Our latest installment on the Vegtravelbuddies interview series features Megan Griffith, also known as the "Crunchy Vegan Gal" Megan runs the Crunchy Vegan which serves as a resource for anyone who wants to explore the vegan lifestyle. The site also features stories of her travels. Not to mention the many recipes, tips, and a vast amount of resources she shares. In this interview, we ask Megan about her journey to veganism and her thoughts as a vegan traveler. Enjoy reading!
Q: How long have you been a vegan? When and did you decide to embrace the vegan lifestyle?
It took me a great deal of time and personal growth before I could embrace veganism. I went vegetarian my freshman year of high school. That was 16 years ago now. At first, I also tried being vegan for a few months, but there were significantly fewer resources available for vegans at that time, and I found it too challenging for my resolve as a high school student. Ten years later, I was finally in a place to commit fully. I allowed myself to accept the realities of the dairy and egg industries and I decided I would no longer play a part in supporting those practices. It was the most liberating decision I have ever made and it set my life on a new (and I do believe improved) path.
Q: Are there any influencers who somehow led you to veganism?
While I’m cautious about blindly idolizing anyone (celebrities who go vegan don’t always stay vegan, and idolizing them sets you up for disappointment), I’d be lying if I said there weren’t people who were influential in showing me the values of veganism. There were definitely acquaintances in my own life and prominent public figures who helped me along the way. In fact, I attribute an early and significant shift in my perception to actress Portia de Rossi. I find Portia and her delightful wife, Ellen DeGeneres, inspiring. In Issue #80 of VegNews Magazine, Portia explained her motivations for going vegan an interview. Reading about her story, I saw many similarities in my own shifting viewpoints. I appreciated the vulnerability she shared, her honesty concerning personal struggles with veganism, and her frankness is talking about the dairy industry. Portia’s interview invigorated my interest in veganism, and three months later, I had made the switch.
Q: What advice would you give to someone who is thinking of making the switch to veganism?
In transitioning to a vegan lifestyle, the most important thing to remember is to just show up. Show up where you are today. Give it your best. Take your veganism to the place where you are most comfortable at that moment. And be patient with yourself! It took me ten years to finally give veganism a concerted effort; and even then, I could not manage to do it overnight. So give yourself time, and permission to stumble along the way. And through it all, allow yourself opportunities to reflect on the transition, how you feel, and what you’re experiencing.
Q: Your website is a resource for veganism. What can vegan or non-vegan travelers learn when they visit it?
Though I love to travel, recently I have not traveled nearly as often as I’d like, and certainly not to particularly exotic destinations. So when someone visits my website, I hope to offer this simple takeaway: no matter where you are, find the chance to celebrate the moment and landscape. Whether navigating everyday life or the streets of an unfamiliar city, I want people to see that veganism doesn’t need to complicate life—quite contrary, veganism can make your experiences even more vibrant.
Q: In all the years you’ve spent traveling as a vegan and running your site, what have you learned from the vegan community as a whole?
The greatest lesson I’ve gathered from the vegan community is that the community is itself a remarkable asset. Other vegans impart their wisdom and insight, but they also offer themselves as resources—as friends and travel companions, as emotional support, and as a reserve of local knowledge and recommendations. Solo travel has really emphasized how connected and welcoming the community can be. In 2016, I was traveling to Copenhagen and I had arranged to connect with another vegan woman during my visit. We had never before met—but we had been connected on social media through a Facebook group and noticed we’d both be visiting Copenhagen at the same time. We enjoyed a delightful brunch at an all-vegan spot in the city, chatting about travel, veganism, and life. That brief rendezvous was a highlight of my trip. There I was, traveling alone in a foreign country, and because of the vegan community, I was not far from a friend.
Q: What’s the best vegan meal you’ve had in your travels? Where and how did you find it?
Now this is a serious question! I am definitely the type of person who will love a meal so much more simply because of the company or the nostalgia of the experience. The food doesn’t necessarily have to taste extraordinary for me to consider the meal among the best. That being said, I’ve been fortunate to have many meals consisting of incredible vegan food. The risotto at Brasserie 2eme Art in Paris, for instance, was so delicious that I went back twice in one day! And the vegan nachos at El Borracho in Seattle were so satisfying I actually had them 4 times during a trip of as many nights! For both of those restaurants, I used the HappyCow app to find vegan-friendly options around me.
Q: What are your top most vegan-friendly places so far?
