A digital nomad experience can lead to changing the world in some way that you possibly can.
In my case, these are the actions to take whilst traveling and working remotely:
- Plant-Based Vegan Diet.
- Recycling.
- Travel local. Choosing Ground-based transportation over the aviation.
- Reduce shopping significantly. Dress simply and retro.
- Write about it in my blog. And talk about it with others.
- Go Zero waste. And consume a lot less.
- Inform me on the subject of climate change.
- Conserve energy.
In this post, I will specifically talk about my Vegan experience in Belgrade, Serbia.
I turned out to be Vegan 6 months and 10 days ago. And it has been an incredible journey that has changed my life for the better. From the ethical and the health perspective.
Why do I do this?
Climate change is real. And it is here now. Our individual actions are very important. They may be a small drop in the ocean of the wide systemic changes. But collectively we can change the world.
If you are reading this. My job is done. Because my goal is to inspire others to do the same if you choose to. And you find it a cool thing to try out to save the planet.
My relationships with the environment have been inspired by the life I have spent in New Zealand. And I have learned about recycling a lot. As well as simple things such as the use of the paper bags instead of the plastic ones. It may seem basic but these things are not simple to implement.
My journey is always changing and I am learning myself. Because when you embark on this journey you quickly realize that you can only make gradual changes over a short period of time before they sustain themselves. And then you can go to the next level.
To me, the order was as follows. Learning and practicing recycling. Sorting materials into these different categories. Then I went vegetarian. Then I became vegan. And then I have started to use less plastic. And almost reduced my consumption that I do not use packaged products. Then I started to look into calculating my carbon footprint in order to stay within the 0.6t CO2 emissions. And have changed my transport and travel plans based on the aspect of sustainability. Now I am traveling by bus. And I am traveling to a nearby country to keep my path to be highly optimized in terms of resource management. And keeping the energy use to be as efficient as possible. I have also made an attempt to inspire my one chosen family member to do it. Because they have not caused harm to my soul. So I had to help them to escape the suffering of what we went through together. It was not easy but also was. Because in Belgrade the supermarkets are highly adapted for the transition to become vegan. And I will talk more about my experience in Belgrade from a scientific perspective. What I have noticed is that it is a type of human psychology that requires focus and commitment. And when you try to help others to do it you feel that you may compromise going zero waste as your brain can only focus on being vegan. And it takes a lot of energy, time, talk, and positive emotions in order to make the transition happen. And then the next level could be zero waste once you become vegan. But when I have tried. to do everything at once, I have found that behavioral change can lead to a lot of stress.
Behavioral change model
If we look into the behavioral change model it makes sense why. It is so difficult to change. We sometimes are simply not aware of why we would have to change. And then it takes time for the behavioral change to sustain itself to avoid any rebound effect. Because it actually takes time to proactively maintain behavior before it becomes part of daily life over the course of several months and years.
In Belgrade, I was specifically focused on a Vegan diet. And researching the products that would be a great taste, and style for cooking. It sounds boring at times to be focusing on such a topic. But in reality, when you try to do this you can quickly realize that this is not a simple action to take on a consistent basis.
The place where I could shop was the local convenience store. Lidl supermarket and the Hypermarket.
This has become my sort of ecosystem of vegan products. Each of them did lack something the other had. And vice versa.
It is also important to note that when you are to apply the behavior to your life it is critically important to keep the sources of your food to be restricted to a limited amount of food stores. So you can develop a sustainable system over the course of the first month. That you can rely on in the future.
In other words, from the artificial intelligence, data science, and machine learning perspective, you are training on data from a limited field. And deploy behavioral change within the restricted boundaries. As humans, we learn and adapt quickly. Especially when we are protected from failure. Once you illuminate cafes and restaurants and communicate with others to explain the deep knowledge about climate change on a wider scale to those who aren’t willing to change, you do your own individual actions to produce transformation in your life. And once behavior is consistent you can go and expand the field. Everyone can say that it is all about your flexibility and creativity. But in reality, the easier it is the task the easier it is to solve it and sustain it. If you go zero waste, stop buying plastic, and go to vegan cafes only to discover the use of micro-cooking ingredients that are on the arguable spectrum, you will be making too many mistakes. And the real change would not happen. If you limit the field it is simpler to make gradual changes. I have noticed it is at least a one-year commitment to transition. And when you involve others it takes a lot of error to correct as human behavior is generally consistent.
I am going to quickly mention a few things before I start covering the details of the vegan experience in Belgrade, Serbia.
I am not going to talk about cafes and restaurants because I do not normally go to these places. And I love home cooking. I also enjoy single-product testing and trying. I am not going to talk about the introduction to becoming vegan. All this you can find online based on your specific interest.
Here are some useful links that would help you to get started:
https://www.vegansociety.com/
https://co2.myclimate.org/en/flight_calculators/new
The truth is when decide to go vegan you feel so amazing that you never want to go back. I also have not noticed any significant impact on the level of performance in sports that I do. Or any other issues to do with my health. As it is only improved.
Although it is important to look at the labels it is key to know that a lot of products in their natural form are vegan.
Belgrade itself I found is a very cool city. That is very progressive. And can offer a lot to the visitor. One of the reasons I do my own research and practice into climate actions is I want to bring meaning to my journey as a digital nomad.
