What Are The Best Vegan Gift Ideas
This guide for vegan gift ideas should clear up any doubts and gives you some clear suggestions of great vegan gifts for her, vegan gifts for him, some practical vegan travel gifts and even a few funny vegetarian gifts.
I’ve aimed to include some unique items that your vegan friends might not have seen before so your gift will really stand out! Most items are under $50 and all are under $150.
I’ve been vegetarian for most of my life and know the plight of many of my friends and family when it comes to getting gifts for vegetarians especially travellers! There seems to be so many rules and labels and many people struggle to think of good gifts for vegans. I personally am vegan at home and tend to add dairy to my diet when I travel but still maintain a cruelty free stance when it comes to cosmetics and clothes. Other vegans and vegetarians have their own guidelines that they live by and it really is a very personal choice.
This makes coming up with vegan present ideas tricky! This guide for vegan gift ideas should clear up any doubts and gives you some clear suggestions of great vegan gifts for her, vegan gifts for him, some practical vegan travel gifts and even a few funny vegetarian gifts. I’ve aimed to include some unique items that your vegan friends might not have seen before so your gift will really stand out! Most items are under $50 and all are under $150. If you have any suggestions for a vegan friendly gift please let me know in the comments so I can add it to the list.
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Who could eat this little cute little guy?
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links included are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I may earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase.
What Not To Give A Vegan
Being vegan means different things to different people and there are many ways to live a vegan lifestyle. In a nutshell, Vegans seek to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose.
What this means for you when buying vegan presents is to avoid three main things:
Animal based foods like meat (inc. fish, shellfish and even insects), diary, eggs, and honey,
Non-food products that are made with animal materials, like fur, leather, silk, and wool, and
Products that have been tested on animals, usually common in cosmetics.
This can sound pretty complicated so to help you out here are some definite no-nos that are 100% not vegan friendly gifts that can seem like a good gift idea to the unsuspecting:
Beeswax candles
Makeup, bath or body products tested on animals or containing animal products
Jewellery with feathers or pearls
Down coats or bedding
Leather purses
Non-vegan wine or alcohol - some drinks can be filtered through things like bone marrow or fish bladders
Vegan Friendly Gifts
So now you know what not to give, here are some of the best gifts for vegans and of course these make great presents for vegetarians as well. For the traveller in your life, think small useful gifts they can take on the road or things they can use at home that will actually add value.
Vegan Gift Ideas - Gift Baskets
Vegan Gift Baskets
A gift basket or hamper is one of my favourite types of gifts! It’s like getting a bunch of different presents all in one and it can be very easy to make your own vegan hamper maybe using some of the suggestions on this page or by adding some of your friend’s favourite products.
A gift basket or hamper is one of my favourite types of gifts! It’s like getting a bunch of different presents all in one and it can be very easy to make your own vegan hamper maybe using some of the suggestions on this page or by adding some of your friend’s favourite products.
Here are great vegan gift baskets that you can find online from retailers like Etsy or Amazon.
Vegan Jerky Sampler Gift Box this is a great one to take as a snack when travelling!
Vegan makeup
Makeup is a very personal thing for most women but there are a few things you can buy that will be happily accepted and are generally universal. A great place to go to in person is your local Sephora store, they stock a lot of vegan makeup brands; or if you’re into online shopping you should find most on Amazon.
Vegan lipstick
Pacifica Devocean Natural Lipstick
Lime Crime Unicorn Lipstick
Zuzu Luxe Lipstick Allure
Urban Decay Sheer Revolution Lipstick
Too Faced Melted Liquified Long Wear Lipstick
Vegan Mascara
Stellar Gaze Length & Strength Mascara Supernova Top Choice on Amazon
Aquarian Gaze Water Resistant Mascara
Wet n Wild Mega Length Mascara
Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara
Vegan Makeup Brushes
Brushes are a really important part of a woman’s makeup routine and most people don’t realise that they’re traditionally made from animal hair, like squirrels, minks, and horses. Synthetic brushes are easy to find if you know what to ask for. Here are some of my favourite good quality vegan makeup brushes.
