Sisters Jenny and Heather have a website called Spork Online, where members can view lots of cooking demos. They also teach live classes in LA. Anywho, I’m happy to present their guest blog about vegan travel to you. Enjoy!

Spork Sisters Abroad!
By Jenny Engel and Heather Goldberg

Whether you’re planning a road trip or an international voyage, vegan travel can be easy and fun if you know where to look. On our annual sister trip, we have traveled to many different places with vastly different cultures. In all parts of the world, from Hawaii to Costa Rica, Japan to Jamaica, and Greece to Canada, we’ve always found the most incredible vegan restaurants and communities.
 
The saving grace for most vegetarian travelers is Happycow.net, which lists vegan/vegetarian friendly restaurants and health food stores worldwide. If you can call some of the locations ahead of time, go for it – in our experience, places have often moved or closed, so it’s best to find out the deets before your trip.
 
And if you’re gonna hit this big world, hit it cute: there’s no excuse to dress like a dork just because you’re on the road. Show the world how adorable you can be without harming a creature! For some rad walking shoes, check out Saucony.com, which has women’s and men’s shoes, veg of course. Our personal fave are the Jazz Low Pro. And you’ll probably need a backpack for all the goodies you’ll buy along the way. If it were up to us, you’d get this one from Matt and Nat. It’s made from recycled bottles, and it’s adorable! 
 
In the off-chance you can’t find great eating options as soon as you arrive at your destination, be sure to pack a few snackies, like mixed nuts or vegan food bars. We aren’t huge fans of dry snacks, but a gal’s gotta do what a gal’s gotta do!
 
When we travel, although we do plan where to eat, the rest of our time is spent getting lost and venturing into a new environment without a solid game plan. One of our favorite tricks for eating well is to look for colleges and universities, because we always have luck finding vegan or vegetarian restaurants close by. In Kyoto, we found insanely delish vegan black sesame ice cream, and in Jamaica we found Ital food, which is usually vegan and super pure. And when you are sitting down to your amazing meal, start up a convo with some local peeps and you may find out about other vegan options in town.
 
If you really want to know how to order like a pro but you don’t speak the local language, Google Translate is your new best friend! It translates anything right on the spot, and you can even learn how to pronounce the words. In Japan, “Watashi-tachi wa bīgandesu” (We are vegan) really saved our little buns, and helped save a few animals. We also enjoyed the food in Buddhist temples, where vegan options abound and are made with positive energy and devotion. A loving meal while traveling makes you feel so comforted that it’s worth trekking to remote temples for the experience. 
 
Another travel secret is discovering that there are ton of subcultures or religions that have naturally vegan cuisine or promote eating vegan foods at certain points in the year. While in Greece, we learned that Greek Othodox beliefs indicate fasting on particular religious holidays – and lucky for us, Greek Orthodox “fasting” really means abstaining from eating animals and dairy, so this culture is quite familiar with vegan cuisine and knows how to prepare it well.
 
If you aren’t planning a big summer getaway, we have just the thing. Our website, Sporkonline.com, brings our cooking classes with recipes inspired by all corners of the world, right to your computer, whether you’re on an island or on your couch! In this membership-based website, we teach a different themed cooking class each month, with archived classes for you to watch whenever you want. You can download our recipes instantly, and you can ask us any kitch questions you may have. In August, we’ll bring Greece to you by teaching you to prepare Seitan Souvlaki with Tzadziki Dip, Greek Lentils with Olives and Pine Nuts, Skordalia (delish garlicky potato dip), and more!
 
And, we’re giving away a free six-month membership to a lucky winner through The Kind Life – we wish you luck! To enter to win, just leave a comment below telling us about the best vegan dish you’ve had while traveling.
 
Spork Foods is a Los Angeles-based gourmet vegan food company owned and operated by sisters Jenny Engel and Heather Goldberg. They offer live cooking classes in Los Angeles at Spork, online vegan cooking classes at www.sporkonline.com, one-on-one in-home healthy pantry makeovers, and recipe development/trainings for chefs, food companies and colleges. Their cookbook, Spork-Fed, will be released in October 2011, with a foreword by fellow fans and sisters, Emily and Zooey Deschanel.

*Update: We've chosen a winner! Congrats Beth!*