I feel good knowing every mouthful is as harm free as it can be

Profile of a new vegan: Even though Jason Glasson always knew he would be vegan, it was still a long journey. Read his vegan story here.

I have always 'known' I had to be vegan one day, but it's been a long, long journey. In my 20s I had a period of 14 years being vegetarian, but by my mid 40s I was eating a full meat diet as meals were supplied as part of my work. Then when I left that job and was out on the road as a wwoofer it was natural and easy to only eat a little bit of fish and still eat dairy.

Finally though, when around 46 or so, I wwoofed at one of the most amazing places I have been to, Fairyland House in Kuranda, a raw vegan lifestyle sanctuary run by Zalan, who all vegans and aspiring vegans should meet!

My main motivation for writing this is just to give a big plug to Zalan for his efforts to promote veganism over many many years.

For 25 years Zalan used to run Continental House, a vegan guesthouse in Hepburn Springs.

Having sold up he moved north, to sunny Kuranda and established Fairyland House. A beautiful guesthouse and grounds where luscious tropical fruit and greens may be picked from the gardens, and an atmosphere of calm and peace pervades the land.

Thanks to Zalan having been closely associated with the early figures in veganism and natural health philosophy in this country, and instrumental in its growth for many years, he is a wealth of knowledge and a perfect example of how we have no need to consume any animal product at all (or even cook for that matter!).

The meals are delicious, even inspired and all the 'objections' (so common and so wrong) about needing dairy for calcium and so forth just fell away as I got some real information for once.

Contact with numbers of fantastic, conscious raw vegans really hit home to me - vegans are the living embodiment of compassion.

How natural and how easy then on leaving Fairyland House to never go back to dairy or meat. And what a joy to find that the minor colds that used to linger and trouble me hardly happen at all or if they do happen are of only short duration.

I was sick for a time with an amoeba infection from contaminated water and when I had my levels checked everything - calcium, protein, iron, B12 (I take a supplement) was spot on and my cholesterol super low.

I feel good knowing every mouthful is as harm free as it can be and, having stepped outside of a carnist worldview, cannot believe how we thoughtlessly act every day in ways that bring harm to fellow creatures. Thankfully the numbers of vegans are growing and the information and support now available makes it easier and easier for those who are making the transition to plant-based.

At the age of 50 after 3 years being exclusively vegan I can work a full day with full energy in a physically very hard and demanding job (landscaping) without soreness the next day. I believe one key to that is that my diet is primarily made up of foods that are in their natural state, not very processed, with a good variety of foods, some raw food every day and daily fresh greens.

Do yourself a favour and eat the widest variety of whole foods you can, this gives the awesome beneficial bacteria in your gut the diverse range of fiber they need to have lots of different populations all working for your benefit.

And please take a B12 supplement, when I went off mine I had unpleasant headaches and fatigue.

This is one destination that is more than worth the journey.

All the very best on your own journey,