vegan.in.brighton

After a not so comfortable delayed 16 hour day train from Hanoi our arrival in Hue was a breath of fresh air. We sped to the hotel in five minutes in a taxi and despite the fact that we were scheduled to arrive at the reasonable time of 8pm the front desk staff at the Cherish Hotel happily checked us in well past 10. We booked our City View Deluxe Double at the Cherish Hotel via Agoda for £21 so to say that I was somewhat surprised and overjoyed when I saw the room would be an understatement. It really did look like the pictures online! I happily collapsed into our super comfy double bed and awoke refreshed and ready to explore the city.

Photograph courtesy of the Cherish Hotel management team

Because we'd arrived so late and were a little dazed from our epic train journey both Nick and I forgot to mention our dietary requirements to the front desk staff upon check in. I always recommend this as it gives a hotel some time to prepare something for you if they're so inclined. After scoping out the options on offer at the Cherish's frankly enormous buffet station I piled up as much mango as I felt polite taking and located the restaurant manager to ask some pressing questions about whether there was fish sauce in the veggie fried rice.

The answer was of course yes but after a discussion about what we could and couldn't eat restaurant manager Michael, we were on first name terms pretty fast, said he was going to pop to the kitchen and make us something. He came back a little while later with a whole plate of veggie fried rice, no egg, no fish sauce, and even insisted on serving it to us at the table.

We were pretty impressed at this point as usually you have to spend a whole lot more before anyone's going to go out of their way to make you a special vegan breakfast.

The next morning Michael was happy to see us again as he'd made us something else special for breakfast! Vermicelli with vegetables with a side plate of sautéed courgette and mushrooms. I might have used the word hero that morning!

He was also excited to chat with us and practice his English and recommended that we visit DongBa Market where we could get an idea of where the locals shop. We went immediately after breakfast and had a great morning wandering around marvelling at the sheer amount of dissimilar things being sold alongside each other. You really can buy anything at DongBa Market, from tools to clothes and from industrial kitchen equipment to jewellery. It's definitely a must visit spot in the city and I wasn't surprised to read that it's the biggest commercial centre in Hue province.

On our last morning when Michael popped up again to tell us that he'd made us some noodle soup with vegetarian broth my mind was kinda blown. This was a delicious and filling start to the day and I was beginning to wish that we were staying here forever!

The view from the Cherish Restaurant isn't too shabby either and whilst we didn't have dinner there I'm sure that with a little advance notice they would be able to prepare an amazing vegan meal for you.

I really can't recommend this the Cherish Hotel highly enough, the staff went above and beyond, the food was wonderful and I loved getting to stay in 4* luxury for a bargain price.

As I mentioned in my last blog post Hue was the tipping point between me enjoying exploring Vietnam and really starting to fall for it. The wide Perfume River and it's cosmopolitan south bank dotted with eateries including the veggie and very vegan friendly Bo De was a joy to amble along and I adored the afternoon I spent exploring the Imperial City.

The journey between Hue and Danang only takes 4 hours so we hopped on a morning train and arrived by lunchtime. The scenery on the way down there was ridiculously beautiful especially when the tracks got super close to the coast. I spent plenty of time hanging out by the door in-between carriages marvelling at the view which also meant that I got to take a break from a) the slaughterhouse video they were showing on the communal TV (Seriously!!!! I literally couldn't believe it was happening!) and b) the man we were sharing a table with who had his dirty flaky feet on there for the whole journey. Ugh.

Bags all packed and ready to go.

We arrived starving (and happy not to be looking at that dude's feet any more) and walked straight to the nearest vegan place. One thing I always do before travelling to a new city is check the Happy Cow app and take screen shots of the details of three vegan friendly spots that are close to the station, port or airport so that I know where I can go if I'm too hungry to find a hostel or hit the hotel I've booked first. That way when you're wifiless you aren't also lost and hungry and if the one place you had your eye on is closed then you have backups.

Karma Waters have two locations, one in Danang and one in Hoi An, and we were excited to check it out. We started with fresh juices, carrot and apple for me and pineapple for Nick and neither of us could resist ordering the hot dog. I got mine with the pear and peanut salad and Nick chose the chips.

The hot dog was an excellent choice, the bread was super fresh and the dogs were flavourful but what really made it great was that instead of being topped with the ketchup and mustard listed on the menu there was a delicious caramelised onion and tamarind sauce spread inside the bun which we both loved. Normally I find such menu deviations annoying but it worked out super well in this case. My salad was pretty great too, it was covered in garlic, the slices of pear were nice and crunchy and the peanut dressing was delicious. It was also about a million times bigger than I was expecting which is always a win when food is concerned.

After we'd eaten and dropped our stuff off at the hotel we headed straight for the beach because that's just what you do in Danang. It's a weird city, there's the downtown area one side of the bridge which, from what we saw briefly on our walk, is full of cute independent cafe's and restaurants but if you read any western guidebooks they say theres nothing really over there for tourists and that it's not worth bothering with. Across the bridge to the east there's the touristy area which, as far as I can tell, is in the middle of some kinda high rise coastal development spree. There are no ATM's on this side but there are plenty of tourist focussed bars so that's useful. Not. The beach is perfectly pleasant and our favourite moment was when it hit about 4pm and hundreds of local people came flooding down to the shore for a dip, apparently this is a good time for a break if you work in the hotel / restaurant industry and I guess it's also when school's out for the day because there were tweens and teens everywhere.

After a while we were joined by an older gentleman who talked to us in Vietnamese for about half an hour. The only words we think we understood were sky and sand as they were illustrated with a lot of waving in the first case and throwing sand about in the second. Nick and I both left the beach that evening wishing that we weren't leaving the next morning. I'd have liked to explore the downtown area more because contrary to what the guide book says there seemed to be plenty worth looking at and exploring.

The Tay Bac Hotel managed to whip us up a pretty decent vegan breakfast before we left for Hoi An and my Vietnamese pal Cici tells me that these are Bánh Bèo which are a type of steamed rice flour pancake. Traditionally they'd be made with shrimp /prawn / fish sauce but the hotel veganised them with soy sauce and peanuts. I was also pleased to see steamed sweet potato on the breakfast buffet and as we just got in there before breakfast ended I ate it all so that it wouldn't go to waste.

We booked a car to get to Hoi An when we were in Hue which we slightly regretted because it turned out to be quite a lot more expensive than a taxi would have been. Still it was really easy and if you're going to get ripped off whilst travelling I don't think getting scammed for a tenner is too bad... I probably can't find it within myself to be that annoyed about it because I used to spend that much on nail polish and I think the dude running the car company probably needs £10 more than I needed more nail polish. Also this way we were able to stop at the Marble Mountains on the way which was fun. It was a really clear day so we went up in the elevator to check out the pagodas and were able to see for miles around.

I'm really glad we decided to stop overnight in Danang rather than grabbing a cab from the train station to Hoi An as soon as we got there, it gave us a chance to check out somewhere new even though it was a flying visit and our afternoon at the beach felt like a great peek into local life.

I'm currently in Ho Chi Minh City but my time in Vietnam is coming to an end this afternoon when I hop on a plane back to Thailand. There's still more Vietnam to come on the blog though, I just started writing about Hoi An (spoiler alert: I loved it) and then I have posts on Nha Trang and, of course, Ho Chi Minh City to come. I've also started working on my Travel Talk for Vida Vegan Con which is (slightly terrifyingly) only 6 weeks away now so do leave a message in the comments or drop me an e-mail if you have any burning vegan travel questions or issues that you'd like me to try to cover.

Hoi An is part world heritage site and part beach holiday destination which, for me, is a pretty damned great combination. After getting sick in Hanoi, mainly exploring cities on the way down the coast and a couple of back to back travel days, I chose An Bang beach as our first stop in Hoi An. I was in need of some maxin' and relaxin' and I'd read that it was the quieter and prettier of the two beach options. We took the free bikes offered to us at the hotel and rode a slightly challenging 3km to the beach. Cycling, or even walking, on Vietnamese roads is always a challenge because traffic lights seem to be more of a suggestion than a rule and if the place somebody's going is on the other side of the road than the one they're technically meant to be driving on then that's the route they'll be taking. To add a little more fun to our journey there was also some road resurfacing going on which meant cycling on a single lane gravel track for about 1/2km which was definitely challenging. Needless to say we arrived at the beach suuuuper ready to relax.

After a few hours lying on the sand engrossed in a book (this one if you're interested) and hopping into the water to cool off occasionally dusk started creeping across the sky and we decided it was probably best to leave rather than to end up cycling home in the dark. It would also have been a shame to miss these gorgeous dusk views.

Hunger soon struck and we decided to check out the Hoi An branch of Karma Waters. Despite having a hankering for another of their hot dogs I decided Pho would be a better bet. Whilst it was good it wasn't anywhere near as good as either the hot dog or the bowls of Pho we'd been dining on at backstreet veg places during the preceding weeks.

We also tried the banana pancakes, a ubiquitous snack amongst other egg and dairy eating travellers, which we were yet to try. We were left almost wishing that we hadn't because they were quite solid and whilst the mango jam perked them up they definitely weren't a fave'. They definitely looked like the ones we'd seen at non-vegan street stalls in Hoi An though so they were good in that they made us stop wondering whether we were missing out.

The breakfast at the Vaia Hotel where we were staying was okay, bread, jam and juice followed by a fruit plate. I should't really complain because the bread was excellent but I was usually starving about two hours later and I definitely wished I hadn't run outa peanut butter!

The beach had been so great the day before that after scoping out the weather forecast we decided to go back and get our lounge on for a full day. We took a picnic of crackers, peanut butter, seaweed snacks, Oreo's and fruit, splashed out on some sun loungers and spent the day skipping in and out of the waves. Perfection.

Again we headed back before dusk because of the scary cycling sitch' but that meant we hit the hotel just in time for happy hour where all guests get a free mojito or glass of sangria. Fun!

After our slightly disappointing dinner at Karma Waters the previous night we decided to find somewhere a little more authentic for our evening meal. We took a walk to Tam Quang Minh and said yes when they asked us if we liked to eat soup.

Saying yes was such a great decision because these steaming bowls of Pho were some of the most delicious I've eaten in Vietnam. Fake meat, super flavourful broth, loads of herbs and lime. Yum.

We went back the next day and they asked if we liked rice... of course we said yes again. This wasn't quite as delicious as the Pho but as it cost around £1 for both of our meals I wouldn't even consider complaining. The mock meats were wonderful, one had a delicious sweet and sticky sauce and the other was kinda caramelised and had a little crunch to it. I would totally eat whole platefuls of both! I also enjoyed both mine and Nick's aubergine whilst he ate both portions of spicy cabbage. Teamwork!

Feeling suitably relaxed by a couple of back to back beach days we decided to get up early on our third morning to set about some proper sightseeing. Hoi An's old town is delightfully charming. The gorgeous French colonial style buildings sit side by side with Japanese edo era architecture which is a contrast that I loooove.

Apparently this is the only Japanese bridge in the world that has a Buddhist temple halfway across. It's also guarded at one end by a pair of dog statues and at the other by a pair of monkey statues - cute.

In fact everything about Hoi An is cute, the buildings, the lanterns, this puppy...

We took advantage of our hotel's free bicycles again during our days exploring the old town and we headed out in the morning during the hours when it becomes a walking and cycling only area. This is a wonderful idea that I think almost any city could implement and it would add to the joy of exploring. Being able to cycle or walk without worrying that I'd be knocked over by a scooter at any moment made it much more fun although of course dawdling tour groups made cycling without a bell amusing / mildly irritating.

We refuelled with juice at riverside spot Fusion Cafe more than once during our explorations, it was definitely a good people watching spot and the apple, lime and mint juice was excellent. I think that juice combo might be one of my favourite discoveries of the trip, it's a little like a non-alcoholic mojito.

One place I was excited to dine at was Minh Hein Vegetarian which was excitingly within cycling distance of the old town. Minh Hein is probably Hoi An's most famous veggie spot. They make veganised versions of a lot of traditional dishes including Cao Lau, a regional noodle, (faux) pork and greens dish, and White Rose.

White Rose are dumplings so-called because they look like white roses and whilst they usually contain shrimp or pork these were, of course, the vegan version. I also ordered the fried aubergine with garlic and Nick ordered a spicy tofu dish because it's literally the only way to stop me stealing his food! I kid. Kinda.

The fried aubergine with garlic also came with peanuts and no chilli which I was happy about - communication win. The aubergines in both Vietnam and Laos really are melt in your mouth delicious and I feel like despite there being so many different types and cooking methods aubergine dishes are always the ones I end up loving the most. The White Rose was tasty but I didn't ask for it without chilli because I'd read that the dipping sauce comes on the side, that's not the case at Minh Hien so after one delicious nibble I had to pass them over to Nick to polish off.

We also grabbed an order of Bánh Xèo to share because ever since Cici introduced us to them in Hanoi they've been up there with our favourite Vietnamese dishes. This version could have been better if the wrappers had been soaked properly but they were on the crunchy side which made them challenging to use.

Despite their slightly disappointing Bánh Xèo I would highly recommend visiting Minh Hien for their veganised local classics like White Rose, Cao Lau or anything with aubergine.

On our last night we finally made it to An Nhu Quan Chay which I'd heard about from Caryl and Paul at Vegan Food Quest who recommended the hot pot. Never one to deviate from a personal recommendation we dove right in.

The Hot Pot was filled to the brim with mushrooms, silken tofu, tomatoes, mushrooms and more mushrooms. I loved it. I was also pleased to see that it came with the fermented tofu that I'd fallen for in Hue. We threw in handfuls of greens and I ate far more than my half of the fermented tofu. I really wish I was eating this right now. I'm eating grapes. They aren't as good. I just added this spot to Happy Cow so that other veggies visiting Hoi An should be able to find it and eat delicious hot pot too!

Nha Trang ended up being a weird one for me; I'd planned a stop there on my travels down the coast of Vietnam because I'd heard that the beaches were great but it was super windy the whole time I was in town which meant that the beach was a total no-go. The waves were crazy high (like Brighton in mid winter) and the wind was whipping up the sand which is always a less than fun experience. Because I couldn't book Nick and I onto an earlier train we had to make the most of our three days in town and so we decided to try as many of Nha Trang's vegan eateries as possible. Our first stop was Bo De where we immediately delved into some steamed buns.

