Often-overlooked costs
and grains tend to be less expensive than meat, seafood and dairy), but your food choices might also push you towards certain upgrades, such as a stay in a hotel with a refrigerated minibar instead of a lower-cost guesthouse. Just like anyone else planning a trip, decide in advance what to prioritise and where you’re comfortable skimping a bit.
Accommodation
When choosing a place to stay, look for spots that equip their guestrooms with mini-fridges or offer access to a full-sized communal one. This might be a bit pricier upfront, but will enable you to store leftovers and some basic ingredients so that you can prepare simple meals for yourself. If you can swing it, access to a full kitchen is ideal.
Self-catering
Being able to put together a few simple meals for yourself is more important for vegan travellers, since you might occasionally go hungry otherwise. Bring some basic equipment, in addition to nonperishable snacks (such as nuts and dried fruit).
A utility knife, some food containers, utensils and a couple of salt and pepper packets from your in-flight meal should suffice. Overnight oats, salad, nut butter sandwiches and cut fruit are easy to prepare anywhere.
Vegan main courses can be scarce at some restaurants, which can force you to assemble a more expensive meal from a few side dishes and starters. Your stomach may not sense a difference, but your wallet might. So instead of setting your smartphone to airplane mode for the duration of your trip, it might be better to pay for a data package so you can look up nearby vegan-friendly restaurants on the go.
5 tips for saving money as a vegan traveller
1. Book a vegan in-flight meal
If you forget to reserve an in-flight meal, you’ll go hungry or need to buy pricey airport food instead of eating what you already paid for when you booked your plane tickets. Most airlines still let you reserve a vegan meal.
2. Travel according to the season
Peak travel season is usually dictated by a combination of holiday schedules and optimal weather. Vegans might choose a different time of year instead, calculating the best month to feast on fresh foreign produce. If these peak and produce seasons don’t overlap, you’re in for some savings.
3. Download some free apps
Use free apps on your trip: V Cards: Vegan Abroad (vegan.cards) translates your dietary preferences into the local language; and Vanilla Bean Plant-Based Food (vanilla-bean.com) maps out vegan-friendly restaurants in the area.
4. Eat in
You can shell out for a pale iceberg lettuce salad at a restaurant or rustle up a more satisfying meal yourself. A few basic supplies — veges from the local market, a plant-based spread and a fresh loaf of bread — can go a long way.
5. Do your homework
Research vegan restaurants and local dishes so you can make informed dining choices dictated as much by what you can eat as by how much you want to spend.
● Reproduced with permission from The Vegan Travel Handbook © Lonely Planet 2019,
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