How to Eat Healthy on the Road, Especially if You're Vegan!

By Jess Spate

HL&S Guest Blogger, Ethical Traveler and Travel Writer for Appalachian Outdoors

Eating well at home can be tricky, but finding nutritious, healthy food while on vacation can be a lot harder. It’s very tempting to eat out and that often means going to the nearest restaurant, even if all it sells is burgers and greasy pizza. Those who maintain a vegan or vegetarian diet can have real problems, but even thoughtful meat-eaters find it a lot harder to make sure their holiday food is organic and their eggs free-range.

Just how difficult it will be depends on where you go. It’s very easy for American and European vegetarians to forget that in some parts of the world, freshly prepared vegetarian food is the norm, not the exception. In rural India and Nepal, the abundance of chickpea and lentil dishes makes getting protein fairly easy for those who don’t eat meet.

In fact, going vegetarian for the duration of a holiday in India or South-East Asia is a good idea for more reason than one. Cheap veggie food is easily available and there is far less chance of tummy troubles if you leave out the meat. In particular, buying from street vendors can be a delicious way to sample authentic local food, but meaty treats of this kind can cause digestive problems.

If you’re going to somewhere like the rural US or Canada, Australia, continental Europe or the UK, the secret to good travel nutrition is preparation. There are good, healthy restaurants and grocers almost everywhere- the hard part is finding them. A little bit of internet research can go a long way. Before leaving home, note down a few places to get good food along the way to your destination and in the area around it. There are local forums and online discussion groups for almost every region, so if you have trouble, just find one of those and ask for advice. In most cases people will be happy to help and you might uncover some well-kept local secrets.

Of course, you can also take good food with you. There are sometimes restrictions on the kind of foods that can be brought across borders (fruit and veg are usually out) but if you’re staying within one country or even within the European Union, transporting food around is usually okay.

Dried fruit is lightweight, non-perishable, and it provides great vitamins on the run. Bread doesn’t travel so well but it can be replaced with puffed rice cakes, which do. You can make great sandwiches with these, just like with slices of bread. They’re low in fat and your nearest wholefoods store probably sells them. Almonds and other nuts can help you get the protein you need.

Nuts are healthy snacks and easy to take on the road.

Dried fruit is a good supplement for fresh fruit while traveling.

Dietary supplements and protein bars can be taken with you no matter where you travel. They usually don’t taste as good as fresh food, but it’s better than letting healthy eating habits slide while on holiday. Do choose carefully though- a lot of supplements are packed full of preservatives or use genetically modified ingredients. Read the labels carefully so you can be sure of getting something that meets your ethical and health standards.