Now I love steamed buns every which way, faux bbq pork, crispy veggies and beans, mushrooms... any variation that I've tried I've loved. These were no exception which was extra great because Nick doesn't like veggies in a bun so I got to eat both of them. Score!

They were perfection, perfectly steamed dough, crisp peppery vegetables and to top it off they cost 8000 VND / 25p / 37¢. Complete madness. It blew my mind how cheap the vegan food in Vietnam was. We also tried the Pho which was excellent (and stupidly cheap of course) and I couldn't resist and side of salt and pepper tofu which was delicious but you can't really go wrong with deep fried tofu, salt and pepper.

The second stop on our foodie tour of the city was Banh Mi Chay, a little veggie banh mi stand at the side of the road near the beach. This is also where the tour stopped because I basically fell in love with this sandwich and ate it for every single meal until we had to leave.

The bread itself was perfectly light and crispy due to it being made with a mix of wheat and rice flours and it was stuffed full of so much deliciousness that it made me question why on earth I'd never eaten a banh mi before. First the bread is spread with the banh mi sauce which is kinda like a spicy hoisin, then in go lettuce, crunchy pickled veggies and plenty of coriander followed by strips of cucumber and sliced tomato and finally four kinds of fake meat - a wheaty faux pork, a wheaty faux chicken and some kinda baked soy loaf and then a handful of crisp, sweet sesame soy protein.

I am absolutely not exaggerating when I say that this was the best sandwich of my life and damn, I've had some good sandwiches (The Picard and this Croque Monsieur spring to mind) in my time on this planet! I, of course, had to omit the flavourful sauce once I realised what was going on with it's spice level but this was still the most excellent sandwich in the world. I would not eat a terrible sandwich six times in two days. I would also have bought all of her crispy soy protein and eaten it with a spoon because OMG it was the absolute best.

If you're ever in Vietnam I would urge you to get to Banh Mi Chay and buy yourself a sandwich or six. They're vegan by default although the stall does have butter and cheese available. The lovely woman running this place doesn't eat that stuff though so if you need an extra push to make the journey to Nha Trang go and support a rad vegan making rad sandwiches. Oh and the sandwich costs 10,000 VND / 31p / 46¢ which, although we paid more each time (this sandwich has to be worth at least £1 of any western travellers money), my mind is still officially blown that you can get an outstanding sandwich for so little cash.

Two thumbs up!

Between sandwiches and despite the beach being a bust we did manage to find some fun things to do to entertain ourselves in-between sandwiches. We visited two excellent photography galleries, DDK Black and White Art Photo Gallery and Long Thonh Art Gallery. The photographers were present at both as they're work / gallery spaces which was cool. I liked getting a little peek into the life of a pro photographer. If I had more disposable income or any walls I would have loved to invest in some amazing photographs of Vietnam but those aren't the life decisions I'm making right now and I already have enough art waiting for me in storage. We also passed some time at the pool on the roof of our hotel and with a spot of ten pin bowling. We would have checked out the cinema but the only thing on was Fast and Furious 7 and no, just no.

Nha Trang will be a must visit spot for me when I re-visit Vietnam one day, that sandwich was just so, so great that I'm going to have to eat it again. Luckily my friend Liz from Cooking the Vegan Books claims to have managed to whip up a version of The Sandwich in her own kitchen after also falling for it during her time in Nha Trang. I hope to be availing myself of the recipe next time I have a kitchen and decent stockpile of ingredients to work with!

Ho Chi Minh City was to be our final stop in Vietnam and it was a little bittersweet. Nick and I were both excited about heading back to Thailand but sad that we'd missed out on visiting some of the places we wanted to check out in Vietnam (Sapa, Dalat) because my getting sick for 10 days followed by Nick spending two days throwing up kinda threw off our plans. The heat was also getting to me (totally my fault for visiting at a silly time of year!) and whilst I understand that people are probably staring at me and pointing and grabbing me because they find me interesting it was definitely taking it's toll. It even made me miss Brighton where nobody even looks twice at me. Still we hopped off the sleeper train with a positive mindset ready to explore. As always when I know I'll be arriving in a new city with no way of getting online (or so I thought, it turns out that Ho Chi Minh station has surprisingly fast free wifi) I'd screen shotted the locations and details of a few vegan friendly spots within walking distance so off we went.

Quan 85 is about a 20 minute walk from the station and there's no menu to speak of, not one that we could find / read anyway. Confusingly I also couldn't spot the name Quan 85 anywhere despite definitely being in the right spot - here's what you're looking for.

After consulting with a clever translation app on his phone the guy in charge told us that it's a vegan restaurant and asked if we'd like to eat rice. Asking if you'd like to eat rice / soup seems to be a common theme in casual Vietnamese cafe's and I like it! We were presented with a plate of rice, veggies, mock meat and tofu with a side of purple soup.

Of course my clever translation app explaining that I can't eat chilli did not get the message across and Nick and I had to move things back and forth so that I ended up with a plate of rice, potatoes and green beans and he ended up with a plate of rice spicy tofu, spicy mock meat and intensely spicy cabbage. I also took one for the team and drank both cold purple soups (that reminded me of the scene with the blue soup in Bridget Jones' Diary) because I know Nick does't love a spice onslaught at breakfast and he hates weird coloured soup more than I do.

Our meal was ridiculously cheap and the guy there was lovely. If you're looking for a super authentic Vietnamese dining experience in Ho Chi Minh city this is definitely somewhere you should swing by.

Another great local spot was Pho Chay Nhu which was located down an alleyway around the corner from our hotel. We both had the Pho after confirming that we like soup and it was delicious enough that we are there more than once.

To take a break from exploring in the heat we stopped at Starbucks. I hate Starbucks but I will patronise them when I'm in countries where vegan soy milk is hard to find. So, I basically boycott S'bux in Europe and the US but I will go there in Asia if I can't find another option. My ethics confuse me too but I think it's a fair stance and I'm sticking by it. This was without a shadow of a doubt the worst matcha soy latte I've ever had which is weird because I thought that the whole point of Starbucks is that they're consistent and they have wifi. The guy who made it loved my hair and wrote Ms Pink on my cup though so I'll let him off.

Of course we managed a spot of sightseeing. This is Saigon Notre Dame... It's not as impressive as the one in Paris but quite fun anyway. It's also opposite the Saigon Central Post Office which, as well as being a famous landmark, is also a working post office.

More Pho was soon in order and we went to Dieu Phap Chay, another simple noodle spot, where we were looked after by the owner who, upon spotting two clueless westerners, jumped up and explained all of the different soup / noodle / veggie combos we could go for in perfect English. I went for a more Chinese influenced bowl of Pho with thick noodles and tofu whilst Nick went for something more traditionally southern with mock meat.

Whilst we were eating I spotted a steamer full of buns and jumped all over that as soon as I was done with my Pho. They were filled with peppery veggies and mushrooms and were pretty darn delicious despite being a touch over-steamed.

Nick insisted that we check out the Bitexo Tower because he has some kinda weird obsession with going up the tallest building in every city never mind whether it's actually important or famous or not. I particularly enjoyed the display suggesting that this is one of the ten most iconic buildings in the world. Oddly the Eiffel Tower was nowhere to be seen on that list! I amused myself taking mirrored roof selfies whilst Nick gazed out of the dirty windows.

To cleanse myself from this boring (but totes iconic obvs) building I chose the next spot and we visited a museum of propaganda posters. It's really a shop of course and everything is for sale. I was sad that there weren't any postcard sized images because I obviously can't justify buying art right now but I can always justify postcards.

That night we hit the jackpot restaurant wise when we discovered the biggest shiniest Loving Hut in the whole entire world. Located on Huynh Khuong Ninh right by the park and down the street from their previous (smaller) location I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it. This place has a chandelier FFS! We were greeted by the loveliest people who spoke amazing English and I knew immediately that I would be able to communicate my allergies and end up with a meal I could definitely eat. I was ravenous so this was exciting! We started with fancy juices and me explaining to Nick that no the stirrers were not upside down they were just decorative, something he still can't wrap his head around today.

We'd just been talking about how we hadn't had a sit down meal with more than one course for a suuuper long time and this Loving Hut had an extra bonus - air con! We went to town with the ordering and grabbed some Spring Rolls and the Deep Fried Chicken to start.

The deep fried chicken turned out to be chicken nuggets which I was excited and nervous about. I haven't eaten a chicken nugget (a vegan chicken nugget, that should go without saying really!) since I got gastro on the same day I'd eaten a whole box of Fry's nuggets sometime in early 2014 but these were differently textured and I was pleased to be back ontop of my nugget game - they're definitely one of my favourite comfort foods so it's nice to have them back in my life. I was enamoured with the spring rolls too especially becuase they came with lettuce to wrap around them and a fun non-spicy dipping sauce.

I went for the Pak Choi with Black Mushrooms as my main course and Nick opted for the Braised Gluten with Coconut Juice and we shared a side of steamed rice.

Normally I'm anti anything coconut water related and coconut juice sounded suspicious to me but apparently if you mix coconut juice / water with deep fry it becomes acceptable again. Nick had made a great ordering decision and suddenly I was up for sharing! My main was pretty great too and it complimented Nick's mock meaty choice perfectly.

I'd chosen a small main course because it looked like there were a lot of desserts to choose from including both chocolate and matcha ice creams and flan so I wanted to make sure I left space given that I hadn't eaten a dessert since Hanoi. As it turned out they were out of every single dessert except for coconut ice cream (why dont people tell you what they've run out of when they give you the menu? Total pet peeve!) so we skipped it and decided to see if there was anything delicious and sweet to nibble on in their store upstairs.

We weren't expecting much, shelves of dried mock meats and maybe some cake slices but the store turned out to be a place of joy and wonder! We hadn't seen any imported vegan treats (except for the accidental kind) since England. I tried super hard to restrain myself (for budget reasons, if I had all of the cash I would have bought all of the sugar treats) and I think I did okay given that I was faced with all of this and more!

They also had Daiya, Tofurky roasts, things from the Whole Foods 365 range and staples like canned tomatoes and olive oil. In the end we picked up a slice of cake, a couple of Sjaak's Almond Butter Bites and an Eli's Earth Bar.

I love Eli's Earth Bars, which I totally didn't realise were made by Sjaak's until right this second, and grab one whenever I get the chance. I'm not quite familiar enough with the range yet to have a favourite but the Treasure Bar sure is amazing. It's full of peanut butter crunchy stuff and caramel and it reminded me a little of the PB Sea Salt Caramel Gelato from Boho in Brighton but less sweet and with chocolate. Perfect. I've been a big fan of Sjaack's, despite having no idea how to pronounce the brand name, since I first picked up some of their PB Bites at the fantastic Vegan Haven in Seattle. The Almond Butter bites didn't seem as delicious as I remembered the peanut butter ones being but I am 100% sure it was because they were being stored in a bowl with the Sjaack's Mint Chocolates. Mint ruins everything. Never store anything with mint! The cake was, to be polte, peculiar. It was cheesecake-esque which made me take a pass after one bite but after eating the whole thing Nick couldn't tell me what flavour it was, he just described it as not unpleasant but not something to re-purchase. Do try it for yourself if you swing by, I'd love your opinion!

We enjoyed our meal at Loving Hut so much that we went back the next day so that we could try more of their vast menu. This time we started with some Deep Fried Fish and followed that with some stir fried greens, the Braised Vegan Chicken with Ginger and the Barbecue Chicken with Steamed Rice.

The deep fried fish was obviously a win because I love faux fish so freaking much and if you batter something in a crisp batter and deep fry it perfectly so that it's not dripping in oil I will rave about it. The braised vegan chicken with ginger was a solid choice and I was pleased that there was mock meat mixed into my stir fried greens. It was super tasty too and I wondered if it might be the same stuff that went into the braised gluten we'd tried the day before but cooked differently. The barbecue chicken was flavoured with five spice and whilst I really enjoyed it because the mock meat was really tender and juicy I wished that it'd been a little saucier.

After taking a LH break and re-visiting the place with the great Pho and steamed buns a couple of times we hit up Loving Hut for our last meal in Vietnam because I just had to eat the braised gluten in coconut juice one more time. We also got some Fried Okra with Roasted Garlic and a plate of mock meat intriguingly titled Veggie Scrap Salty.

Obviously the gluten was amazing again and I was so glad that I tried the garlicky okra because it was definitely my fave out of the three veggie dishes I tried there. I'd highly recommend it if you're a fellow garlic lover. The Veggie Scrap Salty wasn't that salty but it was a huge plate of crisp fried mock meat scraps which was ridiculously moorish. Despite being full about halfway through the plate neither of us could stop nibbling.

This Loving Hut is definitely more expensive than any of the other places we checked out in Ho Chi Minh City or, to be honest, most of the places we ate in Vietnam but it has a more high end feel (in a kind of amazingly tacky but brilliant way) and the food was great so I think it's totally worth the extra expense. Also the shop located just above it is brilliant, we grabbed a couple more Eli's Earth Bars for our flight to Bangkok and they were the perfect thing to nibble on when everyone else around us was enjoying their in flight meal.

Ho Chi Minh City is amazingly vegan friendly, the list of all vegan places on Happy Cow is epic so you're guaranteed some great eats wherever you base yourself in the city.

I left England in mid January to set off on my indefinite travel adventure and whilst I'm only four months in my notebook is overflowing with thoughts and ideas and reflections and I thought I'd throw some of those reflections out there in what is probably going to be an outburst of oversharing!

Beach time in Ko Samui, Thailand

I am 100% sure that Nick and I made the right decision to leave England and to travel until we want to stop. With the election coming up my Twitter feed serves as a constant reminder of the things I hate about the UK although I am gutted not to be able to help re-elect Caroline Lucas in Brighton Pavillion. I am voting, obvs, I just have to vote somewhere else now. It's a safe Tory seat so my vote will hardly count but I would never skip out on voting no matter how pointless it may seem. Even if you just show up and spoil your ballot paper you have to freaking show up to be counted, it doesn't register as a protest if you just sit at home like all of the apathetic non-voters. It's also important to vote for parties like the Greens in seats they have no chance of winning because if they get 5% of the vote they not only know there are people rooting for them but they also get their deposit back which is extra important for smaller parties.

