It went something like this, went to an Animal Rights conference, watched a video affectionately titled, “The Truth About Meat”. Listened to a presentation by the “Mad Cowboy”, handed out pamphlets and came home Vegan. You come home with a sudden sense of accomplishment, a hero to animals, a savior of the planet! Ok, a slight exaggeration, but it truly is a rewarding and life changing decision. What you aren’t prepared for is the moment when you tell your loved ones, “ I’m vegan”. There’s a giant shift in the equilibrium, followed by the words, “ What are you going to eat now?” Suddenly, even the most simple dinner gatherings turn into the Spanish Inquisition. “Won’t you miss my BBQ ribs?” , “You ate meat your whole life, would one meal kill you?” And every vegan’s favorite question, “how will you get your protein?” (On a diet where almost every fake meat and dairy substitute is derived from a bean!) Don’t even get me started on Thanksgiving!

And just when you think the questions can’t become any more bizarre, someone asks, “Can you watch a movie with Kevin Bacon in it?” That one still cracks me up Kevin! I guess for me, it always felt like everyone else worried more about the diet I was on than I myself did. Not to say that it’s an easy transition. One day you find yourself standing in the aisle at the grocery store, staring at the ingredients labels on every item you pick up to make sure you can eat it. Baking with no eggs becomes an adventure…measuring spoons, water, tapioca starch, the kitchen looks like a chem lab. Eventually, you become accustomed to it all, the grocery shopping, preparing faux chicken, finding vegan deodorant and cruelty free shoes. Having amazingly supportive parents, who went vegetarian when I went vegan back in 2004 helped a ton!

Finally, you have the whole vegan thing down…and then you decide to go on vacation. What you assume will be a beautiful, stress free trip becomes a re-creation of the movie Cast Away. Traveling vegan is difficult, especially when you’re traveling with a meat eater who goes from happy to hangry in .6 seconds. Before you, they could go anywhere, eat anything! The worst ending to a day of hiking in a national park is combing menus on an iPhone with touch and go reception as your stomach growls and your partner says, “just pick anything!” Feeling defeated, sitting hopelessly in the passenger seat of the rental car, it’s as if they said, “go away vegan!”

Due to health issues I had to switch back to a vegetarian diet, however I still prefer to dine vegan when I go out. To find restaurants who source local, organic ingredients. That’s when I decided I would help the growing number of vegetarians & vegans facing the same challenges by offering tips, advice and recommendations that make going away vegan/vegetarian easy and stress free again. Whether it’s a weekend get away or a trip across the country (I’m trying to visit every state in the country), my goal is to make it easier for others to go away vegan! I hope to share some fun veggie finds with others who are searching for great places to eat quality food in good company.