Sean O’Callaghan started blogging—yes, blogging—under the moniker Fat Gay Vegan in 2010. He had already been a vegan for more than a decade, a vegetarian before that, and he wanted to help make it easier for people to find high-quality vegan food, particularly in London, which is where he lives most of the time.
“There was a real trend for blogs to have three-word names like Running Yoga Mom or something like that, and I joked with a friend, ‘I’m fat, I’m gay and I’m a vegan.’ I started blogging every day, reviewing restaurants and products, and writing about social justice issues,” says O’Callaghan. “I wanted to be an authentic voice. I wanted to support independent businesses, and I wanted the blog to help people feel celebrated in veganism or when making compassionate choices. And I wanted it to be very DIY. There’s a social media side of things now, but otherwise, I don’t think it’s changed at all. I still blog every day. It’s still badly written and sometimes poorly thought out, but it is an authentic voice and it’s me.”
O’Callaghan published a book about his life as a fat, gay vegan, and currently co-hosts a podcast called Tell Me Where I’m Going (Wrong), available on YouTube, where he chats with his ex about life, love and pop culture.
Pink Ticket Travel caught up with O’Callaghan to ask his advice on how to be vegan while travelling, especially to destinations that are more meat obsessed than others.
How have the availability of vegan options changed since you started blogging 15 years ago?
I have seen monumental shifts. The biggest, most obvious one is the availability of vegan options in non-vegan restaurants. It used to be that when you came to the U.K.—or anywhere; I’ve travelled all around the world—you wouldn’t easily find vegan options in non-vegan restaurants. You would really have to hunt for specifically vegan restaurants and cafés to be able to have a meal outside your home or outside the place you were renting. Now it’s tough to find vegan-only places because all of the mainstream restaurants have so many amazing, readily accessible vegan options, sometimes a separate vegan menu that you can ask for.
It’s a double-edged sword—a blessing and a curse—because obviously one part of what I’ve been fighting for, as a vegan activist and a community organizer, is to have more vegan options available. So, on that hand I’m happy that it’s gotten easier for people to make those choices. But there’s a broader problem with capitalism in general: when you take something and make it mainstream, it locks a lot of independently owned businesses out of the scene. We have lost a lot of independent vegan businesses over the last five to 10 years because of the mainstreaming of veganism.
Speaking narrowly from the traveller’s perspective—that is, someone who may not know what’s what in a destination—the idea of being able to walk into any place and order a vegan meal sounds much more appealing than having to do the research to find one of the finite number of vegan restaurants around where you’re staying.
For sure. I’ve often relied on the vegan options at restaurants because sometimes you’re in a city or town where there isn’t a vegan restaurant. I was recently at Disneyland Paris, and the amount of vegan options inside the park was just staggering. Now there weren’t any full vegan restaurants, but every restaurant, every food outlet inside Disneyland Paris had at least one or two, sometimes more vegan main options, as well as sides. It makes being a compassionate traveller simpler and makes it easier for people to dabble in veganism or plant-based eating.
You’ve mentioned the U.K. and Disneyland Paris. You give London, Mexico City and Brisbane as your home bases. Have you noticed things changing in, say, Mexico City? I think of Mexico as very much a carnivorous society.
I’ve lived in Mexico City on and off a few times. My husband is from Mexico City. It’s incredible. An extremely vegan-friendly city. One of the vegan capitals of the world, I think. Obviously if you go outside of Mexico City, into the countryside, it stops being as easy. But you will find dozens and dozens of 100 percent vegan restaurants and food outlets in Mexico City. It’s a big city, and where there are more people, you’re going to have more choices. I’m originally from Brisbane, Australia, which is a city of about 2.5 million people. But there are maybe 12 vegan restaurants there, which is a sizable number. Then you go somewhere like Berlin, a bigger city, and it is overrun with vegan restaurants, cafés and completely vegan supermarkets.
When you travel, what are your strategies for finding vegan options?
There is a website, a user-driven database of vegan places, including health food and clothing stores, called Happy Cow, which has been around for a few decades. It is the go-to tool for vegan travellers. Being on social media will help you find options, too. On social media, we’re inundated with information.
