Travel In General

[goodwitch]

I love to travel, and am curious on how other people who are avoiding gluten handle eating out while traveling in the US or a foreign country. Do you take your own food "just in case"? I try to only eat grilled meats and fruits and vegtables, when I eat out, but I am going to a resort in Mexico, and I'm afraid this won't be possible. Any tips or advice? Thank you!

Mari

[debmidge]

Yes please reply. How do other celiacs handle trips? Short trips or a week long? Do you vacation where you have an efficiency room? What do you order for dinner if you're at the restaurant? Broiled/baked chicken (w/o stuffing), Fresh broiled/baked fish, broiled meats plain? Or do you avoid taking a vacation? Or do you have to travel for work? How do you stay gluten free? What are your travel tips?

[celiac3270]

I don't have a ton of time, but just wanted to mention a few major things. I don't trust restaurants, so I ate in the hotel room (w/o them knowing). Thus, I don't have any advice for eating out. Here are four tips I have:

- Bring a toaster oven -- unless you have some sort of kitchen available, bring a toaster oven. Besides toasting any gluten-free bagels or breads that you bring along, you can bake things such as potatoes or frozen Ore Ida french fries. If you aren't going to eat fries or potatoes, just bring a cheap and small toaster to toast bread.

- Bring a George Foreman Grill -- a lifesaver. They have smaller versions. Really complete a dinner: after all, potatoes and steak is something reasonable that you might eat at home.

- Bring lots of your own food -- It's going to be easier to eat a gluten-free cereal in the morning than deal with the chef that's preparing your eggs or whatever...the Genisoy bars are great and quite tasty meal replacement bars if you need to use one every now and then. They are good for if you plan to eat out, too, because then you won't starve if you can't find a restaurant to serve you a gluten-free meal or you're eating on the go. Make sure, however, that you get the Peanut Butter versions of the bar. The others ARE NOT GLUTEN-FREE. I think the two good ones are Peanut Butter Fudge and Peanut Butter Yogurt, or something.

Don't have too much time, so I can't provide more assistance. Hope this helps.

[debmidge]

Thank you for your help with my question.....I am mainly asking because I am looking for restaurant tips because I am interested in going to a restaurant while I am on vacation and getting a baked potato, but I wanted to know the "ropes" if I could.

[gf4life]

I was realy glad that we own a timeshare condo, now that 4 out of 5 of us are gluten & dairy free! It will make travelling much easier. As for eating out, we don't do much of that anymore. One of my boys and I have severe migraines from gluten accidents and I am not willing to risk it for eating out. We pack a lot of food and cook in our full kitchen at the condo! We only eat out at very select restaurants maybe once a month or less. I pack a lot of food when we travel even for day trips.

Of course, if this is not available to you and you can't get a hotel unit with a kitchenette, then celiac3270s ideas of toaster oven and George Foreman Grill are great. You can also grill veggies, or bring a small hot plate and pan for warming up canned or frozen veggies or steaming fresh ones.

Debmidge, have you looked at the restaurant section for info on restraunts?? There is a lot of information there. I also have a folder I take with me with all the gluten-free menus (or food lists) from different restaurants I know might be good options. I got it from another Celiac support group site. Send me an e-mail or personal message if you want to know how to access it. It has info for more than 90 restaurants on it.

God bless,

Mariann

[travelthomas]

Hi Mari,

Like the others, I do not eat out. In fact I gave it up totally.

When I travel overseas I use a Nova multi-fuel stove and stainless steal MSR cookware. In India there was plenty of kerosene to be found. In Thailand I used lighter fluid to cook. I drive down to Mexico and use propane. I live on rice, chicken, fish, and vegetables, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I feel great with this diet because a high carbohydrate meal just does not agree with me. The rice is a great food because it breaks down much slower than other grains, which enables me to eat only three meals a day. Also my weight has stabilized.

I do not even try and eat a

[Cape Codder]

Do any of you travelers know where in Italy my daughter may be able to buy gluten-free bread?

She is staying in Florence for 10 weeks but can't find any gluten-free bread in the markets.

We heard celiac disease was common among Italians, so I find it strange there is no outlet for the bread we can buy in the states.

[murda]

Just some advise on traveling and eating in restaurants. When I walk in the door to a restaurant the first thing I do is ask for the kitchen manager, I don't even sit down until I talk to him. I go over all the facts and then the menu and discuss it. You can usually twell what kind of care you will get when talking to the manager. I have left before after speaking with the manager because I didn't have a good feeling. Usually the safest thing is your plain meats, and vegetables. If the restaurant is crowded and they don't have time to clean part of the grill, I always request that they cook my food on aluminum foil instead. I make sure and stress how sick I will get and that I am on vacation though.

Hope this might help.

