Being a vegan is tough at the best of times, especially if you’re a traveler, you’re either faced with meat crazed nations, lack of options or people who simply don’t understand what it is that vegans can and can’t eat. Traveling can be difficult too, more often than not airports are filled with pre-made sandwiches and snacks that contain, butter, mayonnaise, creams or flavorings from animal extracts, there is rarely room for maneuver or for tailor-made foods. When you are taking a long haul flight you are naturally offered meal choices and any airline worth their salt will have a vegan option available, that is all good and well but we vegans need sustenance and the meals on offer on long haul flights might tick the vegan-friendly box, but they rarely give us the fuel we need. In order to survive a long haul flight, here are some tips for you.
Smart Snacking
Flights are the ultimate place to snack, snacking on flights serves many purposes, primarily it will keep you boosted with energy when you need it most, sitting in the same place for hours on end drains you and you need to stay alert, secondly, flying is often boring and snacks fill the void, finally snacking will keep your hunger levels at bay, and lets be honest, nobody likes being hungry.
What Snacks?
If you want to take fruit then considered then dried variety, fresh fruit does not travel well, trust me, I had a laptop/banana situation a couple of years ago that taught me this the hard way. Nuts are also great snacks, good source of energy and tasty and you could look at packaged items like cereal bars, they are small, travel well and pack plenty of flavor and nutrients for your long journey.
Meal Options
If you forgot to order a meal to have the plane then you are going to need to get prepared. Disposable tupperware-style dishes are brilliant for pre-prepared salads or vegetable based meals, you can fill them up with rice, noodles or cous cous, just bear in mind that items like these can be chunky and you should definitely buy the disposable variety, the last thing you want is empty containers to lug about on your travels. Another great option for you is the noodle pots that you can buy, take a few of these with you and ask the flight attendant to fill them up with hot water and hey presto.
Spork
The spork is your new best friend when you travel, this knife/spoon/fork in one means that you can ask for some food to be rustled up, or eat the meals that you have brought along with you, with ease. This handy gadget means that you don’t have to carry several pieces of cutlery with you, you have less things to wash and you are ready to eat given a minutes notice.
The key to having a successful long-haul trip as a vegan is all in the planning, make sure you book meals ahead of time and prepare your food before you go, fail to plan, plan to fail.