vegan while abroad?

I am doing a summer semester abroad for school starting the end of may. it is a 5 week program where we study urban water ways and compare them to the charles river in Boston. i will be travelin to switzerland, austria, hungary, greece, rome and barcelona. Needless to say i am EXTREMELY excited.

however, i switched to a vegan lifestyle about 4 months ago. My question is is how easy is it to be a vegan while traveling overseas? Im ok with going back to a vegetarian diet while traveling for health reasons, however since i havent eaten dairy in a while, would it make be sick? should i ween myself back on it the week before i leave to prevent any disasters in a foreign land?

Thanks!

I had a friend who was vegan for a long time. When she started eating dairy again it mostly just gave her diarrhea. Annoying, but not life threatening and she quickly got used to it again.

I've been to rome, its beautiful and has some great open-air markets. Just be careful, I bought a pomegranate in one and it turned out to be rotten when I cut it open. I was hungry the whole time (it was a school trip and all our meals were pre-planned) because I pretty much lived on pasta and salad.

Most of the countries you're traveling sound like they'll be pretty developed, so you should be able to find grocery stores and restaraunts. If you have a guide who can translate it might not be too difficult. If not, figure out how to say "no meat" in the local languages. And if all else fails...well American chain restaraunts are pretty much everywhere. Burger King has veggie burgers!

Hope you have a great trip, it sounds extremely exciting!

thanks! that helps alot. perhaps i will start eating a tiny bit the week before i leave just to make sure. i dont want to travel and eat at burger king... haha. i want the local stuff!

You might consider packing a few Lara bars to take while traveling.  They're really handy when you get the munchies and nothing's suitable.  Otherwise, I'd enjoy the vegan alternatives of the local cuisine. 

Have a great trip!

Take some photos for us to see.

I am going to warn you that it's going to be really hard to find vegan food abroad, especially if you're travelling with a structured program and don't have much time to hunt around on your own.  In many countries (I'm looking at you, France) people seem to take it personally when you say you don't eat meat.  In central Europe, there's yogurt and sour cream in everything, and salads are often covered in mayonnaise.  And even when you ask for something without meat, it still might be cooked in chicken stock.

I would recommend that if you can, loosen up on your diet a bit.  One of the best ways to experience a culture is through its food, and it would be a shame if you couldn't experience that.  If that's not an option for you, pack lots of granola bars or lara bars and a jar of peanut butter.  You can also usually get good bread and fresh, local fruits/vegetables from markets.

I'm vegan and travel abroad extensively for work.  It's sometimes hard but it's doable.  Some of the countries you are traveling to are incredibly difficult for vegans - Switzerland, Hungary and Austria in particular.  There are vegetarian and vegan restaurants in most places though, not to mention chinese, thai and ethiopian food.  There's always plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, especially during the summer.  Supermarkets all over Europe generally do have soy milk, tofu, and soy-based snacks, such as yoghurt and pudding.

 I always take luna bars with me also, so I can be sure to get at least some protein during the day if I'm having difficulty getting anything else. 

So, there's really no need to stop being vegan while you're on the road.