Anyway, leaving the UK was an A+ idea. As well as seeing the world Nick and I are getting to spend so much quality time together. It's so much fun! I feel like our lives are now being buoyed along by a constant undercurrent of excitement rather than being punctuated by work stresses and pointless holidays - and when I say holidays I'm talking Easter not a week long trip to the Andalusian coast! Our plans for the rest of the year include 5 weeks in Austin, I can't believe how soon Vida Vegan Con is and I am so sad about it being the final one that I have pushed it to the back of my mind because I don't want to think about it. I'm speaking about my Adventures in Vegan Travel Blogging on Sunday which I am beyond excited to talk about and I'll also be making an appearance on the Feminism and Veganism panel on Saturday morning which is sure to be both awesome and empowering. After our time in Austin comes to an end in mid June Nick and I will be spending summer living in a van which is like my actual lifelong dream come true, I have been talking seriously about living in a van since my early twenties and it's going to be the coolest way to explore Eastern Europe. Plans are forming for Autumn / Winter 2015 but I currently have no idea what 2016 holds. Knowing that the choices are ours and there are a million opportunities we'd like to grab is both overwhelming and exciting. We're currently looking into volunteering in Japan and pondering whether we could somehow afford to spend three months living in California.

Exploring the streets of Hanoi, Vietnam

I don't want to paint a totally idyllic, perfect picture of life right now though; there have been many challenges and there are definite downsides to travelling for as long as we're planning to. Our plans at once make seeing friends harder and easier. I miss the people I spent the most time with in the UK but this is balanced out by how excited I am to get to spend more time with my friends in Austin. I'm also getting to spend more quality time than usual with my BFF Tabitha this year because Nick and I are staying with her for a week when we swing through Brighton and we have a week of punk festival fun and city eats lined up for Slovenia this summer. I'm also making the effort to send postcards and stay connected whenever possible, I don't want my friendships to fade away. They're all too important.

Heath care is also challenging, we've both experienced being sick on the road in situations where it has been obvious that we needed to seek medical advice asap but, what to do about those smaller niggles? I am so used to having the privilege (and I absolutely recognise it for what it is, a privilege) of having a GP whom I can visit whenever I need that not having that there as a safety net is an odd feeling. This year we're swinging through the UK twice so things like dentist check ups and the filling of repeat prescriptions can be fitted into those slots but how can Nick get physio for the wrist he injured months ago when an NHS referral will take months and we'll likely be away once the appointment rolls around? What happens when I need my IUD replaced? Do I need to go to England to do that? What do I do when my colitis flares up aside from quitting fruit for a bit? This throws up it's own challenges when you're in places where fruit is not only delicious but also the best vegan option available. I would love any answers y'all may have to those questions by the way because I really have no clue!

Sunset in Vang Vieng, Laos

One thing we've found is that travelling seems less sociable than we'd expected. I feel like this is probably because we're travelling as a couple so whilst we're taking the opportunities to hang with people when they come up, and have found that making new friends is a touch easier because we both have the time to devote to spontaneous socialising, we already have each other to hang out with so the inherant need to make new buddies isn't there. We've made great connections with fellow vegan travel bloggers and with people we met whilst volunteering but on a day to day basis we pretty much just hang together. I wonder if this has to do with us both a) being a little older than your average backpacker b) not being into drinking and certainly not being into getting dressed up in local "costumes" for a bar crawl and c) being quite fussy about who we hang out with. As soon as someone makes an offhand racist or sexist remark that's it I'm done. I also have no time for people who greet your veganism with an "mmmm bacon"... I think that I'm lucky that I've always made most of my friends through vegan groups or online vegan communities because it means that the majority of my friends would never do these things.

Long term travel also seems to mean subjecting yourself to that feeling where your holiday's coming to an end and you feel super sad about it over and over and over again! Those feelings get balanced out by how great it is that you get to go somewhere new and I am aware that that's a really privileged place to be but I still feel sad when I have to say goodbye to people and places and things. Whether that's the cat you fell in love with at a shelter, the waitress who was amazing at fielding your vegan questions the whole time you were at a resort, the beach you loved waking up by, the food you loved but that you might not get to eat again or even just the general atmosphere of a place. One of the benefits of long term travel is that it's often possible to extend your stay somewhere if you're loving it, Nick and I really took advantage of this on Koh Lanta and in Chiang Mai, as well as a few other places to a lesser extent, but still this is travel not moving house so saying goodbye is inevitable.

Connecting with a new friend at Elephant Nature Park, Thailand

I've also learnt that anxiety doesn't disappear when you travel, I've only had one panic attack since the trip started but my anxiety triggers are the same as ever. I am realising that feeling the sun on my skin every day, watching far less TV and going outside more (I didn't get to do a whole lot of that during my last three months in the UK because there was just so much to do) are conducive to good mental health. I also had a total revelation when I was talking to Nick about how I felt that I just wasn't doing enough activism / writing / all of the other things I want to do and I realised that this feeling comes from me constantly moving the goalposts I've set myself! I wanted to speak about vegan travel but before I'd even done my first talk I was already wondering why I hadn't made a zine yet, now that I approach my second talk and am super close to printing my first zine I'm asking myself why I haven't started my You Tube channel yet. I'm realising that happiness comes when you revel in your successes! You can't just constantly move your goalposts because then it feels like you're never succeeding. Having come from a place where answering the phone made me super anxious doing public any speaking at all is a pretty bad ass place to be and I'm trying to recognise all of those small achievements. I can only assume that I'm realising this stuff now because I have the time and space to think. Whilst travel can sometimes keep you pretty busy what with the constant need to book the next train, organise the next accommodation and research where the vegan food is at, you also have the choice to opt out of that for a few days or weeks or more. You can stop somewhere you're semi-familiar with at any time and just relax or work on projects or whatever. I am quite literally free to do whatever I want to do and it feels amazing.

I didn't necessarily set out on this adventure to "find myself" or to learn new things about myself but now I think that learning about yourself is an inevitable side effect of this type of travel. I had thought I'd learn about the world and discover new things about new countries and people and but I hadn't considered the finding myself thing to be an integral part of the adventure. When I was in my teens all of my friends went off on these big trips, exploring the Inca Trail, volunteering in Uganda or backpacking in Australia so the discoveries for me are different. I'm 31, I already know myself pretty well and my core beliefs haven't changed, although reading both Sistah Vegan and attending some of the Sistah Vegan Conference whilst I was in Thailand gave me a lot to think about in terms of what I consider ethical / cruelty free and how to be a better anti racist ally... I think that probably needs it's own blog post though. I'm enjoying having time to devote to being a better version of myself which I think is something I've always tried to work on but sometimes day to day obstacles get in the way of that, pushing myself outside of my comfort zone has given me the space to question some of my behaviours (or lack of them) and to brainstorm how to work on them which has been awesome. On a more basic day to day level I have realised that whilst I love long distance train travel I dislike travelling by bus. I've learnt that I'm less scared of bugs than I thought I was which is great although I didn't love the overnight train I took where the cabin was crawling with cockroaches. I also hadn't realised that they can fly! What the hell cockroaches?! I learnt that I need to travel in countries where people are going to stare / point / grab at me for a few weeks before having a break - dealing with that for over a month in Vietnam started to grate by the end of our five weeks there. It's made me have a bit of a rethink about how I'm going to go about exploring China although I am absolutely certain that I still want to go.

First beach day of the trip on Koh Yao Noi, Thailand

If this post publishes when it's meant to I'm somewhere in European airspace getting ready to descend on the UK where I'll be hanging with friends in Brighton, practicing my Vida Vegan Con talk in front of anyone who'll listen and eating all of the vegan cheese I can lay my hands on whilst I prepare for the next leg of our adventures and you can rest assured that wherever I am I am pretty damned excited to be there!

I've always enjoyed travelling by train but my adventures in South East Asia this year have sparked an even deeper love for this mode of transport. Sleeper trains were one of my favourite new discoveries and unlike in the UK they're actually a really affordable way to take a long journey. Each and every journey was an adventure, from sharing a first class cabin together en route from Trang to Bangkok to our fitful nights sleep in a cockroach filled carriage in-between Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City.

My very favourite train experience took place between Bangkok and Chiang Mai; Nick and I were in a four berth cabin shared with Alana, a vegetarian from the US who was taking a break from teaching in China, and a Chinese man who was travelling with, from what we could gather, his entire extended family. Things got off to an amusing start after we all turned down his pork snacks and it was down to Alana to use her intermediate Mandarin to explain why... much hilarity ensued after he assumed we were vegetarian "for Jesus" and we had to try to explain, through the use of animal and heart emojis, that no, we just really love animals. As the evening progressed Nick and his new friend got closer and he explained, again through Alana, that he thought Nick was very attractive and that he liked his hair very much... after a short pause Alana translated that it was because Nick's hair reminded him of a horse's mane. Brilliant.

Ridiculous experiences aside the added bonus of taking a night train as opposed to a day train is that you're getting your accommodation for the night included in the price of your travels which is super helpful if you're adventuring on a budget. If you're thinking of exploring SE Asia by train (and I strongly suggest that you do) here are my Top 5 Tips to help you on your way...

Book ahead if possible. Everything I read before leaving for my trip made me think that hopping on a sleeper train that night would be easy as long as it isn't high season and that's not quite the case. On more than one occasion Nick and I rocked up at the station the day before we'd planned to take the train to buy our tickets only to find we'd need to wait a couple more nights or take a day train. Booking ahead is especially important if you have a preference for the type of carriage (be that first or second) and if you want to be seated close to each other.
Use Seat 61 to plan your journey. Seat 61 is an amazingly in depth website which will help you work out not only the train timetables and costs but also which type of train you're likely to be travelling on. Will you be sharing a four berth compartment with a door or will you be in a more open carriage? This site can tell ya and as someone who likes to have at least some idea what they're getting into it's a super helpful resource. The more open carriages have smaller upper bunks which seemed to me like they were rocking around more than the bunks in the four berth compartments. I'd recommend booking two lower bunks if the carriage is more open as otherwise you may be woken regularly as you get thrown around... those straps in the picture above probably aren't going to stop you landing on the ground if you do roll outa bed in the night! It will also help you work out which seat numbers are together, if the trains are four berth cabin style you and your travel companion probably don't want seats four and five!
Dress warm...or for the beach. Thai sleeper trains are air conditioned to the max whilst Vietnamese sleeper train air con is completely ineffective. If you're getting an overnight train in Thailand I am not kidding when I tell you to dress warm. I bundled myself up in my long trousers, a t shirt, a hoodie, a scarf, socks and a sleeping bag liner and I was still cold. In Vietnam I was boiling in my long trousers and a t and wished that there had been a curtain so that I could've slipped into some shorts!
Pack an eye mask and earplugs. You will end up in a carriage with a snorer or a crying baby (or both!) and nope, you can't turn out the lights.
Take snacks. As a vegan I always have snacks on hand and this is especially important when you're on a train where the meals offered are far from suitable. If you're starting your journey in a city like Bangkok, Chiang Mai or Ho Chi Minh City it's ridiculously easy to grab some take out snacks for your journey. Elsewhere that tupperware you packed (you did pack a tupperware right?!) will be your best friend, just grab an extra meal, some rice and curry perhaps, from wherever your having lunch. Don't get Pho or Hot Pot, you don't wanna be eating an overflowing tupperware of soup on a moving train, trust me.

These past two weeks have been a total whirlwind of excitement, travel, stress and just plain old getting shit done.

May 5th saw Nick and I hopping onto a flight from Bangkok to Heathrow and from there we headed straight to Brighton for six nights of BFF shaped food and fun at Tabitha's house. I managed to see almost every single person I like that week; I met up with friends at the new Loving Hut on Gardner Street, had dinner at Pho (which I have to admit was a little disappointing after eating the real thing all over Vietnam) with all of Nick's old friends, hung with Randi at both VBites and Boho Gelato (they made me pistachio!) and caught up with Sal for sleepover fun, much chatting and a whole lotta Pizza Face.

I also managed to cram in a whole lot of Vego bars and blustery seafront walks. It was a strong week! I also managed to get my zine, European Vegan, 99% finished which I was super excited about. Having not only a place to just sit still but also a printer really helped with the zine productivity!

After six days in Brighton Nick and I were on the move again and we had Austin in our sights. After some tasty eats at Cornucopia in Dublin, their potato salad is so amazing, and my first time ever sleeping on the floor at an airport we were winging our way to Austin.

We arrived last tuesday and checked into our super cute Air B&B. A combination of research and local knowledge from our previous trips totally paid off and we're in a brilliant location. We can walk to Barton Springs and we're a 10 minute drive from both Wheatsville and Whole Foods which is perfect. I'm definitely going to be blogging more about the food I've been eating so far but here are some of the highlights...

The Vegan Nom! I have been craving a Del Ray, their "fish" taco, since we left Austin last September and I was super excited to be reunited with it. In fact, as soon as I finish writing this, I'm going to go and grab another one because it's just so damn good. Breaded, black pepper coated faux fish, crispy cabbage and a lime creme all topped off with perfectly ripe avocado and even more black pepper... it's perfect.

Via 313 is another spot I've been dreaming of non-stop and I couldn't wait to get a slice (or four) of their vegan margherita pizza into my mouth. They use Follow Your Heart cheese and it's baked right into the perfectly oily Detroit style crust before being topped off with the most delicious marinara sauce. So damn good! I enjoyed checking out their new sit down location in Oak Hill because the Friday night bar scene really isn't my thing but I'll definitely be revisiting their truck at Violet Crown when it's quieter.

As well as eating I've been hanging out with all of the wonderful Austin (and Portland!) vegans at quiz nights, on patios, at ramen joints, at brunch spots and ice cream parlours and even in their kitchens! It's been a blast and I am beyond excited that I get to be here for four more weeks. I also managed to swing by the brand new Rabbit Food Grocery to grab some fun treats and I've been getting down with the huge range of American vegan products, from s'more fudge to canned vegan tuna and everything in-between I've probably tried it! More on that next time but as it's the first time I've ever had more than a microwave in the US you can bet your ass I've been getting a little crazy in the kitchen.

