Vegetarians who say this shit say they enjoy getting encouragement from vegans, but they actually just want a pat on the back and brownie points from susceptible vegans, not actual encouragement.
This is the greatest encouragement I can give them, but because it's in an "aggressive" tone, they love to say "You're the reason why people shy away from going vegan!"
Sorry to tell ya, but if some harsh words promoting the very ideological foundation of veganism are enough to discourage you, then you clearly don't have a plan to "transition" to veganism to begin with.
Imagine telling someone "You really need to stop being fucking racist." and then they say "Ugh! I'm working on it! You being so pushy makes me want to be more racist actually!"
The cheese rots into their brains apparently.
So not vegan. I understand you said "very infrequent", but asserting that there's some caveat in your life where you can be like "Well, dairy is fine in this particular instance." isn't vegan no matter how you slice it.
You gotta admit that "I'm a vegan except when I eat animal products" is a bit of a head-turner.
"Vegan except on certain occasions" certainly does miss the point.
I have a moral opinion considered extreme by the vast majority of society, so I put it aside when it gets inconvenient.
Eating plants while traveling isn't some new enigma that vegans have yet to figure out.
There's something concerning about the notion that you'll have to cut your family out of your life just because you want to bring your own vegan food on a trip. Is everything fine with you? Are you not convicted enough to just tell them that you'd rather eat your own vegan food? Will they be really rude or harsh to you if you say you want to do that? I'm genuinely curious about all of these dynamics and why that has to be the straw that gets you to say "I'll allow animal products on this rare occasion". Is there genuinely no work around for that whatsoever?