After an 8 month break from the show, we're back with updates on how we've been dealing with the chaos of 2020. More specifically, we discuss our plans for the podcast moving forward, the challenges of moving to Slovenia, and farm life vs city life.  It feels nice to get back on the microphone and connect with you and each other. We hope you enjoy the episode! Are you looking for more? Submit your question or topic suggestion at https://theminimalistvegan.com/podcast/ Visit the show...

With all that is currently happening in the world, do you find yourself paying attention to the news more? Or have you always kept up to date with local and international affairs? We have felt judged on many occasions for choosing to opt-out of keeping up with current news stories. It’s been considered selfish and ignorant. In this week’s podcast episode, we discuss how we have willfully ignored news for years and haven’t felt like we have missed out on what happens. We also look at the...

Let’s just come out and say it. Veganism is stigmatised. Yes even in 2020. It’s been a while since we became vegan, so we’re a little out of touch. But every now and then, we see the comments. “Ah, there go those vegans again.” “Those bloody vegans are everywhere.” It’s subtle, but it’s there. We wonder, is this stigma creating a barrier for more people to be vegan? Are people merely not trying a vegan lifestyle on the principle of not being those “people” instead of focusing on the...

Fundamentally, humankind and nature are connected. We’ve built infrastructure and technologies to co-exist with nature. However, we routinely disrupt nature to exist and evolve. With such advancements, it’s easy to draw a rift between yourself and our natural environment. There’s a connection to our surroundings that’s magical, but most of us choose to neglect it, sometimes unknowingly. Our theory is that if we become immersed in the beauty of nature, we’ll appreciate it more and thus...

We know we say it all the time, but minimalism has changed our lives in ways we didn't think was possible. But for all of the clutter we've reduced and money we've saved, it's the essentialist mindset of minimalism that has been perhaps to most valuable gift. Although minimalism as a lifestyle has gained momentum in the last decade, we often wonder what the future of minimalism looks like. Does it have a future? Or is minimalism merely a trend that will eventually go away? In this episode,...

Entrepreneurship has exploded over the last couple of decades, as starting a business has become more accessible through the internet. What used to be super-professional business people in a suit or your mom and pop store down the road, has evolved to high-profile tech entrepreneurs with billions of capital in their 30s. With such a shift in business, it seems like everyone has a side hustle with the hopes of generating a part-time or full-time income from their project to escape their...

We recently watched The Game Changers, which follows James Wilks (ex MMA fighter) around the world as he finds links between physical performance and a plant-based diet. We couldn’t help but notice that this documentary was marketed heavily to men who are sceptical about trying a vegan diet. The Game Changers got us thinking deeply about why men, in particular, seem to resist veganism more than women. This is not just coming from us. Numbers show time and time again that between 63-79% of...

Can minimalism and Christmas co-exist? The product of Christmas means to consume at incredibly unsustainable rates, and minimalism promotes the opposite. But Christmas is also a time to have enriching experiences with those nearest and dearest to you. Our approach to minimalism at Christmas has changed year to year, and in this episode, we share what we’ve learned how we plan to refine the experience. There are many minimalist principles that we can implement and learn from at this time of...

Today we continue our conversation about how to transition to a vegan lifestyle.  In the previous episode, we covered the mindset you need to go vegan, different approaches, and how to prepare vegan meals. In this episode, we discuss tips for eating out, going beyond food, dealing with friends and family, and how to get started with animal activism. We hope you enjoy pt. 2 on how to transition to a vegan lifestyle. Are you looking for more? Visit the show notes at...

Going vegan at first can feel completely overwhelming, especially if you’ve been used to consuming animal products your whole life. What can I eat? Where do I find products? Is it going to cost me more? Is it going to be any good? What will my friends and family think of me? While there can be some natural resistance to going vegan, it doesn’t have to be hard. There are so many resources to help your transition into veganism be accessible and empowering. In this episode, we’re going to...

Just when you feel like you’ve simplified, complexity has an uncanny way of creeping back into your life. Even though some situations call for things to be complex. More often than not, complexity manifests as overwhelm, clutter, burn out and a lack of results. Simplicity is beautiful but elusive. You need to continually fight for it as the world is designed to make your life complicated. In this conversation, we discuss our ongoing battle for simplicity. We know how good it feels to live...

We’ve been working full-time in The Minimalist Vegan for seven months now, and we thought we’d give you an update on our progress so far. It's only been such a short amount of time but feels like so much longer. In this conversation, we talk about if Michael is still eating one meal a day, an update on our plans to move overseas, our overall health, how we stay productive, and how we're feeling about the podcast. Sometimes it's helpful to pause and check-in with yourself to see if you're...

