I‘ve been meaning to do this post for quite some time now. I have had several people mention that traveling as a vegan must be difficult or I’ve had people ask me what to do. I like to travel- a lot- and I love food- A LOT, so I actually find it quite exciting to travel and scope out all the vegan places to eat and pack yummy meals for the road. I recently traveled 3,000 miles in my car on my move from Florida to Colorado (with some detours in between- more about the whole trip later) and I got to put all these tips to use. Now I feel I can share with you, knowing that it works!

By Airplane

If you are lucky enough to be on a flight where food is served, it will be mediocre at best- IF they remember to include the vegan option you requested. The best bet is to bring your own. While most countries will not allow any food, especially fruits and vegetables to enter their country, you are allowed to bring these items on the plane to eat. You can cut up some fresh fruits and vegetables to eat on the plane. You can bring some nuts and seeds. You can even bring some kind of a veggie wrap or sandwich. Finally and perhaps one of the easiest things, and ones that you can bring into other countries with you, are closed bars, like the various all natural fruit and nut energy bars.

I wouldn’t count on for certain, but you can generally find something at most airport restaurants. Moe’s Southwestern Grill has a couple of vegan options that are delicious and Panda Express (or other chinese restaurants) you can order their veggies in garlic sauce and lo mein noodles. Here is a report from PCRM about vegan options at airports. They list the top ten most veg-friendly airports and what you can order. http://www.pcrm.org/health/reports/airport_food_review_09.html

By Car and On Location

This is perhaps the easiest to take care of as you have several options.

You can:

• Bring your own food
  • Granola (my favorite recipe at the end of the post), muffins, fruit (if necessary, peeled and sliced), nuts and seeds, trail mix, bars (Cliff and RAWvolution are amazing), ascpetic and individually packaged containers of soymilk and packages of beans, rice and spices (just add hot water from the coffee maker)
• Stop at a grocery store along the way- scope out local health food stores, food co-ops and farmer’s markets ahead of time
  • Bring a can opener with you.  If you can’t find anything else, you can always buy soup (black bean, vegetable, etc) at a local grocery store (and salad…) and you’ve got a reasonable meal.
  • I also like to buy tortillas to make wraps.  If you can’t find vegan mock meats, you can usually get grilled veggies at the supermarket salad bar and hummus or canned beans. Example:  tortilla, lettuce, black beans, roasted red pepper, avocado slices.  It’s delicious and you can find the ingredients anywhere
  • Salad, along with a vinaigrette dressing that doesn’t require refrigeration, can easily be found.  You can supplement that with some hummus and a loaf of bread or pita and some fruit and you have a delicious meal.
• Stop at a restaurant- It really isn’t difficult to eat out. Help yourself out by doing some research ahead of time.
  • Find your emergency food. For me, it tends to be Taco Bell. I know I can always get a bean burrito, al fresco style to tide me over.
  • Websites like www.vegdining.com and www.vegguide.org are excellent sources of information for dining worldwide. my favorite place to look is www.happycow.net (it has saved my life many times).
  • If the menu only lists a steamed vegetable plate, don’t panic! Many restaurant chefs welcome the opportunity to show off their culinary skills to whip up an animal-friendly entrée for you…so just ask. Many dishes can be “veganized” with minimal effort, so put the chef to the challenge and enjoy the creation!
  • Most ethnic food includes more legumes, vegetables, and beans than traditional Western foods. So visit  Indian, Middle Eastern, or Thai restaurants and savor the delicious spices surrounding such staples as tofu, lentils, and chickpeas. Try falafel, spicy tofu curry, mung bean or scallion pancakes, or hearty lentil dal.
  • In the mood for an All-American meal? Veggie burgers and veggie dogs are on menus across the country from national restaurant chains to mom ’n pop diners (see the fast food/chain links below)
  • Replace cheese or sour cream in Mexcian fare with an extra dollop of guacamole or some light and refreshing pico de gallo
  • Want some mock meat? Many Asian restaurants—particularly Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese ones—feature great soy- and wheat gluten-based meat alternatives. Enjoy scrumptious kung pao veggie chicken, spicy Hunan veggie beef, or tofu pad thai (make sure they don’t use fish paste)
  • You can find more options for fast food and chain restaurants at these sites http://www.vegcooking.com/VegFastFood.asp and http://www.vegcooking.com/ChainRestaurants.asp

Best of luck!

**If you have tips that I haven’t listed, I would love to hear about them! Leave your suggestions in the comment area

Katelyn’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola

Ingredients

2 cups old-fashioned oats (you can make this recipe gluten free by using certified gluten free oats)

2 Tbs ground flax

1/4 cup unsalted sunflower seeds

1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup semi-sweet (vegan) chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli)

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup organic natural crunchy peanut butter

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

5 Tbs Coconut Butter ( you can use Earth Balance if you like- but the Coconut Butter makes for a longer shelf life and is tastier!)

Directions

Combine all the dry ingredients into a large bowl. In a small saucepan, combine the peanut butter, maple syrup, Earth Balance (coconut oil), and vanilla. Once the peanut butter mixture is combined, mix it with the dry ingredients until the oat mixture is moistened. Press the granola in a shallow pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 30 minutes at 300 degrees. Watch it carefully, and mix a few times throughout as it can burn very quickly.

*The granola will get crispier and crunchier as it cools.

Cool for at least 20 minutes and store in a sealed container.

* I love to eat mine with almond milk and slightly (or fully if I forget about them!) frozen blueberries and strawberries

Enjoy!