Food, handled in advance

Travel where the food is already sorted

If you eat pure vegetarian, or Jain, or without onion and garlic, you already know the pattern: a beautiful hotel, a long conversation at every meal, and a plate of steamed vegetables by day three. It is entirely avoidable, and avoiding it is a planning job — not something to negotiate at the table.

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Why this goes wrong, and how it stops going wrong

Resorts abroad are almost always willing. What they aren't is prepared — and preparation is the whole difference.

"Vegetarian" means different things in different countries

In much of Europe it can include fish stock and gelatine; in Southeast Asia, shrimp paste and fish sauce are in things you'd never suspect. Written specifics — no fish sauce, no shrimp paste, no meat stock, no gelatine — travel much better than the word vegetarian.

Jain requirements need real notice

No onion, no garlic, no root vegetables, separate preparation and separate utensils. Kitchens can do it beautifully with two weeks' notice and a named contact, and cannot improvise it at 8pm on a Saturday.

Confirmed in writing, per property

Not a line in a booking note that nobody reads. I confirm requirements with each hotel before you travel, and again a few days out, so the kitchen already knows you're coming and what you need.

Restaurants booked around it, not despite it

The good version isn't hotel food for ten nights. It's knowing which restaurants in Kyoto do shojin ryori properly, where in Rome cooks vegetarian seriously, and which Maldivian resorts have an Indian chef on the team.

Some destinations are simply easier

India, Thailand, Bali, Italy, Japan, the UAE and Greece are straightforward. Parts of France, Iceland, Argentina and much of Eastern Europe are hard work. Choosing well upfront matters more than any request made on arrival.

Elders travel differently

For grandparents who have eaten one way for seventy years, food isn't a preference — it's whether the trip is enjoyable at all. Plan for it and a nervous traveller relaxes on the first evening.

Where this is effortless

Grouped by how much work it takes — which is a more useful way to choose than by continent.

Effortless

Vegetarian cooking is native, and Jain requirements are understood without explanation.

◆India — everywhere, at every level
◆Thailand and Bali
◆Dubai and Abu Dhabi
◆Sri Lanka and Nepal

Easy, with a note ahead

Excellent vegetarian food exists; it just needs specifying rather than assuming.

◆Italy and Greece
◆Japan — temple cuisine is entirely vegetarian
◆Singapore and Malaysia
◆Mauritius and the Maldives

Worth the planning

Beautiful trips that need real work on the food, and are excellent once that's done.

◆France and Spain
◆Kenya and Tanzania on safari
◆Turkey and Morocco
◆Peru

Cruise ships

Better than most people expect, and entirely dependent on notifying the line in advance. Indian vegetarian and Jain menus exist on several lines but must be requested before sailing, not at dinner.

◆Celebrity and Royal Caribbean
◆Cunard and Princess
◆Expedition ships — ask before you book, not after

What gets arranged, and when

Almost all of it happens before you leave, which is the point.

While planning

Destination chosen with the food in mind

Not restricted by it — informed by it. Sometimes the honest advice is a different country for the same kind of holiday.

At booking

Requirements on every reservation

Hotels, restaurants, flights and cruise lines, with the specifics spelled out rather than a single word.

2 weeks out

Confirmed with the kitchens

A named contact at each property confirms what's arranged, so nothing depends on one email read months earlier.

On the trip

Restaurants already briefed

Reservations made with the requirement attached, so dinner starts with the menu instead of an explanation.

What this involves

I handle

◆Destinations and properties chosen with the food genuinely factored in
◆Written dietary specifics on every hotel, flight and cruise booking
◆Restaurant reservations made with the requirement attached
◆Kitchens re-confirmed shortly before you travel
◆Allergies handled with the same rigour, in writing
◆Honest warnings where a destination will be hard work

I don't

—Guaranteeing a kitchen's standards — I can confirm what's agreed, not cook it
—Certifying anything as religiously compliant; I arrange, you judge

I'd rather tell you a destination is difficult than sell you the trip and let you discover it at dinner. That honesty is most of the value here.

Questions people ask

Can you really arrange Jain food abroad?+

In much of Asia and the Gulf, comfortably. In Europe and the Americas it depends on the property, and the answer comes from asking specific hotels rather than assuming — which is exactly what I do before you commit to anywhere.

What about my parents, who won't eat outside food at all?+

Common, and workable. Options include apartments and villas with kitchens, hotels with an Indian restaurant on site, properties that will cook to instruction, and in some destinations a private cook. Worth planning around from the start rather than solving mid-trip.

Is a cruise a bad idea for us?+

Not at all, if the line is told before sailing. Several lines run genuine Indian vegetarian and Jain menus; a couple are poor at it. Which ship you choose matters far more than which itinerary.

Do you charge for this?+

No — it's part of planning the trip properly, not an add-on. The first conversation and the proposal are free.

We've had bad experiences before. Why would this be different?+

Because almost every bad experience traces to the same cause: the request arrived too late and too vaguely. Written specifics, per property, confirmed twice, is unglamorous and it's what actually works.

Tell me how you eat and where you'd like to go

Pure vegetarian, Jain, no onion or garlic, an allergy — whatever it is. I'll tell you honestly which destinations make it effortless, which need the work, and which I'd steer you away from for that trip.

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