Qivange Makeup Brushes
Flawless Beauty 10 piece
Bamboo 4 piece
Ecotools Cruelty Free Set
Amoore Makeup Brush Set
Vegan Lip Balm
Hurraw! Lip Balms
Lush Key Lime Pie Lip Balm
Crazy Rumours Lip Balm
PETA Vegan Lip Balm
Eco Lips Bee Free Vegan Lip Balm
Vegan Hiking Boots
For the vegan traveller in your life, these could be the best gift you could get. I’m always on the hunt for a great pair of hiking boots that will travel well and last. There’s nothing worse than getting halfway through a trek, out in the middle of nowhere and have your boots fall apart.
For the vegan traveller in your life, these could be the best gift you could get. I’m always on the hunt for a great pair of hiking boots that will travel well and last. There’s nothing worse than getting halfway through a trek, out in the middle of nowhere and have your boots fall apart.
Finding a great pair of vegan hiking boots can be tough because they’re not always advertised as vegan. Here are my top three recommendations for great vegan hiking boots at three price points but still under $150 making it a perfect vegan Christmas gift to go under the tree.
Will’s Vegan Shoes
These boots are a great price from a company that is wholly vegan. I love how plain they are, as I’m not a fan of outlandish design or loud logos splashed across my clothes.
Check out the latest prices on Men’s and Women’s
Altra Lone Peak 3 Mid Neo Running Shoes
These shoes are a lightweight dream and get consistently excellent reviews online.
Check out the latest prices on Men’s and Women’s
La Sportiva Trango Cube GTX Boot
This award winner gets top reviews on Amazon and are full featured but still lightweight.
Check out the latest prices onMen’s and Women’s
Vegan cook books
Vegan Food Gifts
For the vegan chef in your life one of the best gifts you could give is one that helps them put together their own favourite vegan meals. Here are some of my favourite products for the kitchen and some of my favourite vegan cook books.
Vegan cook books
Thug Kitchen 101 (my personal favourite)
Beautifully Real Food: Guilt-Free, Meat-Free Recipes to Indulge In
The First Mess Cookbook: Vibrant Plant-Based Recipes to Eat Well Through the Seasons
Vegan for Everybody: Foolproof Plant-Based Recipes for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and In-Between
The No Meat Athlete Cookbook: Whole Food, Plant-Based Recipes to Fuel Your Workouts—and the Rest of Your Life
Clever kitchen items for vegans
Blender - for morning smoothies and healthy soups - Ninja Professional Blender
Food processor - for making dairy free pesto - Hamilton Beach 8-Cup Food Processor
Cast iron skillet- every kitchen should have at least one! - Pre Seasoned Cast Iron Skillet
Ice cream maker - give your friend the joy of dairy free ice cream - Cuisinart ICE-21
Pasta maker - egg free pasta at their fingertips - Marcato Atlas Pasta Machine (Made in Italy)
Cute and Funny Vegetarian Gifts
Here are some really extra ideas if you want to be really creative with your gift giving ;)
Hopefully this guide makes your shopping easy for your vegan loved ones. You should be able to find some great vegan birthday gifts or vegan Christmas presents that they will love.
Please let me know if you have anything you would like to add in the comments or if you found something new to buy!
Home made vegan dessert - yum!
Pin for later!
A Day Trip To Semuc Champey
If you’re up for a 6 hour bumpy ride into the middle of the Guatemalan jungle then I would suggest staying in Lanquin for 2 or 3 days, relaxing poolside at Zephyr Lodge and doing a day trip to Semuc Champey. The highlight of my time in Lanquin was visiting the Kam’ba cave system during the Semuc Champey day trip and putting on my Indiana Jones hat for a couple of hours. It was so much fun and months later I have not been able to stop talking about.
Semuc Champey is not easy to get to. It is out of the way and isolated but that’s part of its appeal. Imagine a jungle landscape with green as far as the eye can see and a beautiful turquoise natural pool in the middle.