Lastly, as I mentioned earlier, my zine was 99% finished when I left Brighton and now it's 100% a reality and I am so excited about it! I've been working on it for about 7 or 8 months because translating everything and then getting it all checked over by fluent / native speakers is process to say the least. European Vegan is a pocket sized guide to reading labels Europe-wide. For years I've made lists of all of the ingredients I'd like to avoid at home and translated them into the language of the country I've been heading to, my zine sees that through to it's logical conclusion with translations in 32 languages to help make shopping abroad a breeze.

I've used the lists to find churros in a Spanish hypermarket, fun snacks at a Bratislavan health food store, and to suss out which sausages are egg free in a Belgian supermarket so it's a tried and tested method of finding vegan eats when you can't read the language. As well as including translations for things like eggs, milk and honey the zine also covers you if you're looking for shoes or clothes with translations for leather, silk, wool etc included too. If being able to shop abroad easily isn't enough of a draw I'm also donating 20% of the sale price to the League Against Cruel Sports because after the hideous election results our furry friends in the UK need our help more than ever.

European Vegan is on sale now in my Big Cartel store. It's currently shipping first class airmail from the USA so if you're in Europe please be patient as it won't arrive quite as speedily as if I was sending it from the UK. If you need it urgently I can send you any page you need as a PDF document as soon as you purchase a copy! If you're heading to Austin for Vida Vegan Con firstly, yay! I am excited to hang out with you! And secondly, I'll be selling European Vegan at the Speakers Table at the Vegan Bazaar next Friday so you can grab a copy in person.

Before I got to Austin I read about all vegan Mexican food truck Cool Beans on Stephanie's blog, I also bookmarked the truck on the Happy Cow app in my "New - must visit" list but it was meeting the duo behind the truck that finally pushed me over the edge and made me think "I need to eat there now!". I met Priscilla and Rolando at Buzzmill last tuesday night and as soon as wednesday lunchtime rolled around I couldn't stop myself from heading over there to sample the food they talked about so passionately.

One thing that made me realise how invested in making everything from scratch they are is how quickly they knew what I'd be able to order when I mentioned my allergies - they didn't need to check any packets or consult their recipes because they really know their shit.

I'd heard that their homemade corn tortillas were the bomb dot com so I knew I'd be ordering tacos. I ordered The Outkast and Nick went with The Native. We also got an order of Street Corn, hold the chilli powder, and a Sweetcorn Tamale to share.

I honestly don't even know where to begin describing this delicious meal because just thinking about it sends my brain into a spin and all I want to do is sprint out of the door so that I can go and eat it all again! That's how good it is! The outcast was not the kinda thing I'd usually go for, normally I'm a mock meat and cheese heavy taco orderer, but this simple, flavourful portobella mushroom taco had me floored. It also turned me into a total corn tortilla convert! I was team flour all the way until last tuesday and now I'm just confused and I think that maybe a really great corn tortilla might pip a flour tortilla to the post. Nick super loved his garbanzo tempeh and pineapple filled Native Taco, I could tell because he just kept saying "Oh wow" over and over whilst he was eating it which was a bit of a giveaway.

The street corn had come highly recommended by my pal Jess just a day or two earlier and I was beyond excited to learn that it's made to order so leaving off the chilli would be no problemo. As soon as it arrived at the table Nick and I both pounced upon the delicious sweetcorn, homemade mayo and sesame parmesan topped creation like grackles taking a mouthful each until it was gone. It is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the best things I've ever eaten. I'd heard of Mexican Street Corn before and I thought that it sounded like a delicious idea but I'd resigned myself to the fact that I'd never get to eat any because y'know I'm lazy and I'd never heard of anyone selling a vegan version until now. The sweetcorn tamale disappeared in about three seconds flat but I was oh so glad that they had one left so that I was able to try it, I love tamales but when you either don't have a kitchen (or do but it's at an Air B&B and it isn't well stocked) making your own isn't a very realistic proposition so I was super pleased to find a delicious chilli free version at Cool Beans.

Once we'd finished eating Nick and I were discussing how this meal was up there with the best food we've eaten all year when Priscilla and Rolando popped up with some surprise food for us! Their famous Warrier taco had been off-menu that day but because someone had driven over to the east side just to try it they got cooking and whipped up a batch of their super inventive Q-Rizo (Quinoa Chorizo!) and some of their spelt tortillas because they're nice like that. They kicked their generosity up a notch and brought one over for Nick to try and knowing that I wouldn't be able to sample it they whipped me up a little off menu creation with avocado and pickled red onions.

I was super excited that Nick got to try The Warrier but I was even more excited about how they managed to make something as simple souning as a spelt tortilla with avocado, pickled red onions and coriander (okay, okay, cilantro) taste so freaking great. I was not at all surprised to learn that these two whip these up to snack on regularly and I will probably be requesting this pretty often over the next four weeks!

Cool Beans are one of the four trucks that'll be serving up delicious food at this Friday's Vida Vegan Con Bazaar at The Marchesa Hall & Theatre. If you're into delicious food do stop by and check them out, I swear you won't be disappointed! In other Vida Vegan Con related news (OMG I can't believe how soon it is!) I'll be selling my zine, European Vegan, at the speakers table at the bazaar on Friday so come & check it out. Over the weekend you can catch me talking about Veganism & Feminism with Julia, Anika from Seattle Vegan Score& Nicole J. Georges on Saturday morning at 10:55am and my Adventures in Vegan Travel and Blogging From the Road talk is on Sunday at 4pm. I'm so ready for a weekend of fun and I can't wait to kick it all off at Thursday's meet and greet, see y'all at The Buzzmill!

Heathrow Terminal 5 is without a shadow of a doubt the airport terminal I’m the most familiar with. Whenever I fly internationally with BA, which is pretty often these days, I fly out of there and becuase I like to be early for everything there’s always time to relax and grab some food before the flight.

Everywhere listed is after security so if you’re flying from another terminal check out the guide to Heathrow's restaurants, cafes and bars on their website.

Wagamama - I've been a bit of a Wagamama critic in the past, in Brighton there are a tonne of vegan options so this chain has always seemed a bit lacking but the airport location somehow elevates their options from a meh to a yay in my mind. Am I still irritated that there’s milk in the pickles and that the soba noodles aren’t vegan? Sure, but I can appreciate a bowl of Saien Soba with udon, their Yasai Cha Han, hold the egg, and their breakfast options which include Breakfast Yasai Yaki Soba, switch the soba noodles for rice noodles, and baked beans on sourdough toast.

The breakfast menu also includes the Asa Gohan - sticky white rice, miso soup and pickles which may or may not contain milk. Wagamama have said on their Facebook page that their pickles may contain milk but it's unclear whether this is a traces of thing and they haven't responded to my e-mail so I can't confirm either way.

Pret - Pret have a surprising ammount of vegan options these days and they all hover on the healthy side of the spectrum. Their menu / vegan options change pretty regularly but there's usually at least one vegan sandwich or wrap available as well as breakfast options like porridge and . I spotted the Super Greens & Reds Sandwich as well as some juices, fruit pots and snacks including Crisped Kale and Sweet & Salty Popcorn.

Eat - Eat don’t make very much vegan food but it is the place to go for a matcha soy latte.

Giraffe - Giraffe, like Wagamama, is somewhere you can stop for a sit down meal before your flight. Their menu changes pretty regularly but there website has a super helpful tool to help you suss out what's vegan as their options aren't marked on the menu. They don't serve their full menu at the airport but right now you can choose from a mix of sides and small plates including sweet potato fries, a hummus sharing platter or some edamame.

I also spotted this Montezuma's chocolate pop up in the duty free store inbetween Eat and Wagamama on the ground floor when I was on my way to Austin last week and whilst they didn’t have any of the delicious vegan truffles they did have the vegan chocolate buttons which are my faves.

If you’re flying in Club World or are a BA Silver or Gold Card holder you can chill out in the BA Galleries Lounge. There are two of these and they're located at the North and South ends of the terminal. Not only do they have free fruit and water (best!) they also have both lightly salted and sweet chilli kettle chips and soy milk is avaiable on request.

Not content with toast, fruit, and crisps I went on a scouting missions and found vegan shortbread tucked away near the tea and coffee making facilities on the far right of the lounge.

Clearly labelled vegan the jar of biscuits is located in a slightly gloomy corner but one worth venturing over to. These were definitely a welcome addidion to my usual fruit, crisps, water game.

If you don't have lounge access don't fret, you can still access wifi at Heathrow. If you join the network all you need to do to access four hours free wifi is to sign in with your name, e-mail address and flight number.

Happy travels!

Until last week I was a snack box virgin, I'd always admired them from afar but I'd never jumped in and made an order. Perhaps because until January I lived right next to Infinity Foods, a vegetarian co-op that always has the most new and exciting vegan products right there on it's shelves! When Vegan Cuts got in touch to see if I'd like to review one of their snack boxes I was pretty excited to see what all the fuss was about and said an enthusiastic yes please!

As my Air B&B in Austin was the first time I'd had a proper address this year I waited patiently until May to give the box a whirl and I was stoked when I came home to find their pretty box waiting on my doorstep.

I tore open the box and there were 11 products inside, some smaller sample sizes and some full sized products. This month's box was co-curated by Heather and Jenny from Los Angeles based gourmet vegan food company Spork Foods, who picked the first four items on the list, and it contained:

Miracle Tree teas
Smoky chipotle powder from The Spice Hunter
Dairy free parmesan from Go Veggie!
I Heart Keenwah sweet & salty quinoa cluster snacks
Vanilla pea protein powder from Growing Naturals
Oogie's Snacks chipotle lime popcrn
Beanitos chipotle lime black bean chips
ToYou raw bar
NUGO orange & cranberry Fibre d'Lish nutrition bar
Barley grass juice powder from Daily Green Boost
Dark Dog Organic energy drink

As you may be aware I'm allergic to peppers so a lot of the box was made up of snacks I couldn't eat which was just bad luck really, I knew about this before hand and agreed to review the box with Nick because he's into the spicier stuff.

My very favourite thing from the box was definitely the little pouch of I Heart Keenwah snacks, crunchy quinoa mixed with seeds and dark chocolate made an excellent post-gym snack. I know that I'll love the Go Veggie parmesan because it's not often that I meet a vegan cheese product that I don't enjoy but I'm saving it for our summer van adventures because I can see it being perfect over spaghetti with fresh marinara sauce made from tomatoes and fresh basil from whichever local market we happen to stumble upon. Popcorn is always a winning snack in my opinion and I jealously looked on as Nick munched away on the bag of chipotle lime flavoured puffed corn.

A couple of things that didn't hit the mark for us were the drinks, neither Nick or I drink caffeine so the energy drink wasn't for us and whilst I'll probably use the green boost powder it's not something I'd choose if I was filling a snack box because I just don't see drinks as snacks! Nick's going to give the pea protein a whirl though and I'll pop the teas in the van just in case anyone who visits us (we have a guest tent, come say hey!) wants a cuppa.

Bars are always a winner in my book so I was pleased to see that there were two nestled within the box, when you travel a lot bars can be a total saviour and the ToYou bar is definitely something I'd pick up again. I'm excited to try the NUGO Orange & Cranberry Fiber d'Lish bar sometime soon.

It costs $19.95 a month to get the Vegan Cuts Snack Box delivered right to your door in the US and a little more if you'd like to ship anywhere else in the world. Vegan Cuts is a 100% vegan owned and operated company which I love and they also make a Beauty Box if you're into that kinda thing. Whilst I don't know if I'd personally sign up to get this box delivered monthly - I'm discovering new snacks constantly as I make my way around the world, I do think snack boxes are a fun way to discover new products and to see if you like them without committing to buying a full sized version at the store. This box is definitely aimed at the more healthy vegan consumer (so, er, not me) but if you're more health conscious when it comes to snacking or are a gluten free vegan then maybe this is the box for you?

If you'd like a more in depth look into the snack box I filmed a You Tube unboxing video which will be up on my brand new You Tube channel tomorrow... I'll update the links and tweet about it once it's up. People have been telling me to start vlogging for ages so I'm finally jumping in with both feet and I'm excited to see if people are into it so do check it out and lemme know what you think!

Oh Vida Vegan Con, what a whirlwind of wonderful you were. I literally could not have been more excited when the VVC crew announced that the con was moving from Portland to one of my favourite cities in the world, Austin, TX. Hell yeah! Any excuse to come back right?! The SE Asia - USA - Europe route around the world has to be one of the more ridiculous ones ever but it has been beyond worth it to be able to take part not only in VVC but also in the warm hug that is Austin's vegan community. I love it here and right now it feels more like home than, well, home. (Note: Jeeze, I knew that I wouldn't be able to write this post without crying!)

Unoficially Vida Vegan Con began on Thursday night with a meet and greet at Buzzmill Coffee. Sweet Ritual were in attendance, Golden Spike Railcart were cranking out tacos and egg rolls and the sun was shining - it was fun and kinda overwhelming and I enjoyed hanging out by the name tag station meeting (and greeting!) everyone as they arrived.

The official conference fun kicked off with the Vida Vegan Con Bazaar at the Marchesa Hall and Theatre which was the most perfect venue ever. Everything fitted in so perfectly; there was ample parking, space for not just one but four food trucks including Arlo's, The Vegan Nom and Cool Beans, a huge theatre for talks and demos and plenty of room for all of the fantastic vendors and all of that with space to breathe!

After diving into the exclusive attendee only Miyoko's Kitchen Cheese Hour (I think all events should start with an exclusive vegan cheese hour btw) I hopped behind the speaker table with crackers in one hand and cheese in the other to sell some copies of my zine, European Vegan. That didn't last for long though because there was just so much to do (and eat!) and staying rooted to one spot was impossible!

I attended the parenting panel with Sayward Rebhal of Bonzai Aphrodite, The Sexy Vegan aka Brian Patton, Monique Koch of Brown Vegan and moderator Joanna Vaught because despite having no intentions of becoming a parent I am endlessly fascinated by people and what great people these are. It was really interesting and I think I definitely learnt some useful stuff even as a non-parent, hearing about people's life experiences is always interesting! Also, Joanna is endlessly hilarious and awesome so of course she was brilliant. The next panel that even the lure of tacos couldn't keep me away from was the How We Made Austin Awesome panel starring the man behind some of my favourite tacos, Chris Rios, Kristen Davenport of Capital City Bakery, Rabbit Food Grocery's Jessica Morris, Molly Frisinger of Lone Star Plate / Texas Veg Fest Fame and moderator Stefanie Bogdanich aka Lazy Smurf.

