet while on the road?

I wrote a post on tips for how not to gain weight while traveling.

Plan how you’re going to get your protein or you’ll get incredibly cranky and not have a good time. This applies to strict vegetarians/vegans and people who are traveling on tight budget. For example, if you’re eating a bread roll and jam for breakfast in Europe because it’s included at your hostel and you’re on a budget, that’s not going to be very sustaining.

Find out the names of the supermarket chains and use Google maps to find centrally located supermarkets (supermarkets near attractions you’re going to). This will enable you to, for example, grab a yogurt/soy yogurt from the supermarket as a snack while you’re out and about.

Consider slow travel, renting apartments and not eating at restaurants for all your meals. This makes it much easier for anyone to eat a healthy diet while traveling. I love going to vegetarian restaurants while traveling (I get sick of cooking for myself at home), but I also love shopping at food markets and cooking with produce and herbs etc not available at home.

Don’t fall victim to the “oh bugger it effect” where you start overeating on your trip and then just decide to keep going for the rest of your trip.

For flashpackers/mid range travelers, budget enough to eat good food. Food isn’t cheap if it causes you to gain weight and then feel miserable.

If you’re a student or budget traveler and traveling to pricey countries that aren’t the US or UK, find budget options that aren’t empty calories (e.g., throw some Indian boil in a bag meals in your bag that you can dump in a pot in a hostel kitchen as a backup option. Or, buy food at a supermarket).

30traveler.com is a blog about travel beyond backpacking, short and long trips, and vegan/vegetarian travel.

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