Q & A with VTA Founder and Board Member – Zac Lovas

What’s your travel experience?

I am originally from the USA but have been living my life out of a suitcase for around three decades. My work involves coordinating tours for Vegan Travel Asia by VegVoyages which takes me to different countries, predominantly in Asia. I have been travelling for the past 18 years for tours and the foundation works; the foundation work focuses on community-based programs and giving back to the communities we work with. It’s safe to say that I have a lot of travel experience.

What do you do at Vegan Travel Association?

I am on the Board of Directors at  the Vegan Travel Association

Tell us a little about your company.

Celebrating more than 18 years of vegan tours, Vegan Travel Asia by VegVoyages is a team of 5 close friends from 4 different countries and 4 different faiths, who have combined their diverse backgrounds and their passion for people, animals, veganism, cultures, travel and storytelling. We work closely with local communities to create tours that focus on bridging cultural gaps through storytelling, cultural immersion and local interaction while we enjoy 100% local vegan food along the way. The tours are community-based storytelling, meets travel, meets veganism – all in one. We started with 3 trips in India in 2004, now we are organising 27 vegan tours in 9 different countries every year

VegVoyages has won the World Travel Awards “Asia’s Responsible Tourism Award”, the International Travel Award’s “Best Sustainable Tour Company in USA” , “Best Vegan Travel Company in USA” and “Best Tour Operator in USA”  Awards, the Veggie Awards UK “Best Ethical Innovation Award”, and the Green Festival America’s “Best Brand” and “Green Dream ” Awards.

We are also the first vegan tour company ever to be nominated in the history of the World Travel Awards and the first vegan tour company to win a World Travel Award. This year too we made history by winning it consecutively for the second year in a row

Carryon or check-in?

Check-in  and carry-on size both. I prefer one set to carry on.

Do you use packing cubes?

I don’t use packing cubes. On one side, I put the exact order of everything I’m going to wear, on the other dirty clothes in a waterproof laundry bag, first aid kit and toiletry bag. I’ve been told that this packing style is kind of military style. Military meaning in field ruck sacks each day’s outfit folded together. I didn’t know that until someone told me that how I packed was the same.

Describe your perfect vacation in one sentence

Anywhere and everywhere I can learn something new that helps me understand the world we all share a little better – new cultures, traditions, communities, histories, cuisines, eco-systems, you name it and all the above. That’s the perfect vacation for me. And that doesn’t necessarily mean going to new places. On the contrary, some of the newest things I learn are from communities and places I’ve been visiting for years.