We love inspiring interviews. This time, we interviewed Verča, alias Veronica Leroy, who is a passionate traveler, vegan, and YouTuber. How does she handle veganism while traveling, and which country does she recommend visiting?
Traveling and veganism are among your passions. You love sharing both with people through social media and inspiring many. However, I can imagine it is not always easy to combine. Do you consider veganism a handicap when traveling? Perhaps it will surprise some, but it is precisely because of veganism that I have started to enjoy food more, not only at home but also on the road. Perhaps it is partly because I have one extra little adventure. A kind of treasure hunt – for vegan food. I must admit, however, that sometimes it is more fun and sometimes less. For example, the north of Laos was a real nut to crack. I was traveling in a country already very focused on meat, to places that were almost untouched by tourists, and the locals didn't understand a word of English. To that, I would like to add that there are so-called V-Cards, which have everything a vegan might need on their travels written in 105 languages. For example, "No animal products" or even an explanation and list of everything vegans don't eat. Anyway, to get back to the question, I never consider veganism a handicap. :) I think that a moment of adventure in the form of looking for vegan food or communicating with locals is worth not participating in animal suffering. TIP: Download practical V-Cards! 
Singapore is a vegan paradise
Which countries have you visited that were the least and most vegan-friendly? I'll start with the more pleasant part of the question – the most vegan-friendly countries. For example, I knew there were plenty of vegan options in Thailand, but the country that really surprised me was Singapore. It was a complete vegan paradise! Almost all the cuisines of the world, and I didn't have anything that I didn't like the whole time. On the contrary, I had the best brownie there that I've ever tried, and in a Japanese vegetarian restaurant, I had sushi with vegan eel and vegan fried chicken, which even my non-vegan friend (who is also Japanese) praised and said she wouldn't have known the difference. Well, and the least vegan-friendly was probably really the north of Laos or the north of the Philippines, where we also had a hard time at moments to avoid being left with just plain rice. In the end, however, something was always found, and both vegans on the road survived. :) Have you encountered a situation during your travels where you seriously considered having something that contradicts the idea of veganism? Whether because of your taste or simply out of desperation that there was nothing purely plant-based available? To be honest, I never crave non-vegan food. When I know how much suffering is behind it, it's not something that attracts me and that I would want to eat. After those years of veganism, those things don't even smell good to me anymore, quite the opposite. Eating something non-vegan wouldn't even cross my mind, just as many Europeans wouldn't eat a dog or a cat even in an extreme situation. I think there is always another option. 
Never without oats and energy bars
What would you recommend people who eat alternatively to find out before a trip, and what should they definitely not leave without? Do you always carry at least a small supply of food with you? I definitely recommend checking happycow.net and finding out what the vegan options are in the given location. Vegan groups for the specific city or country on Facebook are also useful, where locals are always happy to recommend some good businesses and shops. And then there is nothing left to do but explore and search. :) Lately, I've been carrying oats, plant protein, and Brazil nuts with me so that I always have something for breakfast, both because I mostly travel low-cost and because of veganism. I also sometimes take some green mixture of chlorella, spirulina, and other superfoods to supplement vitamins and minerals on the road, because when you want to taste the local cuisine, you don't eat many salads and similar things. On my last long trip to Cuba, I also packed a few energy and protein bars in case things got bad. And I have to say that they really came in handy in the end, and we were glad we had them. Ecology is also closely linked to veganism. Do you try to make your traveling harm our planet as little as possible (air travel is a thorn in the side of many ecologists, for example), or do you not worry about this aspect as much on the road? Whatever I do and wherever I am, I always try to act according to my best knowledge and conscience. I definitely focus on not using plastics while traveling, so I carry a food container, a wooden spoon, chopsticks, a water bottle, and a bamboo straw. And as for air travel. When it is acceptable in terms of time and money, I always try to choose a bus or train. For example, in Asia, I only made a few necessary flights; otherwise, I used buses. However, I would definitely like to mention that animal production is much worse for our planet than air (or any other) transport, which many "ecologists" don't realize while still eating meat and other animal products. But I think we all do what we can. I am not a proponent of the idea that everyone who tries something must do everything or nothing. To be 100% eco, we would have to not use electricity, any transport, we would have to grow all our food ourselves in the garden, and not wear clothes at all. Of course, I am deliberately exaggerating, but I just wanted to outline that it is better to do everything in my power and fly by plane occasionally than to give up on everything because I choose air travel sometimes. 
Music of the future? Australia and a vegan cookbook
Where are you heading in the near future, and what is your biggest travel dream? Just as I am answering your questions, I am sitting on a train to Vienna, from where I am flying to Estonia tomorrow. It is my first visit to this country, so I am really looking forward to seeing something new again and resting a bit from work. And my biggest travel dream? I've wanted to go to Australia for a long time, preferably to get a van there and drive through the whole thing. But the right time hasn't come yet, and some other destination has always won. :-) Currently, you are working on a cookbook. Will we also find recipes inspired by foreign cuisine in it? Definitely. :) It is not a cookbook that would be directly focused on recipes from my travels, but given that it is a collection of my favorite recipes, some goodies that I discovered on my travels will appear there too. In the future, however, I would definitely like to focus a cookbook on, for example, Asian or specifically Korean cuisine, because I absolutely love it! Thank you for your time and I wish you lots of success and happy travels! ?
Who is Veronica Leroy?
Veronica is a YouTuber and Instagrammer who loves traveling. Through her social media, she also tries to inspire responsible choices about what we put on our plates with regard to health (ours and the planet's) and animal rights, both at home and on the road. She has her own brand of fairtrade clothing and is currently creating her first cookbook.
