The heavily tattooed drummer has reportedly been conscious of the treatment of animals from a young age. He became a vegetarian at 13 years old but he didn't commit to a vegan lifestyle until 2008. While Travis speaks positively about his veganism and he's stuck to it for years, the circumstances that led up to his decision are actually quite horrifying.
In 2008, Travis was aboard a jet bound for Van Nuys, Calif. but it never reached its destination. The plane crashed in South Carolina and by all accounts, Travis should not have been alive. His security guard Charles Still did not survive the crash, nor did his Travis's assistant Chris Baker.
The two pilots of the plane— 31-year-old Sarah Lemmon and 52-year-old James Bland — also perished. It's believed they died due to smoke inhalation according to official autopsy reports.
While Travis survived, he suffered third-degree burns on 65 percent of his body, according to an interview with The Guardian.
Another passenger who also survived was Travis's friend and musical collaborator DJ AM. Travis made a vow to his pal after the crash that since he survived, he was going to commit to a full vegan diet. Sadly, DJ AM died a year after the plane crash.
Travis discussed the process of nursing himself back to health after the crash as "hell." He underwent numerous skin graft procedures and said that what kept him sane and determined to get better were frequent visits from his children.
For years following the crash, Travis refused to board an airplane.
However, in a 2021 tweet, he revealed that he "might fly again" and he did with then-girlfriend Kourtney Kardashian, boarding an airplane from Los Angeles to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
In an episode of Joe Rogan's podcast, Travis shared that while he was recovering in the hospital, he did end up eating some meat as it was the only source of protein available to him. "I'd eat bags of beef jerky — whatever they could give me, whatever I could stomach and not think about what I was eating," he said. "Because I wasn't eating at all. I was ditching my food, giving it to my friends because I didn't want to eat meat but then I got caught. So long story short, I ate a bit of meat in the hospital and when I got out I just felt like the next evolution of my eating would be to try and be vegan. And it was so easy in LA because we have so many great vegan restaurants."