They started out wonderfully with this ridiculously catchy song (that apparently now makes me quite emotional!) and it just continued to be awesome from there on in.

The next morning it was time for registration and swag bag collection and I was immediately drawn to this section of the coffee stand where some genius decided that mini-marshmallows are now an appropriate breakfast item. They were meant for topping off your coffee but as a non coffee drinker I just threw a handful of Dandies mallows into a mug and went on my way!

The swag bag is an important part of VVC and despite being part of team swag bag (we spent hours stuffing these things!) I was still excited to have one of my very own. So excited in fact that I only managed to snap this Instagram ready snapshot that I was then too excited to post! Ridiculous!

My excitement levels weren't set to drop anytime soon because what came next was breakfast and woah what a breakfast it was! There were two buffets to choose from, a breakfast taco buffet, it is Austin y'all, and an artisan toast buffet. I'd been eating my way through Austin's tacos for a couple of weeks by this point and the toast options looked too good to pass up so I dived right in. I had toast with cheese spread, toast with avocado and coconut bacon, toast topped with tofu scramble, toast with Chao on the side. Toast toast toast toast toast. I love toast!

After breakfast, and a quick break to pop the Swag Bag of Wonder in the car, it was time for some learnin' and I headed straight for Jackie Sobon from Vegan Yack Attack's class on Blogging Etiquette and Social Media Essentials where I learnt about how to expand the reach of my blog and the tools I can use to make that easier. It was a really helpful class and now I just need to find the time to read my notes and action all of the the things I learnt!

Vida Vegan Con's speaker line up this year was stellar and making decisions about where to go and what to see was hard. I felt like I had tough decisions to make for every class which is why I was overjoyed at the amount of people that chose to come to the Feminism and Veganism panel I was speaking on with Anika Lehde, Nicole J. Georges and our wonderful moderator Julia DeNoto.

As you can see feminists are humourless fun ruiners. NOT! We talked about the patriarchy, why Peta are awful and why calling your new food product skinny anything is a horrible idea. We discussed how food and food advertising are gendered and why that's uncool and of course we addressed the fact that we were an all cis white able-bodied panel and how we felt that a lot needs to change in the AR movement to welcome people of colour. We discussed intersectionality and Sistah Vegan and the Food Empowerment Project and why appropriating the #blacklivesmatter tag for your animal rights message is both appropriative and totally inappropriate. It was pretty damned wonderful to be up there with these amazing & inspirational lady people getting this anger making shit off of my chest!

After the break I went to see Sayward Rebhal talking about Facing Failing Health as a Vegan and as someone who's had recent experience of this I was very interested in hearing what she had to say. It was great to hear someone else's story. After lunch I headed to Room 301 to hear The Vegan RD, Ginny Messina, talking about how to prevent ex-vegans by discussing strategies to help people maximise their success as vegans. I love her no-nonsense, science based attitude to veganism and health and I think that a lot of the blogging world could benefit from concentrating on the realistic benefits and ethics of veganism rather than throwing overblown health claims out there in the hope that they'll lure people towards veganism.

I rounded out the day with Touring Your Book or Project with fellow veganism and feminism panelist Nicole J Georges and I found her advice both timely and invaluable. As well as inspiring everyone with her stories of taking her show on the road she also spoke about how it doesn't really matter whether you're feeling nervous about public speaking! She said that people don't really want to hear that, they've come to see you perform, in a way, and so telling everyone how nervous you feel doesn't fill your audience with confidence. They've chosen to spend their time seeing you speak so give it your all, whatever that takes.

Given that my talk (that I was in fact feeling super nervous about) was the very next day this advice couldn't have been more timely. I took her advice and ran with it, every time I had a negative thought about whether I could do it I shut it down with a positive thought (this is something I've been doing when working on body positivity for years) and then I took her advice to get into the zone with your favourite tunes and went right out there as a more confident version of myself. Thanks Nicole!

Sunday soon rolled around and after another epic breakfast the first talk of the day starred my friend and fellow blogger Randi with her hilarious and informative talk Stop Breaking the Law A$&h#* where we learnt about copyright law, libel and how to run competitions online legally and fairly. Top tip : most of you are doing it wrong and you should definitely read Erika's write up of the class here for a more in depth look at why.

My second stop of the day was the talk From Vegan Blogger to Internet Entrepreneur with Jill Pyle of Vegan Cuts / Vegan Backpacker fame. Now I don't see myself building a business anytime soon but I enjoyed hearing about her journey anyway, it's always fun to hear about other people who are following their dreams even when those dreams differ from yours. Before lunch I popped into Brian Patton's talk Tweet Like You Give a Damn which was funny because Brian's a pretty funny guy! I learnt that I'm mainly doing social media right (in Brian's opinion!) which was nice.

Lunch was soon upon us and it was taco buffet time! They had mac & cheese! Genius!

It turns out that Chef Brad whips up a mac & cheese that is tastier than the sum of it's parts and he was happy to share the recipe with the VVC crew. You can access it right here. Food aside another amazing thing about the shared meals and breaks at VVC is that you're surrounded by amazing people the whole time! People like Amey and Joanna. Love!

I managed to squeeze in my friend Josh's talk about apps and a little of Whitney Lauritsen's YouTube workshop before high tailing it outa there to prepare for my own talk, Adventures in Vegan Travel Blogging.

Photo Credit Lazy Smurf

Erika from Sews Before Bros wrote a fantastic round up of the talk here so check that out if you're interested in my adventures and tips on travel blogging. Personally I thought the talk went fantastically and I've had some incredibly lovely feedback from some of the attendees. It was the first time I've ever felt comfortable speaking to a room full of people which proves that the fake it 'til ya make it approach will get you there in the end!

The closing party at queer friendly downtown patio bar Cheer Up Charlie's was a whole lotta fun and it was great to relax and wind down with a cocktail and a whole lotta food after such a hectic weekend. Arlo's, the food truck with the best burgers in town, is parked outside Cheer Up Charlie's so of course I needed to eat one, Thai Fresh were also there with a delicious spread of desserts including ice creams and croissants. A basket of vegan croissants has to be one of the most beautiful things in the world right?

I was also super pleased to see Bistro Vonish making an appearance especially because they had mac & cheese kolaches! Kolaches! Filled with mac & cheese. It was like all of my dreams became a delicious reality!

As if this evening couldn't get better the winners of the Red Hot Vegans Scavenger Hunt were announced and I won!! And my pal Amey came second! Hell yeah! We were both incredibly overexcited that our commitment to taking ridiculous photos all weekend and collaborating with each other and even going off together to take some of the more challenging pictures (two stepping to a live band anyone?!) had paid off. The excellent prizes (and maybe just a little smidgen of competitiveness) were what drove me to complete every single task thrown our way and I was ecstatic when Amey suggested the very thing that I was already thinking - splitting the prizes - so that we both took away $100 to spend at Rabbit Food Grocery and $50 to spend at Lugusta's Luscious. Yum!

I made a fun video of our Rabbit Food Grocery shopping spree which you can check out right here on my new You Tube channel.

Food and classes aside one of the most amazing things about Vida Vegan Con is the people, we make so many great connections online these days but it's often challenging to turn those online friendships into real life ones especially when those people, like Susan, live on the other side of the world!

I loved being surrounded by so many fun, inspiring and compassionate people and I can't wait to see you all again - I'll have you regretting inviting me to stay "whenever" pretty soon I'm sure!

I'm not ashamed to admit that I've cried my eyes out on more than one occasion when I've been reminded that this was that last EVER Vida Vegan Con. It seems to me like VVC was flourishing and growing and becoming even more amazing and whilst I totally understand why Jess, Janessa and Michelle need a break from the sheer amount of work needed to put the conference together I can't help but feel that I (somewhat selfishly) wish it could go on. You really can't beat spending a weekend immersed in a supportive and enlivening vegan bubble surrounded by your friends from all over the world and I can't wait to see what pops up to replace it. Heck, maybe I'll come up with something, but for now I'm going to continue to immerse myself in my notes and let my brain process all of it's new knowledge!

You just know somewhere's going to be amazing when there's a huge buzz surrounding them and I feel like there's been no louder a buzz recently than the one surrounding Veganerie. If you haven't heard of them yet where have you been? Do you live under a rock?! I feel like so many vegan bloggers and IGers managed to get there before me and they've only been open since October!

This shiny beacon of sugary vegan deliciousness is located in the MercuryVille Mall which means that you don't even need to step out of the station to get there. You can just stroll right in from the BTS Skytrain walkway, pop up one floor on the escalator and you're there. It literally couldn't be more perfect.

I headed here immediately after getting off of the overnight train from Trang and the very first thing I was drawn towards was the Chocolate Waffle Plate because god damn, look at this thing. It is perfection. This is the large size and the lovely ladies behind the counter were visibly shocked when Nick and I ordered one each. I'm one of those people who could eat the vegan equivalent of a horse at breakfast time so it was okay, we killed both plates easily and didn't show ourselves up as amateur eaters!

This is right up there on my list of dream breakfasts. Not only are the waffles chocolatey but you can add chocolate ice cream (I also added matcha) and then the whole thing's finished off with a drizzle of chocolate sauce just in case you haven't imploded from all of the deliciousness already. The whipped cream that accompanies it is the only whipped cream I've ever liked. There was an almost whipped cream thing in Stockholm once but that's it. Usually cream is on my list of no-go's but this, wow, it's so light and fluffy and not too sweet because who needs it to be when it's accompanying waffles and ice cream y'know? Apparently it's made of coconut and I totally want the recipe. Oh and that cute lil' thing that says Veganerie? You can eat that! It's really just too much.

They were also so happy that we were enjoying our food that they gave us some free granola to take away. I ate it with a pot of strawberry soy yoghurt for breakfast one morning and it was totally amazing. Super chocolatey, not overly sweet and really crunchy. I'd have totally bought more if it came in something more sensible than a glass jar because when you're travelling they just aren't practical.

The French Toast plate was the second thing on the must eat list and I can say that it didn't disappoint. I probably wouldn't pick it over the waffles again but it was great nonetheless and there was more of that amazing whipped cream which I swear you could put on a shoe and it would make it taste great. Maybe they should sell it by the jar? I'd totally buy that.

If you're in the market for something small or, in my case, a side to your French Toast plate you can't go wrong with the chocolate chip banana bread. Banana bread has always been a favourite and this is A+.

Another delightful free gift came along in the form of this matcha slice which could totally be renamed matcha shortbread because it has that perfect melt in your mouth texture and the flavours were spot on.

I have to be honest and say that the matcha ice cream accompanying the waffle plate was almost too matcha-ey for my (silly western) palate but this was perfect for me. I loved the chocolate chunks too especially as they'd gotten a little melty by the time I chowed down. I bought several more of these which goes to show that giving people free samples of new products can be a genius idea!

Another dessert that deserves an A+ rating is the Brownie Sundae and not just because of the truly epic amount of vegan whipped cream ontop of it. Again I had chocolate ice cream because I find it hard to pick other flavours when this classic is being offered up and there was a frankly ridic amount of chocolate sauce going on. It was outstanding.

The brownie itself was on the fudgey end of the spectrum and held up perfectly when topped with sundae fixings. Both this and the chocolate waffle plate were probably my absolute favourites if you're forcing me to pick. I think I uttered the words "best thing I've ever eaten" on more than one occasion during this visit!

The Pizzookie, Veganerie's cleverly named cookie sundae, is another strong option. Just look at the amount of stuff going on here. Chopped fruit, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, ice cream and underneath all of that is a choc chip oatmeal cookie the size of the bowl itself.

Lastly I picked up a loaf of Veganerie's pumpkin bread and I wished that I'd done it sooner. The only dairy and egg free bread I'd found in Bangkok up until this point was a baguette from the gourmet food court at the Siam Paragon mall and my words upon trying to tear into it were "Holy hell, this is a crime against bread" which I think tells you everything you need to know. This bread on the other hand was a dream especially when paired with PB & J, the dream combo! If you're a hotel room breakfast fan I would strongly recommend a purchase.

As well as being 100% vegan and 100% delicious Veganerie is also owned and operated by vegan activists who are helping to spread the vegan message with their delicious baked goods. In my experience this is one of the best methods, win people over with food, show them that being vegan isn't a hardship and help open their eyes to animal suffering along the way. Classy move Veganerie.

I landed back in the UK yesterday evening after a fun journey home - BA gave Nick and I a free upgrade to business class! Hell yeah! That made flying pretty fun as I got to cosy on down in a flat bed, watch a movie and catch some zzz's. Bliss. Last night we stayed with Nick's sister in Thames Ditton and bright and early this morning I clocked a communal jigsaw at the station. They were also playing some nice classical music and it all felt very English all of a sudden. Our onward journey via train through fields and farmland was almost too easy - I'm not used to being somewhere where I understand everything and know how it all works anymore and it kinda feels a little too familiar. After the ridiculous excesses of Texas with it's gigantic gas stations, conenuts (yep... that's an ice cream / doughnut hybrid... more about that soon) and enormous burgers it definitely feels a little weird to be back.

We're at Nick's dad's place now and we all spent the afternoon cleaning out the van and getting it all ready to be loaded up with our stuff on Saturday morning and then early next week we'll be heading for Eastern Europe via Berlin and either The Netherlands or Belgium depending on which route we choose. We definitely have some serious planning and organising to do but this is the van that we'll be calling home for the next three and a half months.

Isn't it cute?! I am SO freaking excited! I'll be blogging about the van, what we're taking with us and what we'll be cooking in there all summer and I'll make a video tour for YouTube as soon as we get some of our stuff in there. If you wanna make sure you don't miss that visit my channel here and click subscribe.

If you read my previous post you saw that I was at Vida Vegan Con a couple of weeks ago and if you've been paying attention you probably spotted that I recently made a YouTube channel. One of my first videos was of my little shopping spree at Rabbit Food Grocery and I didn't just pick stuff up for myself I also grabbed some things for y'all as they say in Texas. There were also a couple of great things in the VVC swag bag of wonder that I thought were too good for my European friends to miss out on so I figured it was giveaway time!