MLU

[YankeeDB]

Just for completeness, I wanted to mention using a gluten-free dining card. These are preprinted cards that you can give to the waitperson to show the chef what you can/can't eat. I've had (mostly) good success using these. Do a search on "gluten free dining card" to find several sources, or just make your own and laminate them (cheaper!).

[kristi]

My stomach is a mess even back home (yours might be too if you are on this site) so I packed a REI type water filter and was glad I did even though the added weight is a drag. It seems funny that I filter bottled water but even small changes upset my system at this point. We got a seal-a-meal to package up my adult diapers. This really helped on the added bulk in my suitcase and makes them easy to transport. Foods I packed and was glad to have them from home: Jay Robb's Egg White Protien powder mix vanilla flavor (Wild Oats Market), Trader Joes dried banans, individual packets of mashed potatoes (Costco)...This was a huge help on many plane rides!, Gerber Graduates Mini Fruits freezed dried banana and strawberry, Aunt Candice P&B Choc chip bars(New Seasons Market), Ener G WF Pretzels, Almond butter, Nana's Banana gluten-free bar cookies, Pamela's Biscotti, Cliff Nectar dark choc & walnut bar, Tillamook Country Smoker Old fashion Steak Nuggets, plain rice crackers and lots of preserved ginger for my tummy. I did OK most of the trip but near the end when the imodium couldn't keep up I was glad to have also packed Oral rehydration salts and some Cera Lyte 70 Rice Based Oral Elecrtolyte powder.

[jenvan]

I do several things when I go on vaca:

-Find local restaurants with gluten-free menus (like pf changs etc) and local wild oats or health food stores

-Contact a local support group for area tips etc if there is one

-Pack food! I take lots of snacks and I take things I can supplement a meal out for me--say, a thai kitchen noodle bowl (all I need it hot water for it--any restaurant or fast food joint can provide that..and it helps supplement a salad per se). In addition to the snacks I pack salad dressing and Bragg's soy sauce.

-I call my hotel, explain I have food allergies and get them to put a fridge in my room, if there isn't one already.

-I also bought two coolers--one is large and plugs into your car and regular outlet. I use that for long trips. I also have a smaller, foldable travel cooler. I use those frozen packs to keep stuff cold. It works great! I took it on the plane with another carry on recently.

Hope these help! I say the more prep you do up front, the less you have to worry on the trip.

[gfp]

Do any of you travelers know where in Italy my daughter may be able to buy gluten-free bread?

She is staying in Florence for 10 weeks but can't find any gluten-free bread in the markets.

We heard celiac disease was common among Italians, so I find it strange there is no outlet for the bread we can buy in the states.

In Italy you buy gluten-free in a pharmacy. The one right opposite the Duomo has a fair collection but there are other stores too. One is a international "supermarket" off to the eat down a small alley, I found it while looking for string of all things?

There is also a place outsiode Florence at the big mall complex, I never tried but was told of it.

[Adeldades]

Hi everyone, I live in Cape Town South Africa and am due to travel to Paris in a few weeks. Does anyone know where I can get gluten-free bread etc in Paris? I would so appreciate some help in this regard. We will be spending 10 weeks in UK and I know where to source the gluten-free food there. Thanks

[par18]

Just for completeness, I wanted to mention using a gluten-free dining card. These are preprinted cards that you can give to the waitperson to show the chef what you can/can't eat. I've had (mostly) good success using these. Do a search on "gluten free dining card" to find several sources, or just make your own and laminate them (cheaper!).

Yes Yes a thousand times Yes get the dining cards! To quote American Express don't leave home without it.

Tom

[mmaccartney]

I travel quite a bit, both in the US, and internationally in Canada and the EU. I happen to be very sensitive, so I do NOT eat at restaurants. I think the last time I ate at a restaurant was over 4 months ago.

In fact, I am traveling right now. I am in Toronto for 7 days total. I brought a cooler full of goodies, a big plastic container full of food, spices, utensils, cleaning supplies, pots and pans, portable hot pads for cooking, etc. I haven't actually bought anything locally except for fruits and veggies!

I find that I go overboard with preparing. When I get where I am going I usually find local stores that I can purchase fresh fruit and veggies from, and typically find gluten free items that are safe. NOTE that this is difficult when you are in a country that you do not speak the local language!!!!

Some countries have restrictions on importing milk or meat products (Netherlands is one) so you have to watch that. I've been stopped several times at many differnet customs checks but have gotten through with my food all the time. I don't bother explaining celiac disease to them, just keep it simple and tell them food allergies; everyone seems to understand that!

you can travel on most airlines with a cooler full of food, but it has to be a hard case, have a specific limit of dry ice, and must have holes for the gas to escape as the dry ice melts. I did this going from Ohio to Amsterdam and all my food arrived just fine! It does cost extra thought, probably about $30.