Travel Tips Needed

[pricklypear1971]

Okay folks, it's my first gluten-free adventure!

We are driving to Legoland (Tucson to San Diego) in a few weeks. Our hotel has a small kitchenette (stove, pans, fridge, micro). Legoland is very gluten-free friendly and has lots of food options.

I think we'll eat breakfast at the hotel 2 days (cook in the room), lunch at the park 1 day, dinner at a restaurant 2 nights. That leaves two lunches on the road coming and going.

Since it's just me going gluten-free it should be easier. I still have to deal with the "5 meals a day" thing for the blood sugar.

There's a grocery store 2 miles away, there's a TJ's about 4 miles away. Whole Foods 6 miles away.

There's a Ruby's Diner that does gluten-free burgers with a gluten-free Udi's bun about a half mile away, Claim Jumper 1 mile away. A place called Bistro West that is supposed to be very good, and has a big gluten-free menu.

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So, tips on what to take and cook? Hints to make this go smoothly?

Has anyone taken snacks in a purse to Legoland without getting strip-searched??

[kareng]

We bring a cooler with sandwich stuff, easy to eat fruit (like grapes or carrot sticks), drinks and individual bags of chips. We stop at a park with a picnic table. The gluten people get a paper plate & put the bread on it. I dole out the ham, cheese, lettuce, etc. Then I pass out the fruit. That way no gluten fingers touch anything I might want for my lunch. You could make the sandwiches ahead and put them in labelled baggies.

I will freeeze some chicken or chili. Then you could get some salad stuff and have a chicken salad on the way back. I would pre-cook anything you can ahead. Like bacon & then microwave.

If you do cheese, sargento has these individually wrapped cheese cheddar sticks that are good. I have taken them out of the fridge for the day. Also, little packs of nuts. If Legoland has a problem bringing in food, see if your hub (or you could) would wear shorts or cargo style pants with the big pockets. I have sneaked lots of little things in places.

We used to go to Legoland & loved it.

[thleensd]

Are you ok with nuts? When I travel, nut butter is ALWAYS on my list. I usually just put some almond butter in a little plastic tub with a lid, but you could also go with Justin's nut butters - they're in a little single-serving pouch that can fit in a pocket easily. Whole Foods should have those. Another thing that is good for an instant blood sugar spike is dried fruit - mix it with nuts and/or seeds and you have some decent protein, too. That can also go in a pocket or purse.

I don't know how Legoland is for allowing other foods in, but there are some great ideas here somewhere about sneaking food into places that don't allow it. Any fun medical product box can be used to house food in a purse or backback. I've never seen a security guard ask to open up a box of feminine hygiene products or preparation H Perfect size for a Lara bar or nut butter packets, I'm sure. You might just call ahead and ask their policy to avoid that whole sneaking it in part.

Since you're driving, you might consider bringing a pan of your own for the hotel. Never know what you're going to get - a scratched up pan with gluten hiding in the rivets is no fun! I always get extra hungry on long road trips - so making sure I have lots to snack on in the car keeps me sane. I'm a fan of kettle chips for that.

How about:

Rice crackers

Cheese sticks

Nut butter

Home-made trail mix with nuts, seeds, raisins, chocolate

Dried Fruit

Celery/Carrot sticks

Apples, bananas, oranges

Yogurt (keep in fridge, eat within the first few hours of the day - some people would even eat it warm after sitting out, but that's not my thing)

gluten-free bars (Lara, Prana, Boomi...? All at whole foods)

When I cook in hotel rooms it's usually eggs for breakfast. Fast and easy. Add some cheese for more substance. If you eat gluten-free bread, you could even do french toast if you were feeling fancy =) Eat it with jam so you don't have to cart syrup, then use the jam later for sandwiches or yogurt mix-in!

[Celtic Queen]

Any fun medical product box can be used to house food in a purse or backback. I've never seen a security guard ask to open up a box of feminine hygiene products or preparation H

Had to laugh at this. It's how we used to sneak liquor into football games in college. Just pile a bunch of tampons on top

[sreese68]

Only have a second here

[psawyer]

Only have a second here

[pricklypear1971]

This is the approach I took as well. I bought it for a long trip in 2004, and have used it on every overnight road trip since.

These coolers are great, I looked into them when we moved to AZ. Unfortunately, they aren't great in AZ since it gets soooo dang hot. When its 110 outside, you can imagine what happens when the car is closed up.

Oddly enough, ice packs work better here... I take a cooler with (lots) packs when I go shopping and toss perishables in there when going from store/home with perhaps a quick stop between.

I'll just put the packs in the cooler, with whatever perishables and then put them in the hotel fridge when I get there. Easiest solution for my particular situation.

[Jenniferxgfx]

This post is timely for me! We're takin our first trip since going gluten-free next month, driving to Arizona from CA. we decided to rent an RV because of all our health problems and concerns about privacy.... And it should be fun! I'm really not sure what to pack that I/we won't get sick of after a couple days. We'll be gone for 7 and spending 2 with my folks, who don't really understand my gluten freedom totally.

