Interview by Marissa Pendlebury
Emma Fry, owner and founder of Veganbnb Travel is an ethical vegan with a passion for travel which has grown into a successful and unique business. With years of experience travelling around the world, Emma found something missing in the UK market – a travelling company that could ensure an enjoyable, tasty and ethically sound holiday for vegans (and non-vegans!). Here, Emma discusses her personal interests and journey towards veganism and finding her niche.
1) How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Impulsive, Creative and Thoughtful.
2) What are your 3 favourite places around the world?
That’s so hard! Guatemala, Colombia and The Azores.
3) What are the 3 foods that you couldn’t live without?
Without a doubt, Guatemalan Arroz con frijoles (rice and beans), they are so simple but it’s the very first thing I eat every time I get back to Latin America. Avocados, I only have one ‘life rule’ which is that I only live in countries where avocados grow and can I get away with coffee?!
4) What inspired or motivated you to become vegan and when?
Essentially, I believe that living a vegan lifestyle is the most actionable thing we can do for the environment, for the animals and for the people on this planet, after many years of being vegetarian I became vegan when I was 26, 7 years ago now.
I started working in South America when I was 22 and I clearly remember being in Brazil, looking out over what makes up part of the Amazon basin and seeing huge areas of cleared land, when I asked my local guide what the land had been cleared for he looked at me, shaking his head and just said; Burger King, this was when I started thinking that to learn how to respect the environment, we need to be in it which is something I’ve been promoting now for many years.
5) Have you experienced any benefits since becoming vegan and can you describe some of these?
I think the benefits of being vegan are less about myself and more about the positive impact and outcomes of my lifestyle regarding animal welfare, the environment and the quality of life of people on all corners of the globe.
6) Have you experienced any challenges since becoming vegan, and if so what were these and how have you been able to cope with and overcome them
Being vegan is ever so challenging; deciding which tropical fruits to eat when I’m planning Self-Guided vegan Adventure Holidays in Central America, choosing which vegan restaurant to meet friends at when I’m in the UK for a flying visit, wondering if I should have vegan cheesecake or vegan ice cream for dessert it’s ever so hard!
There has never been a better time to go vegan than now. There are so many resources available, such as the VLA, and there are even vegan life coaches like Plantshift and dozens of recipes books and guides available. It’s a really exciting time to be part of the movement and especially as a vegan business owner.
7) Can you tell us a little bit more about the business you have started and what its core values are?
I love my business!
I spent over ten years leading adventure holidays in south and central America, Europe and Africa before switching from general adventure travel over to serving vegan traveller’s in 2012 when I set up Veganbnb Travel which offers guided vegan adventure holidays in Europe and Latin America.
One of the key areas of my business is to continue to identify ways in which I can make a difference, serve vegan travellers and promote the availability of a lifestyle in which people, animals and the environment are not exploited, one holiday at a time.
After three years of running guided vegan adventure and at the request of so many people, I’ve recently created Self-Guided Vegan Adventure Holidays which are specifically designed to help vegan travellers make the most of their time and resources, allowing their hard earned money to become part of an expanding conscious economy whilst remaining completely independent and flexible. Self-Guided Vegan Adventure Holidays will be available at the end of July.
My own personal core values which are also that of my business are to promote the availability of a lifestyle in which people, animals and the environment are not exploited, to create employment and to support local businesses and conscious economies.
8) What inspired you to set up this business?
I couldn’t find what I was looking for so I created it! I also feel that the philosophy of adventure is something everybody can take into their life, adventure is believing in something you can’t see, this is how change happens.
9) Where do you see yourself and your business in 10 years’ time?
I’ll definitely be travelling through a country or continent abundant in avocados and as the demand for independent vegan travel grows I would like to the think that I’ll have the whole of Latin America and Europe covered with at least two self-guided options available per country. I may also be planning the Vegan Entrepreneurs association but more on that in 2016, I’m already quite busy!
10) What advice would you give to someone else who is thinking about setting up their own vegan company, website or blog?
Go for it, do what you know, don’t forget to have fun in the process and don’t be afraid to ask for help, behind every successful individual is a community.
11) Where do you see veganism in 10 years’ time in the UK?
That’s quite a tricky question for me as I left the UK over fifteen years ago but I would like to think that there will be more products and services available to those who choose to live a vegan lifestyle, I think stock free farming will start to shift towards becoming the norm due to demand and consequently reduce the amount of factory farmed livestock required (hurahhh!). I would also like to think that more and more people will stop turning away from the issues affecting our planet because it’s more convenient and realise that we need to move and we need to move fast in order to create change.
12) How do you think the Vegan Lifestyle Association can help play a role in promoting a vegan/more compassionate lifestyle?
Its amazing resources and obviously all the lovely people running it! Although veganism is becoming more widely accepted and shedding its old stereotypes, it’s important for those interested in making a lifestyle change to have guidance, support and resources to do so, it could be the determining factor for people…
Check out Veganbnb Travel online and in our lifestyle directory.