Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 7, 1994 TAG: 9409080029
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By CAROLE SUGARMAN THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Long
It's all in a day's work. These days, most of Zeigfinger's work is for vegetarians, from the casual to the militant.
After the minister's reservation is made, a woman wants names of vegetarian health spas. A group of animal-rescue workers needs the cheapest fares to flooded Georgia. An all-vegetarian family is looking for a meatless cruise of Greek islands.
``I saw a market out there,'' Zeigfinger says simply.
Anybody can order a vegetarian meal on a flight to Spokane, Wash. But when it's Zeigfinger who's sending off the airline ticket, the traveler also gets a list of local vegetarian restaurants. Zeigfinger also suggests hotels that will be the most accommodating.
What she provides is a sensitivity to and an awareness of what's available for the tofu-bent traveler. That's because for the past 11 years, Zeigfinger herself has been a vegan, shunning both meat and dairy products. ``Nothing that ever had a face,'' she says with a laugh, then corrects herself. ``Well, potatoes have eyes. Nothing that ever had a mama.''
Zeigfinger stopped eating animal products for ethical reasons; she also won't wear leather shoes and asks that a photographer not take her picture sitting on a leather chair. Still, the striking 37-year-old with Caribbean-colored eyes at least has a sense of humor.
She jokes that she's able to have an Imelda Marcos-sized closet of footwear, since man-made materials are so much cheaper than leather, and describes herself as ``the only weird one'' who works at the travel agency, where her desk is cluttered with animal trinkets.
The animal touches are no accident: Zeigfinger worked at an animal shelter before becoming a travel agent seven years ago. She thought the travel business would be a ``more uplifting'' job. Before that, she was a dog groomer, something she still does at night. In fact, some of the dog owners are her travel clients. And in some cases the dogs probably are, too.
But for the human kind of traveler, Zeigfinger can offer firsthand advice, at least for the places she's visited.
Her toughest trip? Alaska. She was stuck eating frozen vegetables.
Easiest? Belize, because of the country's large Asian and Indian populations.
Most surprising find? A vegetarian menu at a ``redneck truck stop'' near the Grand Canyon.
It's getting a lot easier to find meatless and even dairyless choices, particularly at large hotels and in metropolitan areas.
Wherever you are, Zeigfinger says, the hotel concierge should know of a local health-food store, which is always a good source for locating vegetarian restaurants. And many cities and countries have their own vegetarian societies that know of restaurants and resorts; Zeigfinger located a vegetarian society in a Costa Rican newspaper while on a Lacsa Airline flight to that country, and she recently wrote to such a society in South Africa, where she will be traveling in August.
What's more, Zeigfinger has found that carnivorous places will usually be accommodating so long as you call ahead. A few years ago Zeigfinger asked The Homestead to prepare a vegan cake (remember, no eggs or butter for vegans) for her birthday. And three years ago she had a Holiday Inn in Alexandria prepare an all-vegan menu for an animal legal-defense-fund conference she had booked. She even faxed the chef a bunch of recipes.
Plus, there is literally a whole world of resorts, vacation packages, bed-and-breakfasts, computer databases and specialty publications catering to the vegetarian traveler. It only makes sense, given the growing number of vegetarians and the many people who are eating less meat.
Zeigfinger has about a dozen books she regularly refers to, including ``Sarah Brown's Book of Vegetarian Britain,'' by Sarah Brown (Thorsons Publishers, 1989) and ``The Vegetarian Journal's Guide to Natural Foods Restaurants in the U.S. and Canada'' (Vegetarian Resource Group, 1993).
There's a vegetarian sailing cruise off the coast of Maine, women's wilderness canoe trips in Montana (vegetarians accommodated) and a shelter for abused farm animals in Watkins Glen, N.Y., with a bed-and-breakfast (continental vegan breakfast included).
Royal Caribbean Cruises offer a vegetarian menu, including Tempura-Fried Broccoli and Eggplant Garnished with Snow Peas and Oriental Noodles served with Sweet & Sour Sauce. Even Walt Disney World sells vegetarian burgers these days.
It's not hard to get a vegan meal on an airplane, either. Practically every airline offers both vegetarian and vegan options so long as the reservation is made at least three days in advance, according to Zeigfinger. (The animal-rescue workers headed for Georgia in a hurry had to pack their own.)
In fact, Zeigfinger used this to her advantage last May during a fare war. Because of the high volume of reservations being made, the computers often got overloaded, and All Ways wasn't always getting confirmations back from the airlines.
So Zeigfinger booked everybody with a vegetarian meal, since special meals, wheelchair reservations and other individual requests are much more likely to trigger airline confirmations. It worked.
by CNB