I LOVE Justin's chocolate nut butter packets. They're delicious and healthy and also really cheer me up when I'm out and about and bummed about bringing my own food and the loss of convenience-- chocolate and peanut butter in my pocket? Yes please! The peanut butter is the cheapest but the hazelnut and almond are delicious too.

I'm thinking of bringing canned hummus and crunch master crackers (my favorite morning snack), lots of Lara bars, and hopefully I can figure out how to make rice pasta and sauce (favorite dinner) on the road.

Do you bring your own pots and pans or trust what they provide?

I think I may need an extra two suitcases to travel as a celiac...

[thleensd]

Last week I took a plane trip-5 nights. Rented a car on arrival... we somehow managed one suitcase each (two adults) and brought a whole mobile kitchen (hot plate, frying pan rice cooker, utensils, herbs and spices-don't tell hotel management!). It takes some planning ahead and a some flexibility, but we ate every meal in the hotel room (or packed lunches). I couldn't afford a restaurant glutening for this important week, so we ate in style in the room. A "fun" surprise, the hotel was out of mini-fridges, so we just got a couple styrofoam coolers (changed ice frequently!)

One of my friends with food issues actually checked a small cooler WITH FOOD in it that went with the luggage. At least the stuff she knew she couldn't get at a normal store.

WIth a little planning ahead (or a lot until you really figure it out!) it can be done =)

[jswog]

Only have a second here

[cap6]

if you are renting an rv you're in business! We travel in our fifth wheel all the time. I would take your own pot and pan. Paper plates/cups work best and are easiest for clean up. Either scrub the food storage cabinet or line it with paper towels. If you will have full hook-ups (sewer) just plan meals/food like you would at home. The refrig will be small but adequate and you can always restock at grocery stores along the way. Once you set up camp if you like crock pot cooking, throw in a crock pot and you can start your dinner in the rv in the morning. Just think of it like your mini home - have fun!

This post is timely for me! We're takin our first trip since going gluten-free next month, driving to Arizona from CA. we decided to rent an RV because of all our health problems and concerns about privacy.... And it should be fun! I'm really not sure what to pack that I/we won't get sick of after a couple days. We'll be gone for 7 and spending 2 with my folks, who don't really understand my gluten freedom totally.

I LOVE Justin's chocolate nut butter packets. They're delicious and healthy and also really cheer me up when I'm out and about and bummed about bringing my own food and the loss of convenience-- chocolate and peanut butter in my pocket? Yes please! The peanut butter is the cheapest but the hazelnut and almond are delicious too.

I'm thinking of bringing canned hummus and crunch master crackers (my favorite morning snack), lots of Lara bars, and hopefully I can figure out how to make rice pasta and sauce (favorite dinner) on the road.

Do you bring your own pots and pans or trust what they provide?

I think I may need an extra two suitcases to travel as a celiac...

[T.H.]

We were able to get a doctor's note that we had a medically restricted diet and might need to take our food with us. Disneyland will take that without trouble. Might be worth checking with Legoland to see if that might be possible, if you wish to do that.

Foods that work easy for us when we're out have been baked potatoes in the microwave, rice with a veggie or two stir-fried with chopped garlic. Raw veggies and fruits. We roasted squash seeds ahead of time to take and some nuts as well - they were really helpful for calories in the purse when we were all busy and happened to not have gluten-free food nearby.

Paper towels and aluminum foil were invaluable, along with ziploc bags for whenever we went out and wanted munchies.

[Reba32]

When I drove home from North Carolina to Toronto last year, I just stuffed a cooler and my backpack with easy to eat while driving snack foods. Trail mix (check the labels! for some reason lots of packaged nuts and mixes will contain wheat!), hard-boiled eggs, packaged sliced meats, cheese crackers, Doctor's CarbRite bars, or lara bars, canned tuna etc etc etc. Possibilities are endless.

check out this site for gluten free snacks Open Original Shared Link Or even shop here on celiac.com

[DanielleR]

Legoland will let you take food into the park if you have a note from your doctor. We did that here in Florida.

[cap6]

These coolers are great, I looked into them when we moved to AZ. Unfortunately, they aren't great in AZ since it gets soooo dang hot. When its 110 outside, you can imagine what happens when the car is closed up.

Oddly enough, ice packs work better here... I take a cooler with (lots) packs when I go shopping and toss perishables in there when going from store/home with perhaps a quick stop between.

I'll just put the packs in the cooler, with whatever perishables and then put them in the hotel fridge when I get there. Easiest solution for my particular situation.

we travel from ca to az all the time to visit my dad and have always used ice. Think I will try the ice packs and see if it doesn't work better. Thanks for the suggestion

[pricklypear1971]

we travel from ca to az all the time to visit my dad and have always used ice. Think I will try the ice packs and see if it doesn't work better. Thanks for the suggestion

If its a long day I put both in, during the summer.

I literally layer the packs 2 layers deep. And a marine cooler helps. Also, try to keep the cooler off the floor of the vehicle - the asphalt gets 130+ and sometimes the floorboards get too hot to touch comfortably. We put the chests on top of something and in the ac if we can.