If you’re up for a 6 hour bumpy ride into the middle of the Guatemalan jungle then I would suggest staying in Lanquin for 2 or 3 days, relaxing poolside at Zephyr Lodge and doing a day trip to Semuc Champey. I had a lot of fun wondering around the small town itself, hiking to the hill-top church and eating at the local eateries around town.
The highlight of my time in Lanquin was visiting the Kam’ba cave system during the Semuc Champey day trip and putting on my Indiana Jones hat for a couple of hours. It was so much fun and months later I have not been able to stop talking about.
Book your own local guide for your Semuc Champey tour here and read on for advice on how to get the most out of your trip and some Semuc Champey safety tips.
Semuc Champey Day Trip
All of the hotels and hostels in the area will offer a tour to Semuc Champey. It’s really your reason for visiting Lanquin and if you have the time, I recommend this as part of any Central American itinerary. Besides the main attraction of Semuc Champey, there are several other side activities that get to do on a day trip.
Cuevas de Kam'ba
At the time of my visit Zephyr Lodge had stopped offering the cave portion of the tour due to safety and theft concerns so a group of us just booked a complete tour through another hostel. Feel free to ask around but prices were all kind of similar.
One of the funnest things I have ever done in my travels was exploring the Kam'ba Caves at Semuc Chmpey and I’m so glad I took the gamble against my hostel’s warnings. It really isn’t the safest attraction and you are in the middle of the jungle in Guatemala so if you decide to do this trip then I suggest you walk and swim slowly and take your time when doing some more of the riskier activities. Also when walking through some of the darker section, keep a look out for sudden drops from the roof. Watch your head, there are no helmets on this tour!
Once you enter the caves, you are given a candle to light your way. No modern flashlights here! At the entrance the guides will decorate you with war paint fresh from the walls of the cave so it’s a good idea to be nice so you don’t end up with a moustache! Our guide joked it was bat poop but I chose to pretend it was something else.
I was quickly submerged in the cold cave water as we started the two-hour trek into the cave system. This wasn’t my favourite part as I don’t like the cold but I soon forgot about my discomfort when we got to our first adventure. Climbing a wood and rope ladder contraption that looked as old as the caves, one-handed, while trying to keep the candle away in the other hand.
There were a few spots where I actually had to swim through the cave when I couldn’t touch the bottom but luckily there was usually a rope to guide us along. These parts where I was fully submerged is where I got the majority of my bumps and scrapes from the stalagmites poking out from the bottom.
For the extra adventurous, there was an opportunity to scale up a rock face and dive into a deep pool below. I tried my best but I couldn’t get my little legs up there to even attempt the jump. I had also had more than my fair share of Guatemalan tostadas by then so I wasn’t in the best shape.
Halfway through I got to try the most challenging thing I had done in weeks, climbing up a mini waterfall by rope. With my candle down my bikini bottoms for safe keeping I had to scale a small cliff with water rushing into my face while looking out for the best foot holds. This was super fun and super scary. If this is too much for you, there is a slightly less challenging rope ladder that you can climb off to the side to help you get up away from the waterfall.
Towards the end of the trek you get to slide down a natural waterslide through a waterfall into a dark cavern. One of the guides stayed at the top to show you where to slide and one was down below to make sure you landed safely.
The cave tour was honestly worth the 6-hour ride to get to Semuc Champey on its own and its something I would do again in a heartbeat. My friend and I kept talking about how much fun we were having and that we wished we could stay longer. You don’t get much more fun and adventurous than this.
River tubing, bridge jumps and a rope swing
Once you’re out of the cave it’s time to relax. You can look forward to floating gently down the Cahabón River with a beer in your hand and a huge grin on your face. But first I was invited to try out the rope swing into the river. This one hurts if you don't land perfectly straight! Tuck your legs in while you’re swinging and make sure to let go at the end as it won’t be pretty.
Once we had floated all the way down to the rickety old bridge and had climbed out, we were invited to do one last jump - off the 10-metre high bridge into the river below. I had had enough adventure for one day and lunch was calling my name so I just watched the brave souls jump in and then struggle to swim back to shore in the current. What an exhausting morning!
