26th August 2010

The last time I travelled abroad since turning vegan almost 3 years ago was to visit my family in Japan. Going to another country can be a challenge when you have to explain (there is no single word for vegan in Japanese) and get your dietry requirements understood. My auntie in Japan is an amazing cook and even though veganism is not widely recognised there (although there is a type of cousine called shoujin ryouri eaten by strict Buddhist monks), she didn’t even bat an eyelid and prepared different dishes for me every day.

Obviously staying with family makes things a lot easier. The last two weeks I have been in a beach resort with 18 other of the Ikeda clan for a big family reunion, bringing together family members from New York, New Jersey and the UK.

We stayed at The Cambridge Gatwick the night before our flight, where I totally flumoxed the waiter when I enquired about vegan options on their menu. They took my suggestions literally and I had pasta with a simple tomato sauce which was acutally really good. Oh and some boiled carrots on the side as proposed by Mr Ikeda!

The next day at Gatwick I did a whole circuit of the depature lounge and couldn’ t find anything to eat for breakfast. I went from sulky to angry. It also makes it kinda worse when you have other people there you spend your time telling how being vegan is no biggie and how you can always find something to eat!

I spotted one last place in a dark corner and hallelujah they had a vegan sandwich – grilled veggies with olive tapenade (which I will be recreating myself sometime).

Next face off was the flight. A vegan meal had already been requested, but all the passengers  recevied various other snacks, wraps and sandwiches 3 times during the 9 hour flight after some scrambling around they managed to find me an apple and a banana.

So far, so ok, I probably eat way too much food anyway but it doesn’t stop you feeling annoyed when there isn’t vegan food everywhere. Top tip then would be make sure you have lots of snacks in your bag! I came a little more prepared on the homeward bound journey.

On the return flight the vegetarian meal was also vegan (some kind of rice and veg concoction, no pic as the little man was sleeping on me and I had  to be spoon fed ) although I was slightly suspicious about the dessert which was a raisin filled cake as it was also included in the regular meals. Again all other passengers received a breakfast sandwich, I was offered a small tub of fruit luckily I wasn’t hungry.

If you need more help feeding yourself abroad, check out Veganbackpacker who have been travelling round the world.

How I managed on an all inclusive resort coming up next!

Tags: Travel