Scared To Plan A Vacation

[Guest vetnurse]

My husband and I are thinking about vacation plans, however, I am a bit apprehensive about going anywhere where I cannot make my own food. I have been gluten free for 2 months and feeling good and I don't want to create any problems for myself with food issues. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thank you,

Susan

[celiac3270]

Do you have children? If so (and even if not), Disney World and Disney Land are two of the most celiac/allergy friendly places you can find. There are websites on which restaurants are best, but if you call ahead of time, you can go pretty much anywhere and get a reliably gluten-free meal.

Also for cruises...there's a group called "Bob and Ruth's Gluten-Free Dining and Travel Club" --they have something to do w/ cruises and gluten-free. Many of them will accomodate to celiac--I have never been, so can't give specific examples.

Finally, if you go...well, almost anywhere, and make sure your room has a kitchenette, you can do your own cooking--either with gluten-free food you brought or w/ food from a local grocery store (if it's in the US, you know which products are gluten-free and which companies will clearly label gluten).

Outside the US: Italy is among the most celiac aware countries. Besides the language barrier, it would be pretty easy to eat gluten-free there. As a matter of fact, I've heard that in Italy, those who are diagnosed as celiac get a card allowing them to get gluten-free food--free. Now, we Americans couldn't, but it just shows how much celiac is...understood there

[Matilda]

..

[Carriefaith]

Last summer I went to Algonquin Park in Ontario, Canada and had a great time! I brought my own gluten free food and stayed healthy!

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Some ideas:

If you are planning a wilderness trip, try and find a cabin or cottage in the area that has a stove and a fridge. You can bring cold food items with you in a cooler and keep them in the fridge while you are there (and re-freeze those ice packs in the freezer at the same time!). Just pack what you normally eat at home! and you can bring your own pots and pans.

True camping (like tent camping) is a little harder but is certainly attainable. Bring fresh potatoes and other veggies (carrots, green beans, pea pods, ect) and cook them over the campfire in tinfoil and butter, or in an old pot. Canned items like, beans, fish, veggies, and other meats would also cook nicely on the fire. Also you could bring gluten-free bread and make peanut butter or tuna sandwiches! and you can bring lots of fruits like apples, bannana, and oranges. You could even bring a toaster with you if you get a camp site with an electrical outlet!

Hope this helps

[Guest nini]

I just took a vacation to Florida last month... I packed a cooler and several bags of gluten-free snacks, and I scoured my Gluten Free Dining Guide for restaurants to eat at. We enjoyed Outback, Bonefish Grill, McDonalds, and Cracker Barrel. Using my gluten free dining card from Gluten Intolerance Group's website, I even ventured to dine at a wonderful Mexican Restaurant. It can be done.

[flagbabyds]

In the U.S. the best city to go to would be New York City, amazing for celiacs, and it is very easy. For spring Break I stayed with my sister in her college dorm room, and never got sick, becasue we just ate out all the time. It was really fun. Also celiac3270 Disneyland is not just for kids . IT is probably the best place to go forceliacs.

[celiac3270]

Of course! I live in NYC--how did I forget to mention it!

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[tarnalberry]

There are a lot of hotels where you can get a room with a kitchenette, allowing you to do your own cooking off of fresh supplies from local grocery stores. Also, there are portable cooking appliances you can consider. And you CAN get safe food at restaurants if you pick carefully and are assertive. What sort of areas are you looking at going to?

[Carriefaith]

Tiffany is right, eating out can be safe if you are careful and choose the right places. Higher class, less busy restaurants would probably be more accommodating to creating gluten free meals and there are some restarunts that have gluten-free menus. A few people here have lists of these restaurants in the US and I have some names of restaurants in Canada.

[gf4life]

We bought a timeshare the summer before we started eating gluten-free, and now I have gotten spoiled! I try to enjoy eating out when we are on vacation, but I really like having the option of cooking "home" cooked meals. We are spending a few days on the coast next month and all of the regular hotels rooms just seem to small and I didn't like the idea of no kitchen, so I had to get a cottage on the beach! It is a 2 bedroom place with a full kitchen, but totally worth it to be able to relax and not have to worry about finding safe meals 3 times a day. And actually it only is costing us about $50 extra per night over a regular hotel room (which are hard for a family of 5 to get into, they have to be a family suite!). We would probably spend more than that on eating out...

I agree though that it is easy to vacation gluten-free, just make sure you do bring some gluten-free snacks, since there will be times where you need food NOW and a safe place to eat isn't readily available. But you can pretty much always find a place that can make you a foil wrapped baked potato, and grill some steaks or chicken (non-marinaded) and have some fresh or steamed veggies. You will learn how to talk to wait-staff at restaurants.

Are you planning on vacationing in the US or someplace else. I have always only vacationed in the US, but I am looking forward to vacationing all over the world someday. Don't let celiac disease keep you from having fun!

God bless,

Mariann

[jknnej]

It is keeping me from having fun because I am so nauseated!

I went to St. Louis this weekend and was miserable the entire time....

I don't want to go anywhere anymore!

[gf4life]

It is keeping me from having fun because I am so nauseated!

I went to St. Louis this weekend and was miserable the entire time....

I don't want to go anywhere anymore!

I'm so sorry!

Have you had your gallbladder checked? I was nauseated for 6+ months after I had my baby girl, and felt horrible. It ended up being my gallbladder (full of stones) and once I had it removed I was not nauseated anymore. I still didn't know about celiac yet, and had all my other problems, but it fixed that one! There are some posts about this from last year. Here are some of the links:

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If you do a search and type in gallbladder you get 166 posts that talk about it! That is 7 pages! Gallbladders are talked about alot here because so many of us have had problems with ours. I hope you are feeling better soon.

God bless,

Mariann

[Guest gfinnebraska]

We are getting ready to go to Niagara Falls in 3 weeks... so I spent the weekend getting our pop-up camper ready!! I am spoiled ~ I take my kitchen with me when we travel. We will bring all our own food and I will just cook it in my safe, gluten-free camper kitchen! IF you are up to an investment, a pop-up is easy to pull and you can take your kitchen with you where ever you go! We have gone to Mt Rushmore, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Washington D.C. ~ all camping!!

Have fun whichever way you choose! ~