Well, few of my travel destinations really compare when it comes to the vegan variety I experienced in New York City. There are just so many options in NYC that it’s fairly overwhelming to pick just one place to eat. Of course, I went to New York with the expectation that it would be vegan-friendly. Phoenix and Sedona, Arizona, on the other hand, seriously caught me off guard! I really did not expect to have many options during a trip there a few years back, but there were SO many and all of them were delicious. Similarly, I had heard that Copenhagen wasn’t a terribly vegan-friendly city. Actually, until a few years ago, veganism was largely unheard of in Copenhagen. However, “vegansk” is no longer an unfamiliar term and every single meal I had was thoroughly enjoyable. And all the food in Copenhagen was prepared fresh, with mostly local ingredients—it was all delicious!
Q: Is there a place that you find particularly challenging to visit as a vegan? Can you tell us about what made it difficult for you?
Really, there has only been one trip where I found traveling as a vegan challenging. Last year, I visited Myrtle Beach during the off-season for a work trip. The beach resort community is already not the most veg-friendly destination, but the pickings are even slimmer in the winter months when a lot of restaurants close for the season. My options were further limited by both geographic and time constraints as a result of my work schedule. Now, I definitely didn’t starve! I always pack foods that travel well for my work trips. And to be fair, I had some seriously delicious vegan meals on that trip—but as a whole, the experience was underwhelming.
Q: How do you manage your time traveling and running your site?
Lately, I haven’t had much time to do either, if I’m being honest! When I’m most diligent, however, the secret to producing quality content for my site while also traveling is all about prioritization. In some ways, these two passions feed off of each other. Traveling offers me experiences which generate content worth sharing; some of my best website content has come from my travels. But of course, both travel and the website are hobbies. Like anything, unless I prioritize and allocate time specifically for those activities, they will not happen. Therefore, I dedicate time to travel and to my website, and then I try to be as efficient as possible about blending the two so I can produce website content about trip recaps or lists of resources for traveling.
Q: How much has vegan travel changed since you first started traveling as one?
Since going vegan, there’s a new layer to my travel, which is the discovery of vegan restaurants and goodies. My approach to sight-seeing has completely changed! I still love to explore towns for their culture and various recreational attractions, but visiting a new place is now also about sampling new vegan food. I seriously plan ahead and think about where I’m going to eat—not because I’m concerned I won’t have options, but because there are typically so many options and I want to make sure I don’t miss something amazing! Certain destinations have also been bumped up on my travel bucket list, precisely because they’re known as vegan meccas. So my travel outlook is now largely guided by my interest in vegan food.
I’m also much more conscious of the destinations I choose and the mission and values of the businesses I support. I select accommodations which do not exploit animals; I avoid attractions which profit from animal entertainment; and I look to support services with a social or ethical mission.
The industry is definitely changing, too. As there are vegan travel agencies, vegan travel packages, and entirely vegan destinations. Vegan-oriented travel is much more commonplace today than it used to be!
Q: What surprising lessons have you learned along the way?
Living in an urban area, it’s not that difficult for me to get a nice vegan meal or find some good vegan products. So, it sometimes surprises me to see the hurdles people face being vegan in different parts of the world. That being said, I’m always reminded that I shouldn’t underestimate a place. Of course, you can still plan for the worst, and be prepared with snacks and whatnot—but hope for the best. Some places where I was so sure veganism would be mocked have ended up being really enjoyable and veg-friendly experiences. And I always try to leverage the knowledge of the local vegan community. Some of the best places I’ve found have been because of recommendations made to me by other vegans in the area. I am so grateful that the vegan community is welcoming and supportive in that way!
Q: What can vegan travelers expect or look forward to in the future?
There will be a fair number of lackluster meals along the way, for sure; but there will also be some of the most memorable dining experiences of your life when you travel as a vegan. And I think we’re witnessing a rapid and global shift in perceptions about veganism. So I’m hopeful that we can all look forward to conveniently vegan travel in the future.
Q: Do you have any advice for aspiring vegan travelers?
Do your research ahead of time. First, there are the basics: if you’re traveling to some country where you don’t speak the language, at least familiarize yourself with words like “meat,” “dairy,” “egg,” “animal,” “vegan,” etc. It doesn’t hurt to learn a little about local food traditions, either, so you can know what to avoid. Also, pack some goodies to hold you over during long trips. And look into your travel plans to make sure that you’re supporting businesses that are having a positive impact on the world.
But my favorite tip for traveling is about meal planning. When I travel, I want to be as flexible as possible so I can explore the destination fully and on a whim. It’s hard to do that if I’ve set any sort of expectation for eating. Of course, there are some restaurants where I decidedly must visit for their food, so I’ll plan to specifically visit those destinations. Otherwise, I try to map out and be familiar with all the vegan options in an area so that I can pick one based on where I am when I’m hungry.
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Website: www.crunchy-vegan.com