The final quarter of the calendar year represents holiday season or festive season in many cultures around the world. Consumerism is at it’s highest as this is the money-making quarter for many businesses selling consumer goods. Not only that, but this is also the quarter where most animals are exploited and slaughtered for human consumption.  In such a confronting time of the year, what can you do to have a good time as a vegan? And if you’re not a vegan, how do you ensure you continue to...

We decided to shake things up and take you behind the scenes on how we became full-time bloggers. The journey to becoming a professional blogger isn't as glamorous as it sounds and it often takes multiple attempts before finding something that works. We were lucky to find a topic and audience that we feel so strongly about, which ultimately helped us to persevere through the ups and downs. In this episode, we share how we get started with blogging, what worked and what didn't, and finally,...

We hear it all the time. “I only buy ethically sourced meat” or “I only support food from animals where they’ve been killed humanely.” We used to think this way before we became vegan. We didn’t like the idea of killing animals for our consumption so we wanted to at least ensure it was done with some compassion. As vegan’s we’ve never investigated how farmed animals are typically killed. It’s not exactly an exciting topic. It’s quite the opposite.  But we felt it was important to...

Physical clutter can be incredibly overwhelming. Clutter on bench tops prevents you from getting full functionality out of your furniture. Clutter in your wardrobe creates too many decisions for you to make about what you’re going to wear. And clutter in your spare room represents a long list of to-dos you need to deal with. If we objectively understand that clutter is stealing some of our overall happiness and clarity, why do many of us struggle to take action to remove clutter from our...

Being a mindful consumer is more than assessing how much you consume through minimalism or what you consume through the lens of veganism. Even the sustainability of a product is not enough! A significant part of the consumption puzzle lies in chemicals. Scientifically, there are some positive chemicals just as much as there are toxic chemicals. We're going to focus specifically on the harmful ones. Why do brands use harmful chemicals in products? How can you start to make better decisions...

If appears that some people blaze through life, knowing exactly what they want and have no problem saying no. However, they may come across as selfish, ruthless, or narrow-minded. Nevertheless, they are not over-committed and they generally live with incredible intentionality. Then you have the other side of the spectrum. People who walk around saying yes to just about every opportunity and demand. You say yes for everything your boss throws at you, to your spouse, to your friends, to your...

As the vegan movement grows, it’s increasingly common to see folks go on and off and back on the vegan lifestyle. This is particularly apparent with online content creators, as many influencers boycott veganism for various personal decisions. It’s only natural for our beliefs to change over time. With such a convicted lifestyle, we’re curious to break down some of the recurring reasons as to why people stop being vegan. Perhaps if we learn from these patterns, we can do a better job of...

"I’m an aspiring minimalist. I’m a transitioning vegan. I love to write, but I’m not a writer." Does this sound familiar? Today we’re breaking down the pros and cons of owning your identity. We look at the stigma of labels, and when and how to use them to your advantage. This topic is especially close to home for us, as we’ve built a brand around two identities, minimalism and veganism. While at times it can feel restrictive to make bold claims about what you stand for, we’ve found so many...

Since we became vegan over five years ago and the noticeable rise in the vegan movement, we have noticed the lines getting blurred between what is vegan and what is not.  According to the Vegan Society, veganism is: "A philosophy and way of living which seeks 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; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the...

We’ve recently found ourselves binge-watching Tiny House shows on YouTube. It’s been fascinating watching people of all walks of life decide to downsize into such a small yet personalised space. Their motivations are different depending on their age and values. Some owners are single and looking to escape their fast city life and decide to live in the woods in their small house. Retired baby boomer couples choose to pair down in a stable location to keep their costs down while having an...

In this episode, we discuss the possible challenges of cooking at home. We unpack our upbringings and how that reflected on our cooking styles and passion for making delicious food. We discuss how important learning to cook at a young age is and that it should be a mandatory subject to do in school. Such a fundamental skill, yet not many people have acquired the basic skill of cooking at home.  We both love food and find eating out one of our favourite things to do. This helps us reflect on...

Developing an exercise habit has been a struggle for us, especially as we've gotten older. We both used to be quite active when we were younger, but over the years, we have dropped off exercise as a priority. The most that we get these days is a walk with our dog every day. Michael might do a short but explosive exercise routine, whereas Maša might do a yoga stretch once in a blue moon.  It is something that we’re really conscious of starting up again, but there is some resistance there...

This past year has pushed and challenged us in more ways we thought was possible. In our quest to support ourselves online and move to Slovenia, we’ve had to rethink the expectations of our means. You hear it all of the time. One of the keys to happiness is living within or below your means. What does that mean exactly? What are one’s means?  The pressure of money, if you’re not careful, can completely dominate how you experience life. We’ve all fallen into the trap of wanting more money so...