I will start with the basics and go in a linear fashion about my journey of vegan experience in Belgrade. To begin with, my goal was to go to zero waste. And I have started to get the gear to shop with my own reusable bags. I have found the bamboo toothbrush to switch to. And got myself equipped with a plastic container to purchase legumes.
Also, my Airbnb was set up with this cool plant that kind of reminds me of the green planet Earth. I found the visual cues are very important factors in making the behavioral change. And this confirms why vegan products are designed better. As they are sitting on the cutting edge of the innovation.
Every choice matters as we do our part. Knowing that you can pick the toilet paper in the paper-wrapped package that would better dissolve when it goes into the soil is just a matter of going after a different sort of brand in the shop.
Of course, you have to be strategic enough to know and be smart about the key three food stores you are to arrange your grocery sourcing. Knowing that you can rely on the sustainable choices in this particular supermarket is very important. Because your thinking about climate action is way above your involuntary and automated behavior. So you have to use willpower and resilience to say no things. Never go into the compromise to a degree that does not produce issues. Delay purchase decisions. Spend time doing research into the products. And performing your grocery sourcing in multiple shops where you know these specific things are present. By doing so design the perfect eco-system for your sustainable and ethical choices.
This shop called DM is all over Belgrade and it is half pharmacy so you can find a wide range of vegan food options in it. Because it is specialized in Bio and vegan products:
Many people who turn vegan think this is going to be a limited diet. Sure, Belgrade is a big city. And the options are rich. And it can become your reason to travel in order to go vegan. To only then realise how much of the organic produce of the natural fruit and vegetables you just buy as is in all normal shops. I would say vegan alternatives are only best when you are to transition from a normal to a vegan diet in order to keep on experiencing positive emotions. It can actually be even more fun because you are trying something new.
Here in Belgrade, we were able to try everything vegan that you would even think can be. Ranging from meatballs, burger patties, cutlets, nuggets, ham, tofu, yogurt, hummus, ice cream and cakes. I have not experienced any deficit in the diet. These products are also rich in vitamins and minerals. But at the same the ones that are much better for your heart health, blood pressure, and weight management.
This cool milk is the best thing to have as it makes your coffee feel amazing whilst you are getting the nutrients that are good for your body. That is low fat.
Perception plays an important part in turning vegan. Because you are training your brain to notice new things. And the Vegan labels are critically important. As they become your navigation signs in the store. I have even started to collect these labels to give myself an extra level of awareness about the vegan diet. You can sometimes see these sorts of visions of animals formed naturally in the design. Knowing that our connection to animals and insects is very important when it comes to the ethical aspect of food choices.
Of course, these things may not be real. And just a confirmation that our perception is changing based on our search experience. As this becomes a hidden form of activism. And the type of language people who are vegan can understand. Whether they are real or not, these all help the mental help to feel much more in harmony with nature. And it is also key to visit something like a botanical garden, or simply go for a hike in order to connect with nature. And understand the world of plants better. To know how much power they actually have.
You also learn to choose cardboard over plastic. And plastic over metal. Apart from the caps on the glass bottles I have stopped buying metal-based packaged products such as canned food. As everything is available to be cooked with natural bulk foods.
These are the products to get yourself equipped with when you go next level to become zero waste. At the same time, the goal is of course to do both. And the order is designed by you. But getting a good flask bottle is a good starting point.
In conclusion, I would say it was a very cool experience to try to help the family member go vegan. And it was a successful journey. We never rebound or looked at the other foods. A vegan diet is great. And it has a lot of health benefits. It also helps to save the planet. It is important to understand that you are part of the bigger global mission when you make choices in the grocery shop. And your individual choices can make a difference.
It starts with an individual wanting to make the world a better place. And act from an ethical perspective. To be better themselves and help others to change. Inspire and inform. It is also important to note that it is possible. And it is fun. It is also can be a cool experience because design helps.
Belgrade is a great place to become vegan. And I highly recommend this city for vegans. A wonderful and progressive place to be in.
It is important to know that when you shift to a plant-based diet you are significantly reducing the use of multiple planetary resources. And also help animals to live better lives. When you go to zero waste our oceans and land become clearer. I found the cause-and-effect link between your choices and your thinking is critically important to inform your choices.
Even my drinking cup here in Airbnb in Serbia had a sort of pattern of microplastics floating in the ocean to subconsciously remind me about the better food choices I make on a daily basis.
It made me happy to go vegan. My journey was not perfect. And I did make mistakes sometimes in the last 6 months. But only the minor ones that are simple to fix. I have noticed I experience happy emotions that I would never have experienced before.
I also believe that one of the mistakes I made was based on the data used to drive my purchasing decision. As the price was adapted. So you learn to be careful.
Especially to the scale of such. And I feel much more connected to nature and people than ever before.
Whether you are in Belgrade, or in the Balkans. Around the European Union or in the United States. Or anywhere else in the world. Australia and New Zealand. It is possible to go vegan now. And make the world a better place.
Educate yourself. Because there is a lot of useful information on climate change and the actions to take. There are mobile apps and websites to help you with your journey.
Through search, discovery, and change we can become someone new. If you are managing a chronic condition and want to prevent heart problems, contribute to the global cause. And become a better person as a result of this action. By all means, go and try out to be vegan for a month. I did not even realize how impactful this was going to be and how beneficial it is to make my life.
I wish you all the best. Go vegan. And the whole new world will open up for you!
Cheers, Oleg
