The Minimalist Vegan Podcast is coming to an end (indefinitely). Tune in to the episode to find out why we’re moving on and what we have planned for the future (some exciting news!). We also share raw behind-the-scenes of the ups and downs of producing the show. A special thanks to our wonderful listeners. Your attention means a lot to us 💚 This ep…

Are you overwhelmed by the idea of cooking? Or wish you had a few more go-to recipes? Then this episode is for you. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again. Learning how to cook is one of the most valuable skills you can understand, and preparing a meal is one of the creative and thoughtful ways to impress others and show love. And if you’re n…

One of our fondest memories is having a family outing at the zoo. It was surreal to see lions, tigers, elephants, and monkeys in person. Not only that, but zoos are critical for conservation and public education. At least so we thought… There’s a dark side to the zoo industry to suggest it’s more entertainment than conservation. But is it? In this …

On the surface, it appears that minimalism has reached the mainstream. Minimalism is more widely accepted and, as a result, has lost its flair. Back in episode 46, we discussed what the future of minimalism would look like and pontificated on the trendiness of the movement. Well, almost two years on—where does it stand? More importantly, how do we …

Studies show that vegans are viewed more negatively than atheists, immigrants, homosexuals, and asexuals. In fact, the only group viewed more negatively than vegans were drug addicts! Beyond the surveys, we’ve felt it too. Whether it’s eating out with friends or meeting someone for the first time, veganism comes with an air of inconvenience, stigma…

When you meet someone for the first time, consciously and unconsciously, you’re assessing their status based on their job, education, where they live, the clothes they wear, the car they drive, and their cultural background. And you know what? They’re doing the exact same thing to you. But how healthy is status classification? Why does it matter so…

The combination of automation and a global pandemic has pushed society into a new norm of work. There’s no escaping the digital revolution as it impacts every industry. Lockdowns have given us some time to take a step back to evaluate what’s essential and what work-life balance should look like. In this episode, we share our reactions to some prett…

As we recently celebrated our 7th vegan anniversary, we thought it would be interesting to share what we’ve learned. In this conversation, we compare what we expected to experience when we first transitioned with how things have panned out. Whether you're veg-curious, a new vegan, or have been living cruelty-free for decades; we trust you’ll be abl…

Wool is one of the oldest and most popular fabrics in human history. What was once a resource used for survival has evolved into a commercial behemoth leading to the exploitation of sheep and lambs worldwide. However, is the wool industry really all that bad? Can we still buy products using wool as ethical consumers? Is there such thing as vegan-fr…

It’s no secret; mindful meditation is officially mainstream and a particularly prevalent practice that you’ll see many high performers (in all fields) starting their day with. If you don’t currently meditate, you may wonder if it really lives up to the hype. I mean, it must if you’re to allocate time in your busy day to connect with your breath. We…

Minimalism and environmentalism, while sometimes at odds—make for a powerful dual-value lifestyle that fights the good fight against consumerism. In this conversation, we share some interesting statistics, like how many things we own versus the household average, before diving into some actionable tips to help you along your eco-minimalism journey.…

Crop pollination is a polarising topic when it comes to assessing the ethics of the beekeeping industry. Non-vegans claim that vegans are hypocritical not to consume honey when they support migratory beekeeping. And vegans respond by re-explaining the definition of veganism. In this conversation, we move beyond honey and beeswax and dive into the c…

Many of us have learned that supporting local beekeepers and buying honey is good for us and good for the local bee population. Even though this has some truth to it, there’s much more that needs to be unpacked. In this conversation, we discuss the ethics of beekeeping on both a commercial and local level. Why it’s not as straightforward as we may …

The kitchen is one of the most trafficked areas in any household. It’s also a potential dumping ground for clutter, whether on the bench surfaces or in storage. Not many situations are more frustrating than trying to get dinner made in a cluttered kitchen. Then throw in family or roommates, and you have a recipe for conflict, overwhelm and toxic ha…

In this episode, we give you an update of what's working and what isn't with our new approach to nutrition and exercise. In the second half of our conversation, we get vulnerable and share how our mindset has perhaps been the biggest contributor to better overall health. Specifically, we discuss: The impact of trying to introduce more protein into …

When it comes to ecological impact, the ocean often gets overlooked—despite representing the lion’s share of the worlds environmental issues. Commercial fishing has a devastating effect on animals, plants, CO2, and even the fishing workforce's well-being and safety. In this conversation, we share our thoughts and reactions to the new documentary Se…

Does the effort of buying secondhand things outweigh the potential destruction of buying something brand new? These two approaches represent a few grey areas as we consider the philosophies of minimalism, frugal living, sustainability and gentrification. In this conversation, we debate both sides of the equation, including some personal experiences…

As plant-based recipe creators, we spend copious amounts of time and energy trying to show folks that you don't have to miss out when it comes to food. There's an abundance of curries, cakes, cookies, pasta and pastries that you can make from the comfort of your home. However, we're quickly closing in on our 33rd birthdays, and we acknowledge that …

When you live your life with certain values, it can be hard to get others on board. In this week's podcast episode, we discuss how we can encourage minimalism without being pushy. It's a sensitive topic for many to bring up as we're mostly met with a defensive front and a sense of dismissiveness. Only when we learn to put ourselves in their other's…

In this episode, we break down the misconceptions and truths about how much vegans spend on food. More specifically, we share exactly how we spent on food in the last 30 days as a little case study. Being the start of a new year, we also touch on Veganuary and how you can get involved. If you've always wondered how much vegans spend on food and hav…

Veganism is one thing, and 2020 is something entirely different. But one theme that overlaps is the challenge of accepting other people’s perspectives. This at least has been hard for us, and we want to use our experiences of being vegan in a non-vegan world to help us connect and love others who fundamentally disagree with us, and vice versa. Spec…

Even as minimalist’s, we can admit, splurging on nice things can be exciting. We sometimes get a temporary high from a purchase, especially if it gives us “joy”. But with such a feeling, we risk giving all the power to our possessions and take power away from who we are as individuals. So how do we toe the line between enjoying a purchase, seeing t…

Creating content, while at times glamorous, can be incredibly labour-intensive. The constant cycle of ideation, planning, editing, publishing and sharing can take a toll, and before you know it, you burnout. We’ve been creating for a living for a few years now, and we have lots of experiences to share about crafting a life that’s personalised and e…

We live in a world where it’s never been easier to buy things. Between Amazon, the extinction of cash and excessive supply, there’s no resistance or friction to purchase what we want when we want. Sure, it can be exciting to grab something impulsively, but that approach leaves you more vulnerable to buyers remorse or a wasted purchase altogether. M…

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 t…

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 e…

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 p…

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 choos…

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…

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 busine…

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, i…

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 wh…

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.…

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…

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 i…

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…

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 su…

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 …

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 …

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 under…

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'…

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 say…

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 br…

"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 t…

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 …

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 …

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 hav…

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…

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 pr…

Last year we wrote an article exploring the dynamics of fashion and our need to express ourselves through clothing. As minimalists, clothing has always been a challenge for us as we try to find the balance between functional long-lasting garments that can be worn all of the time. For over 12 months, Michael has been experimenting with wearing the s…