One of the best things about starting our Vegtravelbuddies Interview series in December 2017 is that it has become a constant source of fascinating stories. Not to mention the things we find out about different places, the interesting tales, and helpful tips that our interviewees have shared with us. We always look forward to every interview, which unfailingly gives us something new to discover and learn. Today, we share with you another first in this interview series as we feature Jordan "Jub" Bryant, a vegan travel blogger who also writes about sports on his website Tiki Touring Kiwi. Jub believes that "playing sports with locals is one of the few ways you can genuinely ‘get to know’ the locals". He shares with us some of his experiences traveling as a vegan and a sports enthusiast as he continues to explore the world.
Q: You have been a vegan since 2012. What made you decide to make the switch to a vegan lifestyle?
After University I moved to Melbourne (2011) and continued my eating habits from there. Well, there weren’t any habits exactly. I ate whatever, whenever, wherever.
In early 2012, I moved into a house with an American and Kiwi couple. After a week or so I spotted their blender which led to excitement at the potential of berry smoothies. After making berry smoothies for a couple weeks, the flatmates mentioned green smoothies which sounded like the worst idea ever. Eventually, curiosity got me and I was down the rabbit hole learning about this green movement thing. I read books like The China Study and watched all the plant-based documentaries online and decided to try a one week trial at being vegan.
It took a long time to commit to that one week of going vegan, like four months. I was scared, it seemed so hard!
The week-long trial finally happened after a lads trip to Sydney in September 2012. The weekend was messy and on Monday the 1st of October, 2012 I committed to trying out veganism for the week.
It was hard and my partner didn’t like it as she cooked for us usually and had few ideas what to make. But as the work progressed I found the going easy. I wasn't missing meat or cheese and had consistent energy throughout the day which was massive, no peaks and troughs. I kept going once a week and haven't stopped since.
Q: Tell us about your website Tiki Touring Kiwi.
Tiki Touring Kiwi was registered in 2013 after moving to Vancouver, Canada. Since then, the website has gone through a lot of iterations and periods where I work on it lots then don’t do anything for months.
In early 2017 I committed to a niche (sports travel), something that should have been done long ago (FOMO). I have been blogging consistently about sports experiences around the world for about a year now. It's awesome as I love everything sports and believe sports makes the world a better place. I've never been 100% happy with the direction the blog is going no doubt, but on a day to day basis I really enjoy blogging.
Q: What is it like to spend most of your time away from home? How has extensive traveling changed you as a person?
Hmmm, I hate my first thought, 'it's alright'. I guess that means I'm becoming jaded lol.
When I think about things properly it's awesome. My family is small and we get along and love each other but I wouldn’t say we are super tight. A lot of people get homesick, and I guess I understand that, but I’ve avoided that mostly. Towards the end of 2017, I was struggling a bit for sure.
As a person, I'm definitely calmer and more conscious day to day. Meditation has been a big influence as has being surrounded by long-term travellers who are environmentally conscious.
I rarely party now which was not the case before I left. The flow on effects of drinking isn't fun anymore. Doing things in the daytime is awesome (though I wake up late) so I try and keep the daylight hours fun-filled and chill out in the evening/work etc.
Q: In the over 50 countries you have been to, do you have any particular favorite? Or places you just want to visit again?
Chiang Mai will always be home to some of my favourite times abroad. I've spent probably about a year there in total over the last five years?
I could always visit Poland. I’ve been on a few short visits there and it has everything. Mountains, rivers, lakes, beaches, forests, and big cities all supported by a solid infrastructure for tourism. Barcelona is another that jumps out as liveable. Interestingly, when you mention favourites, I start thinking about places that are liveable.
Q: What is the longest time you have spent in one place in your travels? What made you stay there?
I think Chiang Mai for three months was my longest stint? I wanted a base to work on a blog related project which never kicked off in the end. Ah, I also spent four months in Melbourne in 2015 I think it was?
I quite often spend one month in a city. That’s the sweet spot where the itchy feet tend to get to a point of no return.
Q: Can you share with us some of the most vegan-friendly places you have visited?
I get so many questions about this and as a whole Southeast Asia crushes every other region in my books. For me, Thailand and their Thai Green Curries make the country a winner as the most vegan-friendly country.
A surprise city for being vegan-friendly is Warsaw, Poland. On my first visit, I was staying within a 10-minute walk to probably a dozen 100% vegan restaurants.
Everyone assumes India is great for vegans (where I am at the moment) and it is, but it’s not that great. They like to use a lot of ghee when cooking! And the other day I ordered potato on toast, and it came topped with cheese *facepalm*
I haven't been to Ethiopia yet, but have heard it's a vegan dream.
Q: You have been around Southeast Asia a lot. How vegan-friendly is the region? Any tips for vegan travelers heading there?
As mentioned above, it’s super friendly as a whole with the Philippines being an exception.
I remember a few years back doing a motorbike trip around Northern Vietnam. I wasn’t sure what the vegan situation would be like with the language barrier in small towns so had a local write down some words on paper for me to show people at restaurants. The majority of my meals for the rest of the trip was a simple plate of tofu. In general, super easy.
Q: What was the toughest place for you so far as a vegan traveler?
I think it would have to be while riding on the Trans-Siberian/Mongolian. Pretty much everything was not vegan-friendly at the train stations. So other than the vegan-friendly noodles I got from a supermarket in China I wasn’t eating much else while on board. Luckily I’m not fussed about eating the same thing day after day.
Q: How has being a vegan slow traveler influenced your life and your views about traveling?
Hmmmm, good question. It has definitely shown me how little vegetables and fruits some people eat. At times I eat with the same person for consecutive for a few days and I consciously (without telling them) count the vegetables/fruit they eat during the day. So often it’s none!
Budget backpackers survive off having eggs for breakfast, something bread-based for lunch and a meat dish for dinner. HOW DO THEY SURVIVE???
In terms of traveling, I think we need to ask better questions when choosing where we travel too. So often people travel somewhere based on a friends recommendation, then don’t enjoy the place. That’s because they wanted holiday type X, which their friend wasn’t aware of. If we can all ask better questions, we’ll have better travel experiences.
Q: What would be that one piece of advice you’d like to give to vegan travelers?
I'm going to go with two if that's okay.
- Check out the HappyCow website when you arrive in a new place. It's basically TripAdvisor for vegan restaurants. There are lots of blog posts on Google about vegan eats in different cities, but HappyCow is worldwide. Lately, I have started to search Instagram for #(insert city)vegan. That's produced some good finds.
- Don't stress if you stuff up. I often say I'm vegetarian in fear of the vegan police criticizing me if I stuff up lol. Unless you're allergic, put your best effort at being vegan and 99% of the time, you'll be fine.
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Website: tikitouringkiwi.com
