Approaches to Traveling

In my experience, traveling has always been - hands down - the most stressful aspect of having celiac disease. If it's a new place, I have to know where to eat, what to buy, how to navigate daily life. If you become anxious even by reading this list, let's take a step back. Today, I hope to share my travel tips for a gluten free trip; however, slip-ups always happen, things don't go the way we expect, so don't consider me a master by any means. Here we go!

1. Pre-Trip

The pre-trip is just as important as scouting for food upon arrival; this is when I do research. I know some families that enjoy and accept the spontaneity of searching for restaurants once at their destination; however, I've always been one to plan. A few weeks beforehand, I make sure to look either for safe chains or to dive into gluten free bakeries and restaurants hidden in the city. This is especially important - in my opinion - if you're traveling abroad, for most of the time if you're still in-country, there will be familiar grocery stores.

For example, when I traveled to France, my family made sure to scout out potential places and - also extremely important - contact the kitchens themselves to ask about cross contamination and other allergens (as I have allergies as well).

2. Airport

When you're at the airport, my family tries to play it safe by packing our own food to eat; there is a big, green bag where we stuff fruits, vegetables, chips, and sandwiches (that we save for the flight). Often, we stop at Starbucks, for they carry egg bites that we've determined safe when considering our boundaries (it's different for everybody!). This could be an option for you, too, but make sure to talk to an employee about their cross-contamination situation :)

On the plane, I eat what I packed and prepared, always feeling safer about food from home (again, it varies for each individual). Again, so much of not eating gluten, with whatever reasoning, is knowing your story, your comfort zone.

3. Arriving!

For my family, the first step has always been to scout out a good grocery store; even though we go out to eat while traveling, a lot of our time is spent cooking in our hotel/Airbnb. The ratio of restaurants to homemade meals really depends on the city (some trips you get lucky, others not so much), but it's still important to have some available food. While my family packs some of our favorite snacks, we still need some refrigerated materials like fruits, vegetables, etc. So, almost as soon as we've set our stuff down, we're on the look for a grocery store (we usually stay somewhere near one).

After this, we start our tourist journey! With food for emergencies and dinners and some researched places to visit, we're usually just fine! I wish you the best of luck traveling. 

Until next time,

Genuine GF