When Eggs Are Off The Table

 Traveling can be tricky when eggs and milk are off the table.
Photo: Flickr

Traveling is a risky business for most vegetarians. When I was traveling in Thailand about seven years ago, I had the hotel desk staff write in Thai on a piece of paper: "This girl is vegetarian. Only eggs and vegetables in food." Not speaking Thai became a non-issue from then on and I went home with my packets of instant noodles left untouched.

Then, less than two years ago I traveled to Taiwan, another country whose language (Mandarin) I don't speak. Fortunately there were some friendly Mandarin-speaking peers on the same trip, so I was "rescued" again. 

It gets a lot trickier however, when you're a lacto-vegetarian or vegan--a situation that's bad enough in Malaysia. I've heard horror stories from friends and acquaintances who've traveled to more meat-oriented countries such as China, Korea, Japan and even Germany. Sampling street food is definitely a no-no, unless you don't mind picking out the body parts from your food. (If you're reading this, I'm guessing it's not your cup of tea).

I do fancy myself a voyaging veggie, so I was thrilled when I came across this article on the Detroit Free Press website. I hope it helps you as much as it did me.