My nose pressed up against the glass,

I watched with heartache as my VGML got loaded onto the plane without me.

Tale as old as time, our flight plans were in disarray.  (Very) long story short, but we got bumped.  And my vegan meal left for Madrid solo.

C’est la vie!

We stayed overnight in Toronto and had a blast sipping wine and people watching at a patio table on King Street – it was opening night of TIFF!

Next morning, we boarded our Air Canada flight to Madrid.

Ahhhhhh…. POD LOVE♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Despite chatting with flight attendants and a concierge the day prior, no one could accommodate my vegan needs (womp womp).  Pass the prosecco.

I gobbled up the salad, bread, and picked around the salmon dish (giving the salmon and mayo blobs to my bf).

–

On the return, we were upgraded from Premium Economy to Business, so they didn’t have an extra VGML meal loaded on the first flight segment.  However, on the other international and domestic segments, my plates were all vegan and delish:

Grilled veg, fruit, and curries were all on point √

So, WHAT happens when you’re stuck on a flight that hasn’t been loaded with your precious VGML?

Think you can gorge on all those delicious bread rolls and EVOO?

Answer: NO!

*** I tweeted Air Canada/Air Canada Rouge and received the following reply:

In retrospect, it’s apparent that the bread on the VGML tray is different – wrapped up, smaller, cold, and log-like (unlike the warm, doughy, delicious rolls they serve to everyone else). *Sidenote: I can never wrap my head around why it is necessary to add dairy/eggs to bread. But that rant is for another time. 😉

So there you go.  No warm bread (sulk).  FRUIT is your answer.  EAT FRUIT – it’ll keep you hydrated, anyway.   And mixed nuts.  And if you’ve been a traveling vegan for some time now, you will already know how imperative it is to PACK SNACKS!  I’m a slow learner.

All in all, VGML is your best friend while in the air.  Make sure you specify that you want a special meal at the time of booking (or at least 24hrs in advance, to spare yourself the gamble).

>>This is an awesome article with important info about VGML, special meal codes, and how they differ between airlines!<<

Happy travels, fellow Earthlings!♥