Traveling with any kind of specific dietary habits can be tough, but vegan/pescetarian travel can be extremely difficult.
In the last 5 years, I've been travelling a lot for my job. It can take me anywhere, not just, say, in the continental US. For the past 10 years, I've been trying to switch over to a vegetarian/vegan diet. As of now, I'm mostly a pescetarian. 90-95% of my food intake is vegetarian.
What tips and tricks could I use to try to shift over to vegetarianism?
I travel quite a bit and for me using apps like Happy Cow ,which locates veg*n restaurants near you, has been very useful. You can try using this kind of apps to look for something that is both healthy and suits your tastes.
Personally I don't focus much in the healthy eating aspect when I travel. I prefer enjoying the local food and discovering new dishes and products because I can always eat healthier food when I am back home and I can cook for myself. Nevertheless I always try to exercise a few times per week no matter where I am. Diet is very important but it is not the only relevant factor when it comes to being healthy.
I'm vegan and travel the world a lot. Some of my advice:
I've written a small handbook called "Tiny Guide for the Vegan traveler. Survival manual for travelers and workers who don’t have a place to cook"
You can download it from Google Drive here
Good luck!
These are all great tips that I also try to use, so I'm only adding on from my own experience. I've had to travel a lot for work and have found myself in situations where I don't end up getting much say on the food (served by a conference venue or the restaurant is chosen by another employee or client). To my pleasant surprise, I've found a lot of places willing to help make adjustments even if that option isn't on the menu. For example, some pasta dishes may be able to add grilled veggies instead the usual shrimp or even use oil instead of cream-based sauces. I've even had restaurants make up a full veggie plate of their various vegetable sides. Just remember to be kind and not come off as entitled or judgmental, and people will help you out.
When I do have the chance to provide an opinion with a group, I try to suggest cuisines that tend to offer vegan menu items by nature (a lot of different Asian and African cuisines offer non-dairy and non-meat options, even having designated sections of the menu to highlight this). This is usually more acceptable to others than suggesting a 'vegan restaurant' and typically doesn't draw any attention to the vegan aspect one way or another.
I find when people try to 'go vegan' they can get too hung up on replacing foods they can no longer have (especially with vegan substitutes and eating at strictly vegan restaurants). The most sustainable way to become a healthy vegan is to focus on what you get to eat. Becoming vegan opened up doors for me to try new vegetables and cooking approaches I never would have before. And that's what was important for me—not to simply cut out the bad but bring in more of the good.
And in the end, be flexible and allow yourself some room to not always be 100% perfect all of the time. There will inevitably be butter in there somewhere, and unless you have an allergy, you'll be ok.
Maybe you can keep a small supply of whole grain snacks with you, like roasted grams, peanuts. You can also keep some dry fruits with you. These will supplement your "junk" diet on the road.
In restaurants/eateries try ordering stuff which is easy to make, like vegetable sandwiches. They will be less likely to be stale/unhealthy.
Also visit local shops and scout for healthy ready to eats.