If you’re having trouble finding meals labelled as vegan, are there, say, kinds of cuisine or types of restaurants that are more likely to be vegan? Obviously a steakhouse might be out of the question, but perhaps Thai food? Indian food can be good for vegetarian options, but it often has a lot of dairy.
I’m one of these fussy, finicky vegans who probably wouldn’t feel comfortable asking them to take the chicken stock out of a dish because I wouldn’t believe that they were going to do it. I don’t like to walk up and say, “Hey, can you make that vegan?” I need to see it listed on a menu as a vegan option. But I’ll say that in many Chinatowns around the world, you will often see vegan options marked on the menu. So that’s often a failsafe for travellers looking for plant-based foods. You’re right that in Indian food, you’ll find that ghee—clarified butter—is used a lot. But there are a lot of Indian restaurants in London that have great vegan options.
Have you ever tried to coach a restaurant in making a vegan version of something for you, and has it ever worked?
I believe it can work, and I know lots of vegans who travel like that. But no, I don’t do it. It’s very rare in 2025 to not have those options clearly marked.
But let’s say there aren’t so many appealing options.
The thing with the internet is that we really don’t have to guess anymore. We can know everything that’s available before we get there. If I’m unsure or if it looks like there aren’t many vegan options in a destination, I’ll adapt my accommodation, so that I can be sure I have a kitchen where I can prepare my own meals. I’m happy with that. I’m not one of those people who don’t feel like I haven’t travelled if I haven’t eaten the food. For me, my backup plan is traveling with snacks.
I know you write about lots of restaurants, and there are always new ones doing interesting new things, and it may be hard to pick favourites. But I’m going to ask anyway. What are two restaurants in London you’d recommend?
Unity Diner (60 Wentworth St., London) is a 100 percent vegan restaurant in the Shoreditch area. It’s a not-for-profit that raises money for an animal sanctuary and it serves delicious comfort food. As well as main meals, there are burgers, hot dogs. They have a wonderful cocktail and mocktail menu. It’s a world-class place to eat and I highly recommend it. Interestingly, directly opposite their front door is another vegan restaurant-café. It’s a Scandinavian café called Dauns (77 Wentworth St., London). Their food is exquisite. They have “meat” balls and mash and gravy, toasted sandwiches, vegan cheese, a pastry selection, wine and cocktails. So just on this little street, you’ve got two of the best places in London opposite each other.
How about Mexico City?
Obviously people think of tacos and taquerias, and one of my favourites is a place called Por Siempre Vegana (C. Manzanillo 18 and Coahuila 169, both in Roma Nte., Cuauhtémoc, Ciudad de México). They have a truck-like cart on the street and also a more sit-down style restaurant with absolutely sensational vegan tacos. They do all of the traditional street food that you would find in Mexico City, but done vegan. Then there’s Café Vegetal (Enrique Rébsamen 364, Narvarte Poniente, Benito Juárez; and Av. Río Churubusco 310-local C, Del Carmen, Coyoacán, Ciudad de México). They have two locations. It’s an exquisite place for not only savory food but also their cake selection. They do traditional Mexican sweet breads like conchas, which are very difficult to find done vegan.
And the place where you started out, Brisbane.
The Green Edge (2b/229 Lutwyche Rd., Windsor Queensland) is a vegan supermarket with a wonderful café attached to it. You can buy everything you need grocery wise, then sit down and have milkshakes, toasted sandwiches, pasta.
How would you describe your travel style?
I am a minimalist. I don’t take a lot of things with me. But I like to plan, and I know that there’s going to be good food and the creature comforts that I like when I get there. If I’m going somewhere for only a couple of days, I like to travel with just a backpack. That can be a bit problematic because until recently, I couldn’t take liquids in my cabin luggage, so if I wanted to use vegan shampoo, deodorant or toothpaste, I’d have to pay for a stowed bag. One of the things we’re seeing, though, is the rise of vegan accommodations, vegan hotels and B&Bs, which are done through a vegan lens. So the shampoos,conditioners and soaps don’t contain any animal ingredients and are not tested on animals. Some will make sure no animal materials were used in the furnishings and also that the cleaning products will not have been tested on animals. You might be sitting on a leather armchair, but it might actually be treated cactus.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
