When I got a comment on this blog a couple of months ago from the Vegan Backpackers I was stoked to see some fellow Canadians sharing their travel experience with the world. When I got to their website I was in love. Interactive, stunning and extremely informative this blog is a must read for “those who wander” and something even this curmudgeon, who refuses to travel, can appreciate.

I have never said this in an interview before, but I love love love the layout of your website and how vibrant all the photos are. Who has the background in web design/photographer, John or Jill?

Thank you! John’s a professional web designer, that’s why our blog is so pretty. He has a fancy camera and takes lots of beautiful photos but not many of food. All the photos you see on the blog are taken by me with a little point and shoot camera (Canon PowerShot SD780 IS).

With all of the traveling you are both doing, is this vacation, work, or a little bit of both?

I’d say it’s 70% vacation and 30% work/blogging time. Traveling for this long isn’t relaxing in the same way a normal vacation would be. We’re not unplugging or escaping from anything. We’re living life, dealing with all the normal challenges, just moving from place to place as we do it.

How much preparation have you put into researching destinations before you go? When it comes to places you haven’t been to you, what are your go to resources?

When we first started, I did a lot of research. Now, I’m becoming more comfortable with the idea of finding things as we go. Happy Cow is a great resource, as are local vegan and vegetarian association web sites. In Europe, we’ve been Couch Surfing and getting lots of great recommendations from the people we stay with. I recently wrote a post with Five Tips for Vegan Travel that talks about the importance of researching, knowing the local lingo and connecting with other vegans.

I love how the blog focuses not only on the best food you can get, but also the most affordable. The “backpacking” approach is a pretty welcome change from a lot of the more bourgeois vegan travel writing.

We have to keep on budget. If we don’t, we go home early. However, few expenses are spared when it comes to food. Not only do we like to eat, we like to eat good food. We try to be reasonable though, skipping the ultra fancy places. However, if there is a restaurant we really want to eat at, we’ll cut back in other places to make it work. We save money by sharing meals and eating out for lunch rather than dinner. Food is our second largest expense, after transport (buses, planes, trains, etc.). We save a lot of money by walking everywhere, Couch Surfing and passing on things like boat tours and expensive museums.

CANADA! REPRESENT!!! Aside from the unique experience of traveling as a vegan, most Canadians believe that as travelers we are more respected than other travelers (*cough* Americans *cough*). Do you think being Canadian has helped you in any way as a traveling vegan?

I wish I could say yes but most people just assume we are from the US. The kind of people we meet, open minded young folks, don’t seem to care where we’re from.

The site has already amassed some great information, I am wondering if this is project is a 2010 thing or will this be an ongoing vegan travel blog?

Short term, it’s a 2010 project. But I don’t want the blog to end when our year of travel does. We’re starting to feature guest contributors and want to do more of that (Please email veganbackpacker AT g MAIL dot COM if interested!)

We also want to add some recipes in the future. Think travel friendly meal ideas, as well as vegan versions of traditional international foods.

What the heck are Faina and Fugazza? (great band BTW)

Pizza shops are on almost every corner in Buenos Aires. Two great vegan pizza options are fugazza, a cheese-free pizza topped with crazy amounts of onion, and faina, a slice of dough made from chickpea flour. Faina can sometimes be made with parmesan so it’s best to confirm before ordering. Many people take the slice of faina, put it on top of their pizza slice, and make a crazy Argentinean pizza sandwich. I wrote a post about these wonderful creations here: Fainá and Fugazza: Two Vegan Pizza Options in Buenos Aires.

What’s your favorite Larry & Luna’s ice creeem?

I’ve tried their chocolate peanut butter, and the chocolate hazelnut fudge. I have a soft spot for peanut butter, making it the obvious choice I’d love to try some of their other flavours though, especially cherry amaretto and naked almond fudge.

Tempeh vs. Tofu vs. Seitan

Tempeh! I love BBQ tempeh and tempeh in curry. Tofu is good too, when it’s cooked right. I don’t eat many mock meat products but like Gardein and Field Roast Grain Meat Co.

Almond Milk vs. Rice Milk vs. Hemp Milk vs. Soy Milk

Almond wins first place. Almond Breeze vanilla to be specific. I like rice milk too. Always vanilla, unless I’m baking something that requires plain.

The best vegan meal in the entire world can be found ……………?

This is the hardest question of them all! Some of the best places I’ve eaten are Millennium in San Francisco, AlmaZen in Lima, Peru and ZenKitchen, in Ottawa, Ontario.