The Secrets of Compassionate Tourism: My Amazing Vegan Tour Adventures

Compassionate Tourism: Vegan Tours

The first time I took a vegan tour, I loved the idea of someone creating a travel experience for me catered to my dietary preference. And my trip was joyful; traveling with like-minded people is transformative. But it also challenged some of my assumptions about vegan tours.

My first trip was to Italy, and the second was to Santa Fe and Albuquerque. You can read more about my experiences in Who Moved My Cheese? How to Travel With Compassion. My third vegan tour was Utah-based, where we visited Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Grand Canyon National Parks.

I booked my tours through Veg Jaunts and Journeys, owned by tour operator Kim Giovacco. I met Kim at a vegan fest when I didn’t know vegan travel agents or compassionate travel existed. She creates a fantastic travel experience with a vegan twist.

We are a proudly vegan company. We don’t just talk-the-talk — we include as many vegan activities as possible on your tour. And, our conversations often center around animal activism and the vegan lifestyle. In addition, we donate 5% of our profits to large and small animal sanctuaries in the United States.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from my first tour and was surprised in many ways. So, here are the secrets of my vegan tours, so you can decide if this form of compassionate travel suits you.

Secret #1: You don’t have to be vegan to sign up for a vegan tour

During my first tour, one of my dashed assumptions was that my fellow travelers would all be vegan. That wasn’t the case, although everyone agreed to eat vegan on the tour. My other two tours included people who were not vegan as well.

Some of my fellow travelers joined a vegan tour because they wanted to try a plant-based diet. Or simply want a healthier diet. Some were trying to lose weight or cure a physical ailment such as high cholesterol or diabetes. Some came along with a vegan friend or relative. So, if you are interested in one of the tours, don’t let your dietary status stop you.

Secret #2: You don’t have to be an animal lover

I assumed everyone on a vegan tour would be like me — an animal lover. Again, I was wrong. Of course, fellow animal advocates made up some of every tour group. I learned on my first tour the power of a vegan t-shirt to potentially get into a conversation with curious people. On my third tour, lovely Caroline sported a vegan t-shirt every day of the trip, as did I.

But many vegans choose the diet for reasons other than preventing animal cruelty. And some travelers love animals but do not usually eat vegan.

Kim includes an animal sanctuary tour in her trips. But some people who sign up for the tours are less interested in these experiences than I was. Fortunately, you can opt out of activities that don’t fit your needs.

You can read about my trips to the Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary in Rome (the coolest) and Kindred Spirits in Albuquerque (most inspirational) in Who Moved My Cheese? How to Travel With Compassion.

My third tour was to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah. This sanctuary is about 6,000 acres, the largest in the United States. The thousands of animals are housed in Cat World, Dogtown, Horse Haven, Bunny House, Marshall’s Piggy Paradise, Parrot Garden, and Wild Friends. Some animals are awaiting adoption or release back to the wild. In contrast, others are being nursed back to health.

I enjoyed seeing the beautiful areas for these animals. So much space means they have many places for animals to roam. For example, Horse Haven is a massive complex with corrals, stables, and a veterinary clinic. Since they had recently rescued a group of abused horses, and some were pregnant, we also saw adorable 10-day-old foals.

At Best Friends, we petted pot-bellied pigs, cats, and dogs. Not all sanctuaries allow interaction with the animals. For example, The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee provides an education center, and you can only see the animals through webcams. I love this option of allowing me to see the beautiful creatures without traveling!

Best Friends relies on volunteers to keep their vast sanctuary a lovely place for the animals. They even provide housing for those willing to stay a while and help.

Secret #3: To get the most out of your trip, you should be physically active

On my three tours, almost everyone was physically active. This is probably self-selection, but vegans tend to be healthier than omnivores.

The tours require a lot of walking. In the case of my national park tour, a lot of hiking. For example, on the Utah trip, our group included Leslie, a living example of the power of plant-based nutrition — 74 years old, slim and muscular, and hands-down the best hiker of the tour.

But options are available for people who want an easy walk, and you can always opt out of activities.

Secret #4: The vegan tour is inclusive and diverse

I don’t have many vegans I hang around with in my hometown, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from my tour groups. However, my tours included a variety of races, ethnicities, and genders.

Personally, one of my travel joys is being able to interact with people who are not like me. The diverse people I met on my three tours were delightful.

More travelers were women. More were single than married. Each tour had some young people, but the average age skewed older. And the people I traveled with were uniformly accepting, partly because Kim encourages inclusiveness.

All are welcome on our tours. Diverse groups allow for more meaningful learning experiences and deeper conversation. We want more of that on all of our journeys.

Everyone had one similarity, though. We could afford a guided tour, which indicates a certain level of financial privilege. As I said in How To Unpack Your Privilege Before You Pack Your Bags: Travel Lessons, I will not stop traveling because I love experiencing new places and enjoy learning. But I will do it with as much awareness of my privilege as possible.

Experiencing the wonderful activities, destinations, and foods is an authentic bonding experience. I’ve enjoyed every single person I traveled with.

Secret #5: You might lose weight

At least half of the Utah travelers found their pants looser at the end of the trip. It was a combination of lots of physical exercise and healthy food. We stayed in a communal house with chef Mark Cerkvenik, who cooked all our meals with his wife, Lorrie. This was my first introduction to the whole food, no oil, plant-based diet.

Omnivores tend to think of vegan food as something like a lettuce leaf topped with raw tofu. But the reality is so different. When you take the meat off the plate, you make healthy and delicious plant-based food the star.

One of my learnings from Mark was to be creative — like having miso soup for breakfast. He taught us about unique and flavorful spices and herbs. One of my favorite meals was the oatmeal buffet, which included a vast assortment of sweet and savory toppings.

He and Lorrie spoiled us rotten, catering to everyone’s preferences, including one gluten-free person. He provided cooking demonstrations. Each day they packed us lunch with reusable cutlery and napkins. Our lunches were usually a wrap or a salad, a sweet snack like banana bread, and a container of trail mix.

Mark wanted to highlight the area’s cuisine, particularly of the Indigenous peoples. We learned a bit about the cuisine from that area, such as Indian Bread, masa wrapped in a corn husk and steamed.

My opinion of the whole food, no oil, plant-based experience is that you’d probably never know the food was healthy. Now that is an accomplishment.

A confession: My favorite meal on this trip was at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, where they offer a vegan buffet for $5 (free for their staff and volunteers.) I had a tamale with creamy enchilada sauce. And lots of desserts.

During my first two tours, we stayed in hotels and ate a vegan hotel breakfast with lunch and dinner in vegan restaurants. In Rome, we had a fantastic buffet each morning, including croissants, savory items, and fruit. And, of course, access to an espresso machine.

My all-time favorite meal was at Dall’Albero (now closed.) The inspirational young owner cultures cashew milk into the best cheese I’ve ever had (and that includes non-vegan varieties.)

At the massive vegan fest in Bologna, I tasted golden milk and chestnuts for the first time. And at a beach shack, I found vegan croissants.

Full disclosure: I gained weight on my Italy tour.

Secret #6: You’ll make the world a better place.

With compassionate travel, you are making the world better. A vegan diet is the single most impactful action an individual can take to fight climate change. And for people who are not vegan, reducing your meat consumption can make a big difference.

One criticism of travel is that transportation increases your carbon footprint. That is true. But did you know you can mitigate your transportation impact with carbon offsets? Calculate your carbon footprint and explore options for offsetting your impact.

Compassionate travel can change your life by broadening your worldview. By helping you find how people are more the same than they are different. And by realizing our part in Earth’s ecosystem.