A Reminder of Why We Started
Hello everyone!
Our community is slowly growing with travelers and hosts literally all around the world! Generally people are just as excited as we are when they find out about Vegvisits, it's really just a matter of letting people know it's out there.
The two of us have been traveling quite a bit lately, from the U.S. and now currently in Southeast Asia. Despite Vegvisits being in many places at the moment, many times we've been forced to use Airbnb as we travel. As always, it's a much better alternative to a hotel. The hosts are generally warm and friendly. However, it is a constant reminder of why we started Vegvisits!
We didn't start Vegvisits to be an exclusive, judgmental club. We became vegans because we cared about animals and we continue to be vegans for almost countless different reasons that have since become apparent to us. As much as we'd love to see this shared consciousness and ethos spread, it's not quite so simple, unfortunately.
But to us that wasn't what Vegvisits was primarily about when we started. We swallowed putting our fruit and vegetables in a fridge filled with raw meat and cold-cuts. It was tough, but we dealt with eating our meals while we smelt fish or meat being cooked a few feet away. It wasn't ideal, but we happily dealt with the common and incessant questioning on protein and shallow nutrition questions. We kinda just sighed as we'd get done going for a 20 mile run or doing 3 hours of yoga, and then getting lectured by people who were, let's say, not in the best of condition. We kept quiet for the sake of being a guest in another's home when people rationalized why they need meat, how we're meant to eat it, the food chain etc. etc.
Most recently, we've experienced something quite unlike anything else we've ever seen. We've been staying with people in Taiwan who literally keep their meat in a pan, outside in their kitchen all week long. It smells quite awful and is quite a sight to take in every time you prepare your meal! Their English isn't very good and they're pretty nice people, but I guess this is just their custom. We take it as a good learning experience, but geeze, at some point you just want a break from it all!
From seeing fast food line every road stop, our supermarkets dominated by junk, the whole world adopt a lifestyle they haven't chosen nor are totally aware of, incessant advertisements, our increasingly obese/sick world, beauty being destroyed from the land we so much love and depend on, to our fellow inhabitants on Earth whose cries never see the light of day, not to mention the occasional judgment and anger you get from others simply for living a lifestyle they don't understand. Well, it can go on and on. Generally, for the sake of sanity, we accept it. We refuse to shut-off from it, which brings those twinges of pain throughout your day, but we live our lives as we believe and unfortunately go with the sometimes craziness around us.
But, it shouldn't be a constant battle. Traveling hopefully should be a happy experience (many of us can't do it too often!). Whether it's being able to just relax in your place, find places to eat or markets to shop at, feel at ease opening your home to others or just not having to eat your meal with that disagreeable smell in the background, we are really excited that we're all able to bring everyone together to form this community! It feels nice as you arrive at your place or welcome your guests, that despite being different, you share something so important to the both of you!
Well anyway, we're trying to let people know about our community here. For now we hope it can just make traveling and hosting easier and more enjoyable. In the future, who knows, perhaps it could be an awesome way for new vegans or vegetarians to learn more about the lifestyle! In the meantime, we really hope you enjoy!
- Nick & Linsey