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Claim: It's hard to be vegan while traveling

Details

I'm on the move,

• how can I stay vegan?
• I want to enjoy the local culture

Problems With This Argument

1. The local culture is a bad argument against veganism

Would you enjoy the local culture if it was to throw baby kittens into shredders? What about if it meant torturing dogs with hot irons? ... Or more concretely, what about, say, Yulin dog festival? These are all things that most people agree are unethical, but somehow if you're traveling does that mean it's no longer unethical?

2. Think about the victim

Would it matter to you, if you were killed, that the person was "just passing through" or wanted to enjoy the local culture of shooting guns in random directions or driving drunk or whatever happens to happen frequently in your area? Probably not. Similarly, if you abuse an animal while traveling, it's probably not a significant comfort to the tortured animal that you were an outsider joining in. Doesn't that kind of make it worse - that someone didn't even have the excuse of inertia and lifelong brainwashing and they decided to join in as an outsider?

If carnism is unethical then it's unethical regardless of if it's a special occasion or not.

3. You have so many options!

• Just eat local vegan food: Name a place. Unless you have some major health issue, you can be vegan there. Look Up on HappyCow any place where you might travel, or just look up the place on a general search engine followed by the word "vegan".
• Go someplace else: If you think that you won't be able to behave ethically within some set of circumstances, maybe you should evaluate whether or not you really want to put yourself in that circumstance. If you think that in some parts of the world, you won't be able to be vegan, consider going someplace more vegan friendly.
• Pack your food: If nothing else, pack a suitcase full of nutrition bars or other non-perishable foods that can sustain you in the absence of any vegan food. You won't die from popping a multivitamin and eating like that for two weeks of vacation if you're of even mildly good health. For instance, even non-vegan youtuber/podcaster CGP Grey has talked about packing an entire suitcase full of protein Bars on his trips.

I guess it's up to you if you want to live based on ethics you agree with, but if you do then you definitely can.

4. This also doesn't apply in everyday life

If you are still not convinced you could go vegan when you happen to be in an area, then that can't be the justification for why you eat meat day in and day out.

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