Kim Giovacco founded her first vegan travel company, Veg Jaunts and Journeys, in 2016 and is now cofounder of the Ahimsa Travel Club. She recently spoke with me about the inspiration behind her first company and what her travelers can expect from the merger with Prachi Jain’s company, Escape To. Giovacco also discussed her expectations for the Ahimsa Travel Club’s future and her advice for those wishing to start their own companies. You can read our complete interview here. Below are some highlights from our conversation.

This post’s featured image is of Kim Giovacco in Florence.

Dynestee Fields: Before founding Veg Jaunts and Journeys, your original vegan travel company, in 2016, what had been your experience with traveling as a vegan, and were there any moments that stood out?

Kim Giovacco: I had been traveling as a vegetarian for 30 years, and I didn’t find that very difficult. But I never went on a group tour because I knew that there would probably be some activities that exploited animals, and I didn’t want to be at a restaurant with a group of people, and they would say, “Oh, here’s the one vegetarian option,” and it would just be a pasta dish and just the same thing all the time. 

I actually was trying to go vegan for 5 years. I didn’t know any vegans, and I found it a little bit difficult, and I always thought, “Well, I can just try to be vegan at home because I think it’s going to be very difficult when I travel.”

So a friend of mine had gone vegan overnight, and then she invited me to this vegan meetup. Then the people in that group were so helpful and told me about so many resources, and obviously, they wanted to see me become a vegan. Then it only took me 3 weeks after trying on my own for 5 years. So, I pretty much started the company right after that. 

DF: What exactly prompted you to found a vegan-focused travel company? Was it that you went vegan, and you thought that perhaps other people might like a similar experience? Was there a particular instance when the idea manifested?

KG: Yes. At that time, and this was in Massachusetts, I was on the board of getting a food co-op started. Do you know what those are? It’s like you own a grocery store with your community, right? The grocery store is not owned by a corporation. It’s owned by its members. So I was on the board for 3 years, and food co-ops are normally very vegan-friendly.

So while I was on the board of the food co-op that year for my birthday, my partner at the time arranged this 3 day trip over a weekend in New England where there’s a lot of food co-ops. So we were going to see new places, but we were also going to visit 12 food co-ops in one weekend, and that was in Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire.

After she gave me the card about what this experience was, I was in the shower. It just came to me, “Oh, I could do this for vegans. The way she planned a tour visiting food co-ops, I can plan a tour for vegans” [Laughs].

DF: Why should vegans and those curious about veganism travel with a company as opposed to traveling solo?

KG: Well, for the sense of community. Then also it’s very time-consuming to plan an itinerary

where you know that vegan food will be available. Because lots of times, vegan restaurants are not located near the center of the city or near major attractions. They might be more in the residential neighborhoods.

For example, there could be a half-day tour or a full-day tour that includes a meal, and in most cases, the meal is not going to be vegan. So, I would make sure that a special meal was arranged for everybody, or if the provider couldn’t do that, then I would make sure we’re just bringing our own bagged lunches.

Just in terms of general groups, sometimes there are activities that someone wouldn’t provide just for one person. Say it was some kind of a cooking class. You know, we might contact someone and say, “Oh, could you provide this vegan cooking class?” 

It wouldn’t be worth their while to do it for just one or two people. But once there’s a group of people, it becomes very attractive to them. So sometimes just having more clout as a group, and also as a form of subtle activism. 

      Giovacco and a group of her travelers in Singapore

DF: So, Veg Jaunts and Journeys recently merged with Escape To, founded by Prachi Jain, to form the Ahimsa Travel Club. When did you two meet, and how did the idea emerge of combining your two companies?

KG: She’s been doing tours to Mexico City for a long time, and Mexico City was on my list for quite a while. I didn’t feel confident tackling that on my own because it’s just a huge city. Last year, in February, I joined her Mexico City tour, which was the first time I ever joined a group tour that wasn’t my own.

I put on my Facebook page, “Oh, I’m going on Escape To’s Mexico City tour. Does anybody want to go?” Three of my clients came. Another client who I’m not Facebook friends with, she was there as well. So I didn’t know until I showed up, or until we had the orientation call, that she was also going to be there. So there were basically five of us that were clients of mine and that are now clients of Prachi’s. 

I kind of wanted to see how another company ran things, and I thought that the tour was really well organized, but Prachi wasn’t leading it because she’s done that tour so many times now that she can hand it off to other qualified people.

So then—actually, earlier this year, in the winter, in the spring—I wanted to sell my company. I’m not really tired of all the travel, but I’m a bit tired of being away so much, and I feel like I don’t have any time anymore for personal travel or to research new places. So, I thought about selling it, and I had some serious interest from a few people, but then Prachi contacted me.

She said, “What would you think about if we joined forces?” She said, “You’re the only vegan company I would consider doing that with,” and I felt the same way about her. 

I was starting to get a little apprehensive about just world politics and natural disasters and lots of things that weren’t in my control, and what if something bad happened when I’m leading a tour? I felt like if I could share those responsibilities with someone, that it would just make it a lot easier.

So we had several phone calls and decided that we’re just a really good match, and I would say our clients are pretty similar. But, surprisingly, we didn’t have a lot of overlap among our clients because I was mostly doing tours to Europe, and she was mostly doing India and Mexico, and she was wanting to expand to Europe. So it was really perfect for her that I already had so many tours in place.

I’m 62, and she’s only 40. So I think she has a lot of energy and ideas. So yeah. It’s just really exciting because I think that we can do a lot of bigger and better things together.

DF: How, if at all, will the Ahimsa Travel Club differ from Veg Jaunts and Journeys?

KG: It’s just gonna be bigger, which is really exciting. 

One thing that differentiates me, but we’re going to carry it over to Ahimsa, is my prices are based on people having their own rooms, which is very unusual. Almost every other tour company out there, you have to share a room with someone. Or you have to pay extra money to have your own room. So I told Prachi that my clients really appreciate that aspect, and she agreed that we can carry that forward to Ahimsa.

So I’m really happy about that because, of course, with my clients, one of the first things they asked when they heard about the merger was, “Will we still be having our own rooms?”

DF: Where do you hope to see the Ahimsa Travel Club in 5 to 10 years?

KG: Oh, I hope it’s the biggest vegan travel company in the world; I think it will be. And that we have even more clients than we do now because there’s still a very big, untapped market. Since I’m mostly doing tours to Europe, I don’t really have European guests. But we hope to get European guests going to South America and Asia.

I hope we’re just offering a lot more destinations because I have so many repeat clients. They’re always looking for new places to go.

DF: How close are you all to reaching that goal? Because I know you haven’t merged yet, but are you already near the top of the list with the largest in the world?

KG: I definitely think so, and we now have tours on all continents except Australia and Antarctica.

DF: Do you foresee a trip to Antarctica?

KG: It is possible now because there is one boat that can provide vegan options. I know I personally couldn’t do it because I know it’s really rough sailing for some of it. But I do think some people would be interested, and Prachi and I now have a lot of people helping us lead tours. So anything is possible.