The winner will win everything pictured above which includes:

A super cute Rabbit Food Grocery tote bag
Earth Balance White Cheddar Mac & Cheese
Dandies mini mallows in both regular and the new pumpkin flavour
A squeeze pack of Love Bean chocolate coconut spread
Earth Balance coconut peanut butter
Stickers from Rabbit Food Grocery and Herbivore (both of the US stockists of my zine)
Eyeliner from Earthlab Cosmetics
A sample of Attitude body lotion
Two sample size pouches of Nacheez

Entrants must live in Europe and they cannot have attended Vida Vegan Con. To enter you just need to leave a comment below letting me know which US product you most wish you could get easily where you live. The competition closes midnight Sunday because I need to post this out to you on Monday so you need to be checking your e-mail / social media / whatever contact info you leave me on Monday morning. Posting about the giveaway on social media isn't a requirement (that's actually illegal y'know) but if you're feeling nice and want to spread the word that'd be lovely of you & I'd totally appreciate it. Good luck!

Vegan Tuck Box was the UK's first Vegan Snack Box and after spotting them at vegan fairs all over the country I was beyond excited when they contacted me to see if I'd like to review their subscription box. They sent the classic box all the way to Austin, TX so that I could try it which was super nice of them and it arrived quickly and mostly in one piece!

There was one chocolatey treat that didn't make it thanks to the Texas heat (it had been on my doorstep in 35 degree heat for a few hours before I found it) which made it quite literally explode! No biggie though there were still 12 things packed inside ready for me to enjoy.

Nick and I shared the box as it seemed a little mean to exclude him from the snacking fun and we started with the Quibbles sour cream and chive cashews, I was a fan - I like snacking on nuts and this unusual flavour was fun to nibble on. The Polar Dream White bar from Premium Chocolatiers was a new one to me, I'd heard of the brand but I hadn't tried anything from them before and from the name I was expecting white chocolate but this was a milk chocolate bar. Nick was super into it, it reminded me of sweet easter egg style chocolate which isn't my fave but I know a lot of people love that type of chocolate.

The Coco Caravan raw chocolate and caramel bar was more up my street, I really enjoyed nibbling on it and when I say nibbling I mean devouring like some kinda chocolate starved savage! The box also included Angelic gluten free sunflower seed biscuits, an Olly breakfast bar, some Nudie Snacks toasted coconut chips and a Pearls of Samarkand Himalayan mix which I'm saving for our European adventures, it'll be a great hiking snack. Sadly I had to give the righteous raspberry and sweet basil dressing, the Provamel rice and almond drink the Roots vegetable chips away to my Austin buddies as I was heading outa town because I just had waaay too many snacks and things to fit into my bags but they looked great and are just the kind of things I like to see in a snack box. As I'm allergic to peppers Nick munched on the sweet chilli salsa pea snacks which he thought were pretty mild and satisfyingly crunchy. From looking at the Vegan Tuck Box website the thing that exploded was a Torino Noir chocolate stem which OMG I would have looooved.

The box also included a bar by health foodie leaning company Go Macro. I'd previously enjoyed their chocolate peanut butter chocolate chip bar and I loved this peanut butter protein bar just as much. My only issue with them is that they call their bars "the tastiest and cleanest bar on the market", calling food "clean" goes beyond a pet peeve for me and strays way over the line into the it makes my blood boil zone. Food is not dirty unless it is literally covered in earth or blood or faeces or something else that's actually dirty. Saying that your food is "clean" implies that the Tofurky sandwich or vegan doughnut I'm munching on is somehow dirty and not good enough which is total and utter BS. Lacy J Davis wrote a post about this same thing just the other day and she articulates her feelings about the #eatclean phenomenon really well.

Go Macro's food shaming issues aside I enjoyed all of the snacks in the box. I thought it was really well rounded and would be good for old vegans, new vegans, people making the transition or even your non-vegan friend who just loves snack boxes. It's curated by long term vegans Kelly and Chrissy who scour the globe each month to fill the box with fun and delicious snacks. If this month is anything to go by they include a tonne of really great vegan treats and on top of that they donate 20p from each box to Hillside Animal Sanctuary which is super cool.

If you're interested in giving this subscription box a whirl just enter "blog20" at checkout to get 20% off of your first box. Oh and if peeking into one box isn't enough to sell you on Vegan Tuck Box greatness you can see contents of the last three boxes right here on their site.

I'm on the road again and reflecting on the truly amazing whirlwind that was my Austin adventure. It's taken a little longer than I'd like to blog about it because it turns out that finding working wifi whilst you're living in a van and staying at campsites is not as easy as you might think. My new tactic is to ask to try the wifi before committing to stay which is working out much better as you can tell by the fact that this post is live on the internet! I'm currently somewhere in-between Bremen and Berlin and my next post will get you up to date with my European adventures but first, Austin.

Y'all know I love Austin, I've got to have mentioned it a million times here, on Twitter and when we've hung out in person. I'm pretty much obsessed. But why? Well, super cool in-the-city things aside (I'm looking at you Barton Springs and Alamo Drafthouse) you're also a short-ish drive from some super cool scenery that just makes you feel like you're really in Texas!

There are also a multitude of swimming holes out in the hill country including the Blue Hole in Wimberley where we took a detour en route to Fredericksburg. Being outside makes me happy!

Why were were en route to Fredericksburg you ask?! Peaches of course! Fredericksburg is famous for totally delicious peaches and we weren't disappointed with our visit to one of the many pick your own farms there. As well as getting to wander amongst the peach trees we also checked out this beautiful meadow full of wildflowers. Wildflowers seem to be everywhere in the Austin area and I love them.

Back in Austin and no trip is complete without a trip to Panther Field House. FNL Forever.

Obviously food is one of Austin's major draws, there's vegan food all over the damn place, and not just any vegan food, really freaking great vegan food. One of my favourite spots is BBQ Revolution who, despite irritating me occasionally by being closed when their site said they should be open, make food that is just so damned great that I could go back there again and again and not get bored.

I order the Smokey Soy Curls, Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad and Coleslaw and on this occasion Nick dug into a plate of No-Bull Brisket, Mac-N-Cheese and the same pasta salad I went for. These BBQ Plates come with a slice of white bread and sides of pickles and onions.

The soy curls had an intense depth of flavour that I wasn't expecting, they were wonderfully smokey and peppery without being too hot to handle or overpowering the flavours of the sides, and the bacon ranch pasta salad, a new addition to the menu since my last trip, was the perfect accompaniment to the smokey curls. BBQ Rev's coleslaw is crunchy, creamy perfection and I love their commitment to doing BBQ right with that slice of white bread - no pandering to the average vegan's penchant for wholewheat. I miss this place a lot!

Right next door to BBQ Rev is Bistro Vonish who do things a little differently, Chef Craig is focussed on local and organic produce and this truck has a fine dining slant that can't be found anywhere else in Austin. With that in mind we obviously ordered the mac & cheese.

To be fair to the rest of Chef Craig's delicious looking menu this is the only chilli / paprika free mac and cheese in town so I quite literally HAD to order it. I was so glad I did because wowza, this was some top notch mac, it was not only creamy and perfectly cheesy it had that wonderful crispy layer that I remember from my dairy based mac days and that I hadn't found since.

With daily changing menus and delicious specials (Mac & Cheese Kolache anyone?!) I can't wait to see this truck move into a brick and mortar later this year.

One brick and mortar that I'm head over heels for is Sweet Ritual, this super fun all vegan spot has a frankly ridiculous amount of choice including fun sundaes like this one, the RedHotVegans.Com Sundae, which has toasted marshmallows, chocolate sauce and crumbled graham crackers (kinda like a digestive Euro friends). It's So. Damn. Good.

My personal favourite Sweet Ritual memory from this trip had to be the day they decided to celebrate their half birthday by offering Conenuts... a soft serve cone with a Red Rabbit Bakery doughnut sandwiched in-between the two. OKAY! Of course Stephanie, Nick and I met up there as soon as she got off work and we proceeded to smear ice cream all over our faces whilst talking about the awesomeness of this dessert for a good while. I went with a vanilla lavender glazed doughnut and topped my soft serve with colourful sprinkles. It was joyous.

More joyous Austin memories were made at Arlo's, home of one of the best vegan burgers I've ever eaten. I've lost count of the number of times I've eaten this burger and despite now having to switch their regular Bacun Cheeseburger patty for the Chick'n patty it's still excellent. Strangely I might even like it more now.

Arlo's is situated downtown outside a queer friendly bar, is open late and now has sides to go with this beauty of a burger. What more d'you want?!

Pizza was a huge feature of my time in Austin and one of my fave' pizza experiences was the night I celebrated my birthday with a whole host of Austin buddies and outa towners at Via 313. They use Follow Your Heart cheese which is amazing on pizza and just incase you missed me raving about this pizza last time I visited it's really freaking great. It's Detroit style which means it has a well oiled deep crust (but not like Chicago style deep dish) that they bake the cheese right into. It's then topped with wonderfully flavourful marinara sauce and then, if you so wish, you can add veggies. I would like you to keep your veggies away from my pizza so I always order the Classic.

Post-pizza and far too many drinks later we payed one of Austin's late night karaoke establishments a visit and I tormented my friends with horribly out of tune versions of Aerosmith's Don't Want to Miss a Thing and Aqua's Barbie Girl, y'know, just to see if they really wanted to be friends with me! They seemed to find my awful outa tune singing amusing so I guess they're keepers.

I rounded out my Austin trip with a brilliant day spent with friends making epic pizza's, driving golf carts and hanging in the jacuzzi. Jessica and Wes from Maximum Salad had the genius idea to veganise Pizza Hut's Hot Dog Bites pizza which, as you can see, was a tremendous success.

You can watch the video of the whole pizza process here! I came up with mac and cheese pizza which was obviously brilliant and Stephanie surprised my taste buds with a cauliflower and popcorn tofu pizza which I was sceptical about but she was totally right. It was delish'.

Until next time Austin, until next time!

The best thing about long term travel is the feeling of freedom, of having a plan but knowing that it can change at any moment if you want it to. If, for example, an online friend gets in touch to tell you about a vegan festival that's kinda-sorta-but-not-really on your imagined route then you can make an about turn and head in the opposite direction for some fun times.

Hanging out on the top deck of the Dover - Calais Ferry

This my friends is how I ended up in Amsterdam this past weekend! When Nick and I left the UK on Thursday we had Berlin firmly in our sights but after receiving a message whilst we were waiting to board the delayed 11:10 ferry from Dover to Calais our plans changed. I'd been to Amsterdam twice but both times as a glassy eyed teen focussed on having a good time and Nick had never even set foot in The Netherlands at all so we headed north.

We didn't make it all the way to Amsterdam in one go, it was turning into a very long day so we stopped near Tilburg and set up camp which is a very quick process when your van is so tiny! You just plug into the electric, pop up the roof and wind down the supporting legs and you're ready to camp.

We scoped out the campsite shop to pick up something easy for lunch and settled upon a baguette which we ate with some of my stash of Streich spreads from my last trip to Vienna. I also used the handy E Number guide at the back of my zine to see if this fun looking, fizzy Hello Kitty drink was vegan. It wasn't. Stupid E120!

After a day of relaxing we packed up, sped towards Amsterdam, parked up and hit Viva Las Vega's, Amsterdam's vegan fest', and our reason for detouring. We had a super fun time hanging with my PPK buddies; Aviva who writes Vegan Stuff in Belgium, and Martine who has two blogs Vegetus and Gewoon Vegan and who was teaching a cultured nut cheese demo at the fest.

Nick & I couldn't resist swinging by the Wheaty stall as soon as we arrived and a Schnitzel Sandwich was soon ours. Nick and I also bought 10 Wheaty Spacebars because they make perfect road trip fuel.

Sweet food was represented well at the fest and as well as wonderful things like these fancy frozen and dipped bananas, and the delicious slice of strawberry cake from Heavenly Cupcakes that Nick and I shared, we were also delighted to see a record breaking attempt in the form of the world's biggest cupcake! Fun! We were lucky enough to try a slice each and it was some top notch cake.

Savoury food is often a bit lacking at vegan festivals but we soon found a stall selling masala mock duck sandwichs and we dived right in. This tasty mildly spiced sandwich really hit the mark.

As the vegan fest was winding down Nick and I headed into the centre of town to check out some of the sights as well as a branch of the Albert Heijn supermarket chain that we'd heard held many delicious European vegan treats. We found Gody Good Stuff's newly vegan Cheery Cherries as well as some of the best Alpro soy yoghurt I've ever eaten.

I am not kidding when I tell you that this tastes just like apple crumble in yoghurt form. It's amazing. I topped mine with Dorset Cereals granola which only added to the crumble experience. I was pleased to hear from my friends on Instagram that this is available all over Europe and I will most definitely be buying it regularly this summer.

We stayed in Amsterdam for an extra night so that we could spend the next day sightseeing and as well as doing a lot of walking we checked out the Respect Sex Workers Worldwide statue and laughed at people attempting to manoeuvre pedalos and boats along some of the cities narrower canals.

We also payed a visit to Vegabond, Amsterdam's all vegan shop and cafe, where we enjoyed a leisurely lunch. I opted for a red pesto and vegan cheese open sandwich which came topped with tomatoes and rocket and Nick picked the spinach, hummus and tempeh wrap.

I loved my toasted open sandwich and Nick said that the tempeh in his wrap was some of the best he'd ever tried. Vegabond only have a small menu of sandwiches, wraps and juices but I felt like there were plenty of tempting things to choose from and I would definitely recommend that you swing by if you're in the area.

Whilst I enjoyed our brief stay in the city I have to admit that Amsterdam is never going to graze my list of favourite cities, I find the smell of weed smoke at best irritating and at worst PTSD triggering so I try to avoid it at all costs and honestly, in Amsterdam, it's impossible. It's a pretty city though, there are plenty of vegan eats to be had. If you're into smoking weed or at least don't mind being near other people whilst they smoke it I bet it's a fantastic place for a weekend break.

Whilst we were chatting with Aviva and Martine at the vegan festival they mentioned a farmed animal sanctuary called Gnadenhof Melief which is vegan owned and operated and situated just across the boarder in Germany close to Sögel. We decided to swing by on the off chance that we'd be able to have a look around and luckily they said yes despite visiting time only really being 2 - 4 on Saturdays which was so nice of them!

