We are Ashley and Gabby, two vegan friends who get way too excited about dinner! With a passion for travel and plant based food, our mission is to prove that you don’t need to miss out on exciting adventures because of what you eat, or your budget. Born and raised in Aotearoa New Zealand, we’re mates who are going to attempt to blog all our experiences and recommendations. So stay tuned to see where we take you!
A little bit about us
We met in primary school in 2006, being put in the same small class in a very small school. We played on the same netball team for years, and are both quite tall, so we were always paired up (we gave each other plenty of bruises)! As well as going to the same church and youth group, we managed to spend a lot of time together growing up, and have now been friends for more than 15 years!
After high school, Ash went straight into studying computer science at University. However, during her study, she wanted to visit different countries and experience their cultures for herself. So she planned trips away! Often picking locations where they are well known for their amazing food. Including South East Asia, in which we backpacked together for a few months after our first year out of school.
This desire for travel started on family holidays as she was growing up. Spending holidays in Australia and the Solomon Islands with her family, staying with local families and learning about the food and culture.
Gabby started working in hospitality full-time after a year of study at uni, and has been for the past few years. Having worked in restaurants and cafes in both the North and South Island, she’s met people from all sorts of places, including other travellers having their very own backpacking adventures! Which only makes the idea of travel even more tempting.
She spent her childhood spending weekends away with family in parts of the South Island of New Zealand, her favourite being the beautiful and gloomy West Coast. Gab first left the country when she was 18 on a school classics trip to Greece and Italy, where they stayed in nice hotels and did all the tourist activities that were possible, in very limited time. It made her realize what style of travel she prefers – slow travel, and staying in hostels where you can be social!
Why‘d we go vegan?
Ashley was the first of us to go vegan, and for her, it happened overnight. In 2018 after coming across the gruelling and popular documentary ‘Cowspiracy‘, which goes into the gory and graphic detail of the dairy industry, she didn’t hesitate to switch her lifestyle.
However, Gabby had been a vegetarian for several years before making the switch. Initially, she simply didn’t want to eat animals. Then as she continued to learn more about vegetarianism, her interest in animal rights and environmentalism grew. It was then while we were in Southeast Asia that we had these conversations, and she couldn’t come up with a good enough reason to not go the whole way. Especially as alternatives were so accessible to her in her life. Plus, Ash made a pretty convincing argument. So, Gabby switched to veganism while in Indonesia, and it’s been all smooth sailing since.
Why a blog?
Often when we speak of travelling to other countries we have people warn us that it’s unsafe as female backpackers. That we won’t find anything vegan and that we should probably start eating meat if we want to enjoy ourselves. Even that we won’t last very long with our budget. But this is simply not true!
So we decided to document our travels and what we learn along the way, creating a guide for others who may be stuck on whether or not it’s a good idea to travel plant-based! Here we will share our own lived experiences, good and bad, showing you the best-hidden food spots around the world, and giving our advice on budget travel.
Plant based food is not more expensive and not more difficult to find if you know where to look. Don’t hesitate to travel as a vegan, we can promise that it’s not boring, it’s affordable, and you don’t have to miss out on beautiful meals simply because you don’t eat meat. If we can do it, so can you!
Where we’ve travelled and where we’re going
A year after we graduated high school, we were both stuck in our own ruts. Gab couldn’t figure out what she wanted to do next, and Ash very much needed a break from university. She had solo backpacked Europe for a month during the year which only fueled her desire for travel. You’ll find that Ash is a very determined person. Once she sets her mind on something, she finds a way to do it. Hence when she mentioned a trip to Southeast Asia over the summer, we were all in.
South East Asia
Southeast Asia was our first experience backpacking together and got us both hooked on travel. We travelled for 3 months over the summer of 2019, pre-Covid 19. Ash started in Kuala Lumpur and then flew over to Borneo to explore the national parks. Gabby then joined her a month later in Indonesia where we did a 5-day boat trip around the Flores islands to see the Komodo dragons. An absolute highlight of the trip!
From there we flew up to Bangkok and started on the classic backpacking route going up to Chang Mai and over to Laos. We spent the last couple of weeks of our trip exploring the local places to eat, familiarizing ourselves with the cuisine and experiencing the best food Vietnam had to offer. Gabby flew back to start her first year of University, while Ash stayed for another week to do the Ha Giang motorbike loop in northern Vietnam.
Te Araroa
We got back from our first big backpacking trip in February 2020 and went pretty quickly into our first lockdown. Having too much time on her hands Ash started planning for the next big trip. But as we weren’t allowed to leave the country, it had to be closer to home. After graduating from University, Ash drove straight down to Bluff (the bottom of the South Island in New Zealand) where she started a long-distance hiking trail in New Zealand call the Te Araroa.
Where to next?
With the start of 2023, we’ve begun to plan what 2024 is going to look like. Organising future budgets and how to make long-term travel work is currently under discussion. We have lots of exciting plans for where we are going to visit next, so stay tuned for our next overseas adventure!
In the meantime we are slowly making our way around New Zealand, finding the best food and hikes to explore and share with you. Check out the best hikes in Wellington here or read one of our favourite blog posts to find the best brunch spots in Christchurch.
Countries we have visited so far
Ashley: New Zealand, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Mexico, USA(Hawaii), Australia, Portugal, Spain, France, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand
Gabby: New Zealand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Cook Islands, Greece, Italy
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