The vegan “diet” or “lifestyle” is often viewed as a luxury of the Western society we live in, a fad of the privileged well-off. There are some promising signs in the last few years that this is changing, and veganism is being accepted as a positive contribution to solving some of the world’s biggest  problems. So when we set out on our first little adventure, this was our mission:

To challenge some of the stereotypes that get thrown up in defence of the mainstream status quo, and provide a positive response. We want to discover how far can we go as vegans, how far outside our comfortable Western home we can travel. Can we always find food for us to eat that doesn’t involve animals or animal products? Is it rude or stupid to refuse to try local exotic food if it has meat in it? (Especially if we find ourselves on a desert island, with animals but no plants?) What are the thoughts of local people in remote countries and places on such a “diet”? In countries where food and water are hard to come by, does it even make sense to differentiate between meat and non-meat, to think about ethical issues such as animal rights and animal suffering, when millions of people are underfed or starving?

We know the situation with veganism in Europe and North America, now we want to learn about veganism in Africa and the Middle East. Would a more plant-based diet help with food shortages, save natural habitats of endangered animals, leave less of an impact on the environment in sparsely populated areas? How does the global market link the choices we make at home with the lives of the people and the environment in other parts of the world?

We want to open a discussion on positive terms about veganism. We want to show that it is possible to travel through many climates and geographical extremes, cooking our own food or finding local veggie cuisine, eating enough nutrients; not collapsing, starving, getting weak, and most importantly, not quitting our veganism. We want to inspire people to think positively about veganism and show vegans and (current)meat-eaters alike the endless possibilities that come with a vegan “lifestyle”. We believe that veganism is not a self-centered, privileged Western fixation, but a global movement that helps the environment, improves human health, and avoids the demonstrably unnecessary massacre of billions of animals.