We started our tour by the new cat house which is currently being built thanks to some generous funding from LUSH, Ive always loved LUSH but hearing that they fund projects like these quietly alongside their more open activism against animal testing and for LGBTQ rights made my heart swell. I'm so happy that the poor abandoned cats will have somewhere nice to hang out whilst hopefully waiting to get adopted.

Melief is a beautiful safe haven for cats, dogs, guinea pigs, rabbits, chickens, roosters, turkeys, cows, goats, ducks, geese, pigs, mini ponies and (probably) more and they opened their doors in The Netherlands in 2003 before moving to a bigger place in Germany in 2006. I was super excited that we were able to see where the chickens and turkeys hang out, as well as having the run of this barn they also have a huge outdoor area within which to roam.

I was so happy to see turkeys again, it reminded me of my time volunteering at Hen Heaven where my friend Justine and I would spend all day getting our knees pecked by these huge birds. There's also a nice outdoor pool for the birds who like to float!

I was overjoyed when I got to meet this gorgeous goat and I think she was just as excited to meet me if the nibbling was anything to go by.

We also stopped by the bunny area where the fluffy little critters are free to roam and burrow and munch on carrots. The pigs were next and, as I always am, I was amazed to see how huge they are. Of course in my mind pigs are much smaller but depressingly that's because they aren't often allowed to grow to their full size. One of these pigs, Angel, actually fell off of a truck on the way to the slaughterhouse right outside the sanctuary where she was immediately given a new life.

Pigs are incredibly cute, I wish people would stop buying them as pets when they're small and giving them up as they grow. It's so sad because of course not every pig gets to live life like Esther the Wonder Pig! Another area where I see a lot of disconnect in people's minds is their love of horses but ability to look past just how similar cows are. In fact, imho, I'd say cows are cuter! They also have the scratchiest tongues, when they lick you it's like being licked by a giant cat!

Both Nick and I were so impressed by the scale of this operation and how well looked after all of the animals seemed, I had a terrible "sanctuary" experience in Thailand where it was incredibly obvious that the owner had taken on too much and the animals obviously weren't well cared for, but this was absolutely not the case here. Melief's location used to be a farm and as well as being surrounded by working farms it's situated near one of the largest slaughterhouses in the area. I can't imagine how difficult being near to all of that must be so it's amazing that Marc and Lothar just keep on going to defend the animals that they can save whilst reaching out to the local community to help educate people about the work they're doing at the sanctuary.

Gnadenhof Melief is run on donations and sponsors alone so if you're currently able to help to support a fantastic vegan run sanctuary that is a true haven for animals you can donate here.

After visiting the wonderful Gnadenhof Melief animal sanctuary Nick and I continued our journey east into Europe with Berlin in our sights. We arrived late one afternoon and headed straight to my buddy Josh's place where we were staying for a few days. Josh lives on the S9 train line which I was familiar with as it's the train I've always caught from the airport into the city and back on previous trips.

Our time in the city got off to a slightly shaky start because my allergies were kinda breaking me. No amount of tablets, nasal sprays and eye drops were doing anything and it seemed like my body was having some kinda breakdown! That plus the ridiculous heat meant that we spent some time chilling on the sofa catching up with OITNB before the lure of croissant sandwiches and cake at Chaostheorie lured me outside. I didn't take great pictures but check out my Instagram for a slightly shoddy cake pic! The next morning, okay, afternoon, Josh was at work but Nick and I ventured out into the heat to grab some food at the Goodies cafe at Veganz by Warschauer Strasse.

We went with sandwiches and a chocolate chip cookie because you can't really go wrong there and it was a solid lunch. My sandwich was full of delicious egg salad and I wished that I'd remembered to buy a tub of it to take away!

The next day we had plans to meet up with my online friend Lea who writes the blog Vegan in Berlin and so we wandered to Neukölln to meet her at Cafe Vux stopping at vegan co-op Dr Pogo on the way. I remember visiting Dr Pogo back in 2008 when I first visited Berlin and it was even better than I remembered. The shelves were stocked with every vegan thing you could imagine wanting or needing. I like that this place is less focussed on imported products than Veganz because it means there's more space for the German products I get excited about like streich spreads.

I was apprehensive about re-visiting Cafe Vux because Nick and I had a frankly terrible experience there a while back where the dude behind the counter was so rude to us that it completely ruined my day and my opinion of the business! I'm super happy to say that this time around was completely different, they're in a new location and the woman working the day we visited was beyond lovely. I'm glad that I feel like this is somewhere I can recommend now because the food's great and really, just look at these cakes!

I wasn't feeling super up for sugar because of the heat so I opted for a bagel sandwich with cheese which was fantastic. I loved that there were three different cheeses to choose from and the strong cheddar I picked was just that, strongly flavoured and totally delicious.

Hanging out with Lea was super fun, we chatted for ages over food and then spent some time exploring the city together. I love meeting up with other bloggers especially when they're also awesome vegan feminists!

One place I was beyond excited about finally getting to visit was Sfizy Veg. I know it was open last time I was in the city but I was travelling with a pizza hating friend (it's okay, she came over to the delicious side early this year!) so I didn't made the trip. This time though the dudes I was hanging with happened to be as stoked about pizza as I am so we went big with our orders! The menu at Sfizy is utterly ridiculous, I've never seen such a great pizza menu anywhere in the world. I choose from the fish section and went for an old pregan fave of tuna but with added capers for a little extra saltiness. Nick went with a chorizo topped pizza and Josh got something with peppers on that I pretended didn't exist! We also got some garlic focaccia because why not y'know?!

This was some seriously great pizza, great base, great tomato sauce, good cheese, a solid amount of toppings. So perfect. In any other city I would probably have eaten here every single day but this is Berlin so there are a tonne of fantastic options around every corner. One such spot is Kopps, an upscale bar and restaurant located in Mitte. We met up with Nicole from Vegan Nom Noms and tucked into Kopps' epic all you can eat brunch buffet. We were all far too hot to take proper pictures (seriously, we felt like we were melting and actually considered eating our brunch in the bathroom where it was a few degrees cooler!) but this was plate number one.

As you can see the buffet has a great spread of sweet and savoury food, I was particularly enamoured by the eggless egg salad and the little berry cake. According to Nicole the secret ingredient in the egg salad is noodles!! What?! That kinda blew my mind but it makes sense, she has a recipe for it on her blog if you'd like to check it out. There were plenty of different breads to choose from on the buffet as well as sliced meats and cheeses, an expansive yoghurt / fruit / granola station and pancakes which were wonderful with some berry coulis. After brunch we desperately needed to cool down and the idea of getting back on the S Bahn was making us all feel queasy so we headed for the mall! Haha! It was fun I swear! We found a store selling air conditioners and tested them out, played on some massage chairs and I gazed at my dream camera before we decided to head back out into the heat so that we could get some ice cream. Veganz wasn't too far away and Nick and I had to stock up the van fridge for our onward journey the next morning so it seemed like the perfect stop. I grabbed a mini tub of this Lime and Basil gelato from Professor Grunschanel and it was the most perfect, refreshing treat for a hot day. I loved it.

That night Nick and I headed to Let It Be, Berlin's vegan creperie and burger bar, located just up the street from Sfizy, to try their crepes as we'd heard great things.

It was late when we arrived and even later by the time we got to eat. I was getting pretty hungry but it was totally worth the wait. We ordered one Woody Harrelson, one Moby and a side of mac & cheese. I feel pretty terrible for putting such a crappy picture up here but the food was so great that I just had to write about it.

The Woody Harrelson came stuffed with ham, cheese, leeks and cream sauce and as soon as I took the first bite I knew I was going to have trouble sharing! It was ridiculously good and I can see why people say this is their favourite place to eat in Berlin. The side of mac and cheese wasn't to our taste, the pasta was perfectly cooked and it was just the right amount of cheesy but there was just so much black pepper going on that you couldn't taste anything else. It was a shame because with a little less pepper this would have been a fantastic mac and cheese. The Moby we ordered was a dessert crepe filled with applesauce and cinnamon and again it was love at first bite. It was fantastic and I was amazed that something so simple could be so damn good.

I have always been a big fan of Berlin ever since my first visit where I ate at Nil, got sugared up at Cupcake and brunched at Hans Wurst (does anyone else remember that spot?!) but I feel like Berlin gets more and more vegan friendly every time I visit and now I have to add Sfizy Veg, Cafe Vux, Kopps and Let It Be to the must visit list alongside OhLaLa, Nil, Chaostheorie, Veganz, Dr Pogo and Voner.

After our time in Berlin came to an end Nick and I were heading to Poland but I could't be so close to Dresden with the time and means to get there without swinging by to visit my friend and fellow blogger Constanze from Seitan Is My Motor. We originally met when I visited Berlin for the first time and we've kept in touch online ever since. It was great to see her again! We met up at Tanteleuk, a little cafe with great vegan options, where we hung out on the balcony and talked politics, life and veganism for hours.

To sustain our chatting we needed to eat and I got a mock meat sandwich with salad and a slice of apple and berry cake which was totally delicious, not too sugary and the crust was spot on.

I would definitely recommend this spot! We would totally have checked out some more of Dresden's vegan and vegan friendly places if we'd had more time and if it hadn't have been a Monday. I was definitely a little sad to have missed out on 100% vegan spot Cafe V-Cake.

After lunch Constanze took us on a tour of the area (Dreden Neustadt), showed us some of her favourite spots, pointed out cool street art and even helped me find some amazing soy yoghurt. It was a great day! I was sad that we didn't have more time to spend in Dresden, it's a cool city and if Poland and the excitement of exploring a totally new country hadn't been calling us away we'd definitely have stuck around for longer.

I'm currently writing this from a vegetarian cafe in Krakow where I've been munching on pierogis and writing all afternoon, I'll tell ya all about it next time!

Poland was the first new-to-me country of the trip which meant that I was extra excited about setting foot on Polish soil. There's always something invigorating about visiting a totally new place. Will I like it? Will I fall in love with it? Will there be accidentally vegan treats hiding around every corner? In the case of Wrocław, our first stop in Poland, I was mainly just incredibly surprised that the city hadn't been on my radar earlier! Wrocław has eight all vegan listings on Happy Cow, including a vegan shop, as well as many great sounding vegetarian spots with vegan options. It's also compact and beautiful making it an absolute joy to explore.

After swinging the van into a centrally located multi story car park (one of my fave things about the van is it's size!) we visited Ahimsa for a spot of lunch. I couldn't understand much of the menu but we thought the falafel platter sounded like a good bet for both of us to share. It came with tabbouleh, babaganoush, falafel, a huge flatbread and salad.

The babaganoush made a lovely change from the hummus that I usually see gracing Middle Eastern mezze platters and the tabbouleh was flavourful and not overly herby. The falafel were the real stars of the show though, you could tell they'd been made that day with fresh herbs and we very carefully split the last one! The dessert case looked fabulous so sharing wasn't going to be an option. Nick was desperate to try the cheesecake and I had my eye on the berry and chocolate torte.

If this had been a dessert battle the berry and chocolate torte would have been the clear winner. They both had some of the cheesecake filling but the chocolate / fruit / cheesecake ratio was balanced better in the torte. It also had the better crust, crunchy and biscuit like, compared to the cheesecakes coconut filled raw base. I would definitely recommend Ahimsa, it has a nice atmosphere, was constantly busy with locals popping in on their lunch breaks and the food was spot on.

I have to admit to only glancing at Happy Cow before we arrived in Wrocław, we had patchy wifi so I took screen shots of a few spots and that was that. Ahimsa was actually our third choice after we found both Machina Organica and The Root closed for holidays / refurbishments but we were then surprised by a fourth option whilst we were exploring the Market Square. Right there in the main square, in amongst some of the city's top tourist attractions, was a 100% vegan restaurant! We paused at Vega for a cool drink but were sadly too stuffed to partake in anything from their vast menu.

The beauty of the city continued to astound me as we wandered around, it reminded me of Vienna or Prague just with way less tourists.

Our final stop in the city was Urban Vegan, Wrocław's self proclaimed 101% vegan shop. Pedantic math stuff aside I was excited to see such a huge vegan store in what is quite a small city.

The shelves were quite well stocked with cleaning products, make up, dog food and snacks as well as basics that I'm guessing are hard to find elsewhere like canned beans, mirin, tahini and miso. Most impressive though was their wall of fridges which were chock full of seitan, tofu and tempeh products alongside soy yoghurts and mayonnaises. I loved how cute this brand was and we picked up some seitan.

We even found a kitty to show some love to on our way outa town.

Wrocław has shot to the upper echelons of my vegan friendly European cities list, I loved the whole vibe of the place. I'd say it should be a strong contender for a weekend getaway if you're in the mood for exploring a small and not too overwhelming city.

The next stop on our tour of Poland was Auschwitz-Birkenau which, depressingly, everyone has most likely heard of. It was a sobering day but I felt like I had to visit somewhere that was such a huge part of European history. It still blows my mind that this happened within the last century and it serves as a good reminder of why we must never sit silent when fascists want to spread their message of intolerance. I didn't take any pictures because it's not my history and taking what would essentially have been a tourist snap in a place of so much recent suffering would have been, in my opinion, super inappropriate.

I have no idea how to segue from talking about something as awful as Nazi concentration camps to something as seemingly trivial as Krakow's vegan options so consider this my clumsy attempt. Mastering the busses from our outa town campsite into the city centre was surprisingly easy and we were soon outside vegan burger joint Nova Krova bang on opening time.

Their burger menu is vast and varied and we were able to choose between seitan, tofu, tempeh, bean, kasha, quinoa and falafel for the protein part of our burger and then from a list of eight sauces and 14 toppings to round it out. Each protein listed helpfully came with a list of suggested additions so I went with one of those. Nick had to be difficult and go the DIY route where you can pick five toppings and two sauces and confuse everyone working there by only wanting one topping and one sauce.

