Vegan Food + Travel

Protein is important. Especially for those of us who are active outdoorists, whether that means we’re into hiking, climbing, backpacking, kayaking, mountain biking or anything in between. Because getting optimal …

We. Love. Snacks. True story. If I could just snack all day long every single day I would be a happy camper. Fortunately, when we’re hiking and backpacking, we can snack practically all the time. And we do. Because your body needs more consistent fuel when you’re working hard. Our general rule of thumb on a hard, long hike: consume about 100 calories every hour or two. Fortunately, that’s easy to do when we’re fully stocked with our favorite hiking snacks. But if you’re in a snacking rut and tired of the same ol’ trail mix (we feel you), reach for one of these vegan, Terradrift-approved snacks for hiking and backpacking instead!

Whether you’re backpacking, bikepacking, trail running, cycling, or whatever the heck else it is you do, it’s kinda important to keep your body fueled and engine running. Almost as important as staying hydrated. But a lot of easy, tasty options out there for fueling quickly on the go aren’t vegan, including some energy gummies and chews (many contain gelatin, which is made of fish or animal bones). Fortunately, there are some baller and delicious vegan energy chews out there for the plant-based crowd. Huzzah! Here are 5 that we’ve tried and why we dig ’em.

Wanna know what vegans eat and how when they thru-hike or backpack? Our friends over at The Trek asked last year’s class of long-distance hikers how they eat and operate when it comes to food (and more) on the trail. And while most of the hikers they surveyed weren’t vegan, there were some very interesting findings! So if you’ve ever been curious, here’s our breakdown of the info they gathered.

A vegan diet is the single most impactful thing an individual can do to make a difference when it comes to climate change. So maybe you’re thinking of trying a vegan diet to reduce your footprint. Maybe you’re going all-in with a full vegan lifestyle. Or maybe you’re just trying to cut back on meat because of the serious environmental ramifications of factory farming. But maybe you don’t think you can eat vegan and travel the world. These vegan bloggers beg to differ. So no more excuses. Eat sustainably when you travel, no matter where in the world you are, with these vegan travel tips from seven adventurous and sustainable vegan travel bloggers and influencers.

The best snacks for hiking aren’t always the best snacks for the planet. Take jerky, for example: a perennial hiker favorite, is made from animal protein and therefore extremely harmful to the environment. Other snacks, like trail mix, are packaged in wasteful single-serve bags. Even multi-serving hiking snacks are almost always sold in single-use plastic or foil-lined bags. So if you’re looking for more sustainable snacks to keep you fueled on the trail, check out these snacks in compostable packaging for more sustainable snacking.

We love to eat. That includes on the trail. In fact, that’s how you know it’s a good hike: when you’re working so hard you can’t wait to get to camp to set up and make dinner. And while we tend to take charge and prepare our own backpacking meals when we’re out in the wilderness (find a whole cookbook full of our plant-based backpacking recipes here), sometimes you just want to grab-and-go. By which we mean grab a pre-packaged meal off the shelf and hit the trail without all the measuring and prepping and bagging. So if that’s you, here are 7 pre-packaged vegan backpacking meals so you can fuel up without all the forethought.

We reserve special snacks for trail days. Snacks like vegan jerky and stroop waffles.⁠ But if you’re looking to eat less meat and dairy on the trail, searching for ideas for vegan hiking snacks, or just looking to mix up your munchie game, here’s a list of some of the packable, un-crushable, calorie-dense things that fuel us on our adventures.

As vegans, we get asked a lot: what do we eat when we’re backpacking? I personally enjoy a witty response like “food,” but I appreciate that that’s not a terribly helpful answer, especially for those who might be genuinely curious about eating plant-based in the outdoors. That’s why we created a whole e-book full of plant-based backpacking recipes! But let’s be honest: 15 recipes are really only a starting point for a lifetime of backcountry meals and if you’re just looking for an idea or two to get your creative juices flowing, well, this post has you covered. So here’s a breakdown of a simple 3-day backpacking menu, including what we actually ate on our last backpacking trip. So chow down, cause there’s no hiker hunger here. (And if you’re not vegan, yes, you can make these meals, too. You don’t need meat to survive in the wilderness, promise.)

We frequently get asked what we eat on the trail. Sometimes by folks who are interested in trying backpacking and just want to know what to eat, sometimes by folks …