❓How do I communicate that I'm vegetarian when traveling abroad and don't speak the language?

The most practical trick is to prepare a "translation card" ahead of time, saved on your phone (or printed out to carry with you), that clearly states in the local language: "I don't eat any meat, poultry, fish, or seafood." If you're vegan, add "no eggs, dairy, or honey" too. Showing this to a server works much better than trying to mime it in the moment, and you can find ready-made templates online just by searching for translation cards plus your destination's language. It also helps to learn a few key terms in advance — like "shojin ryori" in Japanese, the "เจ" symbol in Thai that marks vegan food (a lot of street stalls fly a yellow เจ flag to signal this), or the red-dot/green-dot system used at Indian restaurants (a green square means vegetarian). In places where the language barrier is just too much, buffets or self-serve market-style restaurants are actually the easiest option, since you can see and pick everything yourself.