Meet Rebecca Gade Sawicki | Vegan Travel Queen

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rebecca Gade Sawicki and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rebecca, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
My path into the travel industry is unique.

Like many people, I took time during the pandemic to re-evaluate my career — I wanted to find a way to align it with my ethics in hopes of making this world a little kinder and greener.

But I struggled to find a job that ticked those boxes.

So, what does any college-educated person do when this happens, and they’re in the middle of a global pandemic? Well, they start a vegan travel blog and eventually leave their 15-year career in the dust!

Honestly, I thought starting the blog would just help me pivot my career — I knew it would force me to learn new skills and network with like-minded people, but it’s turned into much more.

Veggies Abroad is a full-service vegan travel company offering a comprehensive blog, one-on-one travel planning services, and vegan tours. The blog offers mouthwatering lineups of vegan food, action-packed travel guides, and trip tips so you can plan your entire veggie-filled vacation. If you don’t want to do all that work, you don’t have to, that’s where our travel planning services and tours come into play.

Building Veggies Abroad has become my form of activism. I have the opportunity to encourage businesses to make more sustainable choices and help travelers support companies that are making a difference. As an advisor and blogging queen, it is my goal to use travel as a tool for good.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As I mentioned, I started this journey because I wanted to make a career change. I honestly had no intention (or understanding) of building a buisness. It just naturally evolved over time, but it’s been hard as hell.

Sometimes, I am most proud that I haven’t quit!

On the flip side, I am so grateful that I have persisted because it has allowed me to grow my platform and reach a larger audience to talk about veganism, travel, and sustainability. I’ve had non-vegans come up to me and say that I’ve really made them re-think things or that I’ve left an impression on them. I hope that in time, they make changes and adopt a more cruelty-free lifestyle but in the end, when I hear that, I am incredibly proud of myself.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I actually created a vegan itinerary for Detroit for Visit Detroit, and it includes all of the best sights and things to eat! I also have a complete vegan travel guide to Detroit on my website.

Some of the highlights (and a few additions) include:

Brunch: The Kitchen by Cooking with Que or PJ’s Lager House (both vg-friendly)

Sights: Eastern Market, the Dequindre Cut, the Riverwalk, shopping in Midtown, The Detroit Institute of Arts, Motown Museum, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, have a drink in The Belt

Lunch and/or dinner: Seva, Trap Vegan, Grandma Bob’s (vg-friendly), Ima Noodles (vg-friendly), Neplanta (vg taco truck)

Sweets & treats: Cold Truth Softserve, Estella’s Vegan Dessert Boutique, Dooped Donuts, Bon Bon Bon (vg-friendly)

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?

Hands down, the one person who deserves a ton of credit is my husband, Matt. There have been plenty of times when I thought I was going to throw in the towel and he’s always there to push me forward and tell me to keep going. Aside from that, we’ve personally been funding all of the business expenses and that means things from month to month have been tight. I complain but he never does. I think he can often see the potential better than I can.

Website: https://veggiesabroad.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/veggiesabroad/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-gade-sawicki-9a62314/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VeggiesAbroad

Image Credits
Rebecca Gade Sawicki