I went with the tofu burger (of course!) which was grilled marinated tofu with vegan mayo topped with lettuce, fried mushrooms, avocado and roasted leeks. It was a delicious combo and the only fault I found with the burger was that the bun wasn't really squishy enough to accommodate all of these fillings and fit into my mouth. I have a pretty decent sized mouth and I've never been defeated by a burger before (no, not even the ridiculous creations from V Revolution!) but this was was too much for me and I had to resort to a knife and fork. Sacrilege. It was super filling and totally delicious though so I'll let them off for making me look like I don't know how to eat a burger. I was a little sad not to have any room for dessert but I wish that I'd remembered to grab something to take away.

After we were suitably stuffed it was time to explore and we headed for the Kazimierez area to wander the streets, check out the street art and architecture, and visit the Galicia Jewish Museum. I've always been drawn to photography museums and this one was huge and needed to impart a lot of info alongside the pictures so we were there for a while.

Next on my must-visit list was Veganski Bar a vegan bar that serves food. Having visited places like The Bye and Bye and Sweet Hereafter in Portland and Viasko in Berlin, I was excited to try this place to see if it lived up to the high standards that have been set for vegan gastro pubs. As soon as I spotted the entrance I knew that it probably was not. As soon as I saw the homemade sign I lowered my expectations massively, I was now thinking Cowley Club not Bye and Bye. Not a problem, I love The Cowley for what it is. It's no gastrobub but it doesn't aspire to be, instead it's a cool, punky, vegan dive bar with fun events so y'know I was still optimistic.

I fancied a beer and as there was a language barrier I did a lot of smiling and pointing at what I thought looked like beer on the menu, head shaking told me they were out. I pointed at a couple more things but nope, also out. We settled on lemonade which I think turned out to be lemon squash from concentrate. Food wise we went through a similar pointing ritual and eventually settled on a tart from the dessert section. When the food was put in front of us I was... what's the right word? Confused perhaps. Definitely disappointed. Because whatever the tart we'd ordered to share was seemed to be chopped jelly (jello to my American friends) thrown on top of a wholewheat crust.

Now I am a firm believer that you shouldn't slate somewhere without visiting a few times, it can be incredibly damaging to a business if you slate their food because you didn't like it - maybe it was an off day? You have no idea. But I feel like I kinda need to warn people not to eat here. This was a frankly awful dessert no matter which way you look at it. It was literally strawberry jelly with a few unpeeled apple pieces mixed in atop a base that must have been made from wholewheat bread flour and a mashed banana. I really, really, genuinely wanted to like this spot that was very clearly the dream of a few punk kids and their dog but really?! C'mon now! There's no excuse for food this terrible. It was what I would imagine might happen if you let a three year old loose in a badly stocked kitchen. To add insult to injury they brought us two slices which were very challenging to stuff into my handkerchief. We still payed. And tipped.

I have since translated the menu description of this dish using google translate and rather than translating to "weird Polish dessert that I probably shouldn't be insulting" it translates to "tart with fresh fruit". Tart. With. Fresh. Fruit. I'll let that sink in for a moment.

I have no more words.

After that distressing experience I was almost scared to go somewhere else but we needed a palate cleanser so off to vegetarian Tibetan fusion cafe Momo it was. This seemed like a safe bet as it's actually recommended in Lonely Planet.

We ordered the Tibetan dumplings, or momos, partly because Lonely Planet told us to and partly because I figure if you're naming your cafe after a specific dish it's gotta be good. We weren't disappointed, maybe that was because they weren't filled with jelly, but more likely it was because they were tasty lentil stuffed dumplings.

Momo seems like it'd be a good place to grab lunch in the city for sure and they helpfully mark the vegan options on their menu which is a major win for a travelling vegan struggling to decipher the menu. Another veg spot with marked vegan options is Green Day, we didn't eat there but the 90's pop punk lover within me had to stop and take a picture!

Opposite our campsite was a supermarket where I was able to take my zine, European Vegan, for a whirl. The Polish page helped me work out which breads were really stuffed with cheese and I grabbed some rolls and soy yoghurts for breakfast.

This photo is also serving as a timely reminder that I reeeeally need to dye my roots!

I feel like I'm raving about soy yoghurt in almost every post at the moment but really Europe knows where it's at when it comes to vegan yoghurt.

It was actually the one thing I was seriously craving by the end of my travels in SE Asia and US vegan yoghurts are honestly pretty terrible especially now that Whole Soy has disappeared from the market. Silk can't confirm or deny whether their yoghurts are really vegan (so, they probably aren't then) and I've heard rumours that Daiya are bringing out some yoghurts but I didn't see them whilst I was over there. Since I set foot on European soil in June I've been diving headfirst into huge tubs of Alpro Cremoso whenever I can get it and in the meantime Sojasun is filling the gap nicely.

The next day Nick wasn't feeling great so like the good wife that I am I abandoned him in the van and went to get some pierogis and do some writing. I settled upon Glonojad after it was recommended to me by a friend on Instagram and I was so happy I went with her rec'. I finally got to try pierogis and they were gooood.

They were stuffed with lentils and I went with what I thought would be the most traditional sides, cabbage slaw, roasted beets and carrot and raisin salad. Okay, I didn't think the carrot raisin salad was authentic I just really like carrot raisin salad! This plate of food was my favourite out of all of the things I ate in Poland and I loved the atmosphere at the cafe too. It was bustling all day and despite spending hours there working on the blog (don't worry I kept buying drinks!) I never felt rushed or like I was taking up too much space. Their wifi is also fast which is a win for any travel blogger / digital nomad.

After Krakow we were headed south towards Slovakia and had planned to spend some time exploring the mountains. We settled upon Zakopane which was definitely a bit of a mistake, the campsite we picked was kinda cool - you aren't allowed to light fires at most European campsites but there you could do what you wanted as long as you quietened down by 11pm, but it turns out that Zakopane has been horribly overdeveloped and the streets are lined not only with sad ponies forced to ride people about the place but also with bouncy castles, street stands selling tourist tat and games to play on. Call me weird but I don't think areas of natural beauty need tonnes of blow up toys to entertain you!

We hightailed it outa there the next day and headed for Slovakia and the High Tatras which were ridiculously beautiful. More on that next time. In the meantime do let me know if you've got a favourite off the beaten track location or hidden gem that you think I have to check out in Eastern Europe. I'm in Hungary right now and will be heading to Vienna next then onwards to Slovenia for Punk Rock Holiday at the beginning of August and then I'll head south east from there.

After our slight miss when choosing a mountain town to explore in Poland (top tip, don't go to Zakopane!) I was super happy when Nick and I reached our Slovakian campsite at the base of the high tatras. It was pretty! And secluded! And there weren't stalls lining the streets selling all manner of tacky things: no pope paintings, no mass produced stuffed toys, nobody trying to sell me a five minute go on a bouncy castle.

This felt like a true escape from the real world which is, I imagine, what everyone's looking for when they think about heading into the mountains and getting "off grid" for a few days.

The other great thing about our chosen campsite, Rijo Camping, was that it was only a 15 minute walk from Stará Lesna, a small train station where you can catch the electric train to places like Štrbské Pleso, Stary Smocovec, Vyšné Hágy, Nová Polianka, Tatranská Polianka and Tatranská Lomnica to explore the Slovakian towns and mountains.

Like good hikers we consulted the free Vyoské Tatry summer hiking map displayed at entrance to the campsite and took pictures of the areas we wanted to check out (sorry, I can't spend €7 on a map I'll use two or three times!) and headed off on what was marked as an easy hike. About 7 or 8 minutes into the hike I came to the realisation that Lonely Planet weren't kidding when they said to wear proper hiking boots. This was the moment that I realised that hiking isn't really just a big walk! There are steep inclines and when it rains, which of course it did as soon as we started out, those inclines will get slippery and your running shoes and strawberry print umbrella really aren't gonna cut it as outdoor wear! Still, like the idiots we are, we pushed on. We had decided to hike and hike was what we were going to do. After 50 minutes (the amount of time the map said the whole hike would take) we realised that we were roughly halfway. We also realised that the more it rained the more slippery it was and that maybe, jut maybe, my optimism and confidence in our abilities might be both adorable and incredibly stupid so, we turned back!

We got to see this totes adorable slug on the way down though, it's teal! How cute is that?! After many laughs about our attempt at hiking we decided that scoping out the vegan snack sitch' might be more our speed so we popped to the closest shop to scoop up whatever vegan treats we could find. We hit the jackpot (or so we thought!) at the only supermarket in Stary Smokovec where we grabbed this fine selection of vegan eats.

I'll start with the positives. The bake rolls have become a firm favourite of ours, both the garlic and sea salt flavours are vegan, although we were sad to discover a pizza flavour that of course contained milk products. Sadly the chocolate soya dessert and the garlic sausage were not, shall we say, to our tastes. The sausage was almost flavourless but was a colour I associate with my pastel hued hair or a whipped buttercream icing and definitely not with savoury food and Nick described the dessert as grainy. Neither of us think that pudding should be grainy. Still, if you're vegan you won't starve in the mountains and that's definitely a positive.

The next day, after much map consulting and photographing we decided to take a funicular from Stary Smovovec up to Hrebienok and hike around up there for the afternoon. It was a bit of a gloomy day but I was quite happy with that, as you'll see later I'm not cut out for hiking in the heat!

The hikes really weren't super challenging even for noob's like us, there were definitely some spots where you really had to concentrate as you climbed from rock to rock and, of course, a lot of it was uphill (these are mountains after all!) but it wasn't especially difficult. As always I was in charge of snacks and I packed a Clif bar and a tub of mixed nuts.

I make our nut mixes myself with whatever nuts we can afford at the local grocery store and I usually go for roasted and unsalted as I prefer them that way. The base mix is almonds, cashews and pistachios and if we're feeling fancy we'll pick up some macadamias or hazelnuts to throw into the mix. The scenery up in Hrebienok was stunning and just what I'd hoped for from the High Tatras. I loved seeing the fir trees, lakes and waterfalls and getting right out there into nature.

I don't really consider myself to be an outdoorsy person because I'm a city girl at heart but I do love being outside and I feel like walking around like this is one of my favourite forms of exercise. Maybe there's an outdoorsy person inside of me just waiting to get out?!

After our hike we still had enough energy left to take the train to Štrbské Pleso to wander around a lake we'd seen marked on the map.

It's super beautiful and peaceful there, it has a real picture postcard look and I'd bet that it looks even more ridiculous in winter! There was no logical route around the lake so we walked halfway around in one direction and then went back the way we came before heading to the biggest supermarket in the area to grab bread, fruit and veggies for dinner.

On our final day in the mountains we decided that we wanted to get as high up as possible which meant braving the cable cars. I'm going to be honest with you here, I'm not a natural adventurer. It may seem like I must be because, y'know, I'm a traveller, aren't we all adventurous? But nope. Not always. Not in every single scenario - travel involves pushing myself out of my comfort zone regularly. I have a very real awareness of my own mortality which, combined with a very vivid imagination, sometimes conspire to make things like cable cars, roller coasters and boats panic attack inducing experiences. Basically though I try super hard not to let these anxieties stop me doing anything I want to do. I'm not always successful but I try and this time it payed off and I hopped onto the cable car between Tatranská Lomnica and Štart and, after a brief pause to get my mind to shush and stop telling me I was about to plunge down a mountain to my death, I switched to the second cable car, hopped off at Skalnaté pleso, and was up at 5659 feet within minutes.

It wasn't easy by any stretch of the imagination but wow, I was so glad I did it when I got to the top, breathed in my first lungful of crisp mountain air and gazed out at the view. Gorgeous. As you can see in this pic there's actually a third tiny cable car that goes up even higher. We decided not to take that one because it was already chilly at the altitude we were at and the cars were both tiny and incredibly cramped. It was fun to watch them disappearing up into the clouds though.

We were sad to be leaving the mountains the next morning but we were ready to cruise south and we had a leisurely day of driving with a few sightseeing stops in mind. Levoča was our first planned stop because who could cruse by aUNESCO World Heritage sight without stopping to explore?

Lecoča has a beautiful old town and we walked along the well preserved city walls, zig zagged through the streets, scoped out the medieval church and ate a picnic on a bench in the town square.

I think this photo Nick took accurately sums up what's so great about our little romahome, we were able to swing through the streets of Levoča and pop it into a regular parking spot no worries. I'd like to see most of the camper vans I've seen on this trip try to do that!

Our next road trip destination was the ruined, and partially rebuilt, Spiš Castle. The hill up to Spiš Castle from the back car park, yes, it turned out that there is in fact a closer car park, is a lot bigger, steeper and longer than it looks from the bottom. I was thinking that it would be a nice stroll but nope it was, forgive the hyperbole, horrific. I am not cut out for climbing giant hills in the midday heat, I like to think that I am but the reality does not match up with what my inner monologue is telling me I can accomplish. At one point I lay down in a bush and told Nick to just leave me there to die. I can get quite dramatic when I'm too hot.

We made it though and after lying in a heap by the entrance for 20 minutes getting our breath back and discussing how ridiculous I am we enjoyed exploring and checking out the views. If you're driving from Levoča I would highly recommend continuing round the bend in the road to the official car park if you don't want to arrive sweaty and exhausted!

After our sojourn in the moutons and our day of exploring we needed to stock up the van with vegan yums for our journey into Hungary so I had a quick look at the Happy Cow app to see if any of the cities we'd be driving past had health food stores. I hit the jackpot in Košice which has a BioPark store that Happy Cow helpfully informed me was located within the Aupark mall. The mall also has a Billa so we stopped there first to see if we could grab any cheap staples. I picked up two kinds of tofu as well as cherries which were so cheap that I'm still regretting not filling up bags and bags full, grapes, a green juice, bread, soya milk, cereal and pasta. My zine came in super handy when picking a suitable cereal as I was able to avoid all of the ones with milk, honey and dubious D vitamins.

After stocking up on the basics at Billa we delved into BioPark and found that it was stuffed full of vegan eats.

We grabbed some Wheaty salami and sausages which were on the expensive side compared to everything else but in my mind they were totally worth the splurge, I've been a big fan of Wheaty products for as long as I can remember and their spacebars are one of my go-to travel snacks. We also picked up some super firm smoked tofu, some basil and tomato spread that sadly wasn't the greatest, spelt burgers that we're yet to try and a bar of Vivani dark chocolate with orange. I love vegan friendly health food stores and this was a definite winner - these purchases kept us going during our time in Hungary and I was super glad to have found them.

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