Traveling isn’t just something my family does once in a while, it’s a way of life for us.  We are avid and experienced travelers, and the thought of not being able to travel because of diet restrictions is not something that has ever crossed my mind. Besides, I enjoy a good challenge, so when we switched to a whole food plant based diet, I knew I was going to have to be both flexible and creative when it came to meal time while traveling.

There’s a lot I’ve learned about traveling plant-based with my kids. I share some of the lessons I learned in Plantiful Kids, my kids cookbook full of lots of yummy recipes and tips for helping kids love to eat plant-based. It’s a great resource for what to cook for (and with!) your little ones, and will give you lots of ideas about what to look for when you’re traveling. Get it here.

I found that the easiest way to control our diet while traveling was to stay somewhere we could have our own little kitchen.  Even while traveling outside the U.S. we love to rent little houses/ apartments and become locals for the time we are visiting.

My first stop is always the grocery store or local farmers market where I load up on fresh fruits and vegetables, potatoes, rice, and whole grain bread.  I always pick up some pasta sauce and pasta, and some canned beans and corn for burritos.

At breakfast we focus on whole grain toast and loads of fruit.  Then at lunch we either eat out or come back to the place we are renting for a burrito.  When my kids were younger they needed an afternoon break to eat and lay down for a little bit before we would continue on our adventures so it worked well to eat back at the place we were renting.  Now that my children are older (14, and 9), we stay out all day and then come back at night for dinner.  So eating out presents a whole new set of options and choices.

Eating out while traveling can require flexibility and creativity, but mostly flexibility.  I know that when eating out I won’t always be able to find us foods free of excess oils, or sugars, but I can always find plant based options.  I also know that we are eating fresh wholesome breakfasts, and lunch or dinners, so one meal a day that has some of the things we try to avoid in general, is going to be ok.

We look for places that sell rice and beans, or pastas as they are the easiest to eat plant based at.  Noodle places are great, as are pizza places.  You can always order a vegetable pizza with no cheese!  We find that almost everywhere we travel has at least one of these options available.  And the more remote and rural a destination we go to, the easier it is to eat a simple wholesome plant based meal, because they haven’t been populated with all the “modern” fast foods.

And I know you’re wondering, “what about those of us that like to stay at resorts?”  I’m here to tell you that we’ve done that successfully as well!  While we tend to be minimalist backpackers as travelers, once in a while we splurge and stay at an all inclusive resort and just enjoy laying around and not having to buy groceries or hunt down food.

Our favorite at resorts are the buffets!! And yes, most of it has oil, and sugar or is not plant based, but there’s always fresh fruit, and a salad bar to help load up on some wholesome nutrition.  I generally stick with the pasta bar at resorts and load up on pasta and sauce, then I’ll grab a salad and have some fruit for dessert.  Occasionally a resort will have a vegan dessert option which we will enjoy, and we are seeing more and more plant based options pop up everywhere we go.

My kids tend to head for the rice and potatoes, then they load up on fruit and cucumbers from the salad bar.  Breakfast is really easy at resorts because there’s always fresh fruit and oatmeal, toast and jelly, and usually an assortment of cereals and plant based milk.

Really it just comes down to you being ok with everyone eating a little differently while traveling so you don’t stress yourself out about trying to eat exactly how you do at home.  Take this vacation time to enjoy your family, and all the new things you are seeing and experiencing together.  Enjoy your meals, have fun, and remember….You are doing the best you can when traveling and when you get home you can control a more wholesome diet.

Check out my kids cookbook, Plantiful Kids, for more ideas for meals for your plant-based kids!

Love,
Kiki

p.s. Check out my cookbooks and meal plans to help you along your journey…