I've lived in the US, Argentina, and one other country that's done wonders for my tolerance for long layovers. I've been to four continents and counting. I'm a semi-vegetarian with opinions about what counts as a real meal. These are my honest notes.
My international background: undergrad and master's with a Latin America focus, time living abroad, a career that had me paying close attention to how the world actually works, made me comfortable in places that feel unfamiliar. It also made me a pretty good judge of what's worth your time and what's just Instagram bait.
I'm semi-vegetarian, which in most of Europe means pasta, in most of Southeast Asia means paradise, and in parts of South America means having a very specific conversation at every restaurant. I've gotten good at navigating all three.
The goal of this page isn't to be a travel blog. It's to share what I'd actually tell a friend who's going somewhere I've been. The places I'd send you back to. The things I'd skip. The food that surprised me. The food that definitely didn't.
If you have a trip coming up that overlaps with anywhere I've been, or anywhere on my list, I genuinely want to compare notes. Real estate is my job. Travel is the part of life that makes the job worth it.
"I go places to understand them. Sometimes I also go for the pasta."
More to be added as I go. If you've been somewhere I haven't marked yet, tell me. I'm building the list.
Argentina runs on beef. This is not a rumor. If you don't eat meat, you are going to spend a lot of time saying "sin carne, por favor" and watching the waiter's face very carefully. That said, Buenos Aires has a growing vegetarian and vegan scene concentrated in Palermo and San Telmo, you just have to know where to look.
The vegetable empanadas are genuinely delicious and available everywhere. Cheese, onion, pepper, find a local panader铆a and eat these for breakfast. This is the correct breakfast.
Not for the food specifically, for the energy. Buenos Aires doesn't start until 10pm, which is disorienting at first and then becomes your whole personality.
Better than Argentina, trickier than Italy. Spain's "vegetarian" options often include jam贸n somewhere you didn't expect it. Ask twice. The tapas culture is your friend, you can graze your way through a meal very successfully.
Toast rubbed with tomato and olive oil. Fried potatoes with a sauce you'll think about for weeks. These are both vegetarian and both perfect. Order them every single time.
The beach neighborhood is great, but every tourist goes at noon. Come back at 7pm when it calms down, find a spot, and watch the light. This is the version worth seeing.
Italy is where picky vegetarians thrive. The pasta is vegetarian by default (just ask about the broth). The pizza is vegetarian by default. The bread is perfect. The coffee is perfect. This is the destination I recommend without caveats.
Pasta, black pepper, pecorino. That's it. In Rome, done correctly, it is one of the best things you will ever eat. Order it everywhere and rank them. This is a valid vacation activity.
Yes, go. But go at 6am before anyone else arrives. You'll have it to yourself for about 15 minutes, the light is better, and you'll understand why people love it instead of resenting the crowd.
Gallo pinto, rice and beans, is the national breakfast and it is excellent and it is vegetarian. The fruit situation is unreal. Fresh-squeezed juice exists at every price point. You will be fine, possibly better than fine.
Skip the resort food. Find a soda, a small local spot, and order a casado. It's a full meal plate and the vegetarian version with plantains, beans, rice, and salad is genuinely great and costs almost nothing.
I am not particularly outdoorsy. And yet Costa Rica converted me temporarily. The cloud forests are actually magical. The wildlife shows up when you're not even looking for it. Don't skip this part.
Mexican food is far more vegetarian-friendly than Americans tend to assume, because in the US we've mostly eaten Tex-Mex. Beans, quesadillas, vegetables, salsas, elotes. The challenge is that lard shows up in places you don't expect. Ask.
Mercado de Jamaica, Mercado Roma, wander the food stalls and eat things you can point at. The vegetarian options are abundant and genuinely excellent once you get past the protein-heavy items up front.
Not compared to other Latin American cities. Compared to anywhere. The dining scene in CDMX rivals any major global city. This surprised me and shouldn't have.
Southeast Asia, Portugal, Colombia, and hopefully Japan are all on the near-term radar. If you've been somewhere I haven't covered and have recs for a vegetarian who has strong opinions, I'm listening.
Hard-won lessons from years of international travel as someone who will not just "try anything" to be polite.
In Spain it might include fish. In much of Latin America, chicken broth is invisible. Learn the local word for "without meat" and use it specifically. "Sin carne" in Spanish. "Senza carne" in Italian. Go further than "vegetarian."
Across almost every culture, breakfast skews vegetarian-friendly by default. Bread, eggs, fruit, dairy, pastry. This is your best meal to get right every day without negotiation. Don't skip it.
At a market, you can see exactly what's in front of you before you commit. No translation needed. Point, nod, pay. This is how I've eaten well in countries where I had maybe 40 words of the language.
I keep a note on my phone with "I'm vegetarian, I don't eat meat or fish, please let me know if a dish contains either" in the language of wherever I'm going. Showed on my phone. Works everywhere.
Every time. The place you found because you were tired and it was the closest thing that looked reasonable. Stop optimizing every single meal. Walk in when it feels right. This is not a strategy, it's just the truth.
You're assessing a place for what it actually is, not what it looks like in photos. The same instinct that makes me good at real estate makes me a decent traveler: I want to understand what's really there, not just what's presented.