Semuc Champey
After lunch, we walked across the bridge and entered the park of Semuc Champey. At this point you can just head straight to the main attraction and just relax or you can opt to do the one hour long hike to get to the view point so you can see the whole effect of these beautiful natural pools. Hiking through the jungle covered in war paint and a bikini is one thing I never imagined I would do but there I was, living the dream!
It’s a muddy hike up and very steep but once you’re up there it’s really quite breathtaking. Once you’re down you can pack away anything you don’t want to get lost in the lockers provided and can finally jump into the pools!
Semuc Champey consists of a natural 300 metre long limestone bridge, under which passes the Cahabón River. Atop the bridge is a series of stepped, turquoise pools that are perfect for exploring. My guide took us to some of the more impressive parts of the pools including showing us where we could safely jump from and the hidden mini caves including one that you needed to swim underwater to get to.
Semuc Champey is really beautiful and my photos don’t do the pools any justice. If you’re in Guatemala I really hope you don’t miss this trip.
Where to stay
I stayed at Zephyr Lodge. Zephyr is a great place to stay in Lanquin but does have its downsides. If you have the budget, their private rooms are great and include your own balcony overlooking the jungle. The dorms are hit and miss. Comfortable beds but the dorms located near the bar are noisy at night until the party dies down. The shared showers have their own individual view of the jungle which is kind of cool as do some of the toilets. Everything is very clean and well maintained.
The infinity pool is really the attraction here. The pool has a stunning backdrop and a swim up bar. There’s a large sun deck for perfect days relaxing by the pool with a strong drink as well as a hot tub with very restrictive opening hours. Overall I recommend Zephyr Lodge. It’s a good place to stay for a couple of days, you can relax or party and have a good place to rest your head after a long day at Semuc Champey.
You could consider staying at a hotel or hostel close to Semuc Champey. There are a few that sounded really nice and it means you can visit Semuc Champey more than once or for longer than we did on the tour. One friend recommended Utopia.
Check out TripAdvisor for some more options.
Never stayed in a hostel before? Read my posts on what to expect and your hostel packing essentials.
Other points
A good option is to use this as a stop over point between Tikal and Antigua.
Most travel agencies and hostels offer a shared shuttle service to Lanquin from Flores, Antigua or Lake Atitlan. Once you’re here an onward shuttle is just as easy to find. From memory, shuttles were a bit more expensive at Zephyr so if you’re feeling up to it you could walk into town and book something from another hostel or agency.
You don’t necessarily need a guide to just visit Semuc Champey. You can arrange a ride in town or try to hitch along the main road. Entry fee to the site is approx USD $6.
Stay safe by sticking to groups, not venturing off the path too far and be mindful of where your putting your feet and head in the caves.
You can pre-book a local guide for your Semuc Champey tour through Get Your Guide.
What do you think? Are Semuc Champey and the Kam'Ba caves worth the trip? Let me know in the comments below!
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The Ultimate Guide to Booking Affordable Travel On Your Own
I truly believe travel can be achievable for most people and you don’t need to fork out loads of cash to get someone to plan a trip for you. With a little bit of time and effort you can plan your own dream holiday yourself!
I’m just going to throw it out there. I love to travel. I love actually traveling and I love all the parts that come before, the planning, researching and booking. I could spend hours just planning the perfect route for the perfect price. This is no secret to people close to me and they take advantage of my madness by using me as their personal travel agent. There’s nothing more satisfying than helping someone who previously thought they couldn’t afford a trip to plan something that fits their budget.
I truly believe travel can be achievable for most people and you don’t need to fork out loads of cash to get someone to plan a trip for you. With a little bit of time and effort you can plan your own dream holiday yourself!
Over the next few weeks this travel series will highlight the most useful travel websites, apps and the process I personally use to book affordable flights, hotels and accommodations. Don’t forget to sign up to my newsletter to be notified on new posts! I also provide travel planning and travel coaching services so please get in touch if you need some help or are happy to let an expert take care of all of this of for you!
Part 1 - Top Travel Websites
Part 2 - Top Travel Apps
Part 3 - How to Find The Best Travel Deals
Part 4 - How to Plan a Trip on Your Own
