Before moving to the Isle of Skye for two months last January, I was worried about how to…
For my entire life, I have loved animals and hated animal cruelty. I always tried to do the right thing, to help animals in need whenever I saw it. But at the same time, I was eating meat and consuming dairy on a daily basis. Deep down, I knew that it was wrong, but it took me watching a terrible video of chickens being slaughtered to finally realize that what I was doing had to stop. So I became vegetarian that same day, September 1st 2015. For the first two years of being vegetarian, I honestly thought I was doing enough to prevent animal cruelty. I mean, surely all vegans must be doing it for health reasons, right? Because dairy and egg doesn’t hurt the animals, right? Boy was I wrong and naive. For two years, I lived in some dream world where just cutting out meat and fish was “enough”. The problem is that I – like most other humans – hadn’t read into veganism. I knew nothing about it.
Thankfully, I have good vegan friends who started teaching me. I became more aware and thus decided that someday I would become vegan. Someday. I was still weak. Thinking that I wouldn’t be able to fully commit, that I would probably die of malnutrition. But sometime into my third vegetarian year, I decided to try cutting dairy, honey and egg out of my everyday life, but still not give it a second thought when travelling or eating out. I have to admit that my heart wasn’t fully in it. Sometimes I even “accidentally” bought chocolate or cheese.
But then in the summer of 2018, I actually started reading about veganism and its many benefits for the animals, our earth and even my own health. And so I made a decision. On my third veggieversary and on the day that I would move to Greenland, September 1st 2018, I would finally commit to being fully vegan. No exceptions. Only plants for the rest of my life. And I’m happy to say that I haven’t looked back since. I’m happier, healthier and feel morally better for it.
Since becoming vegan, I’ve continued my lifestyle on the road and I honestly haven’t had problems sticking to my diet (yet!). I managed to be vegan in the Arctic, in rural Russia and on a tiny island in the Faroe Islands. Below you can read about my journey towards veganism and find vegan travel guides to the places where I’ve lived or travelled extensively as a vegan.
