<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
We just returned from two short trips - one to San Francisco (where we
stayed in a hotel with a kitchenette) and the other to Traverse City,
Michigan (where we stayed in a hotel that said they had a kitchenette,
but really only had a small fridge - no freezer - and microwave oven.
However, we have relatives there so we could use their gluten-filled
kitchen - another first for us). We considered both trips to be
successful since our celiac daughter did not get very ill - only a few
bouts of acid reflux and a few times that she might have ingested small
amounts of gluten, canola oil, or milk - all of which give her stomach
cramps and nausea. Each time she took veratrum album (30X) and
recovered within 2 hours.
This was the first time that we have traveled since her diagnosis (!!)
and so it was a major learning experience for us. I used a lot of
information I have gotten from this listserve but still realized we
still have more to learn. I wanted to share some of what we learned
for those of you who haven't yet taken the plunge into traveling. It
can be done!
(1) Delay traveling until you can tolerate some change in your life.
We were able to wait until our celiac daughter was well enough that we
notice when she feels sick instead of noticing when she feels well.
For her, this took 15 months plus about 15 daily supplements over a
period of some months plus learning which foods other than gluten made
her sick and avoiding them for a long time.
(2) Take and use veratrum album (homeopathic remedy) for those times
when you think you ate gluten or something else that makes you sick.
It really helps our daughter when she has eaten something that causes
her pain!
(3) Contact the local support group before you travel for the latest
information on your destination. In my experience, celiacs are some of
the nicest and most helpful people in the world. They are definitely
the silver lining in the celiac cloud.
(4) Take your own food but put it in the smallest hard containers that
you can find that will meet your needs. For example, we had to take
our own margarine because our child can't tolerate butter or canola oil
(which seems to be in most margarines). We ended up using about a
fifth of the container and throwing the rest away. And we lugged
around big bottles of oil, soy sauce, and cartons of soy milk, which
took up a lot of space and were cumberson. Had we put our various key
foods in small containers, they would have been easier to freeze as
well as pack and there would have been less waste. Bread and cookies
that were packed in bags quickly became crumbly. I think before we
travel again, I am going to find and invest in a variety of small
containers and keep them together in a travel bag.
(5) Use insulated lunchboxes whenever possible, particularly if you
are traveling by air. Coolers are great for travel by car.
(6) Research your destination by phone before you get there. Use the
internet yellow pages to find stores that are likely to carry gf foods
and call them and find out what brands and foods they have and
directions to get there. Don't wait until you get there to find out
what you should have packed or that a special restaurant is closed the
night you planned to eat there.
(7) Make sure you have a consistent message that you can give to
restaurants about your food needs. We had a restaurant card that I
made especially for our daughter, but I never used it because I felt
uncomfortable handing a card to a waitress and not explaining our
situation personally. Instead I feel more comfortable explaining that
members of our party have extreme food allergies to various foods and
ask whether they can help us to have a safe meal with them. We
generally got a lot of sympathy from servers and safe food. Of course,
we brought our own margarine, oil, and soy sauce in case they were
needed. Always ask for food to be cooked in a clean container with
clean utensils.
(8) Get a room with a kitchenette, but be keenly aware that not all
kitchenettes are created equal. In San Francisco, we had dishes, cups,
pots, pans, eating and cooking utensils, an oven, a freezer and fridge,
as well as a microwave. In Traverse City, we had an extra sink, a
microwave and a small fridge. Don't assume anything - ask questions.
We found bringing a toaster to be helpful and worth the hassle as we
used it for toaster waffles and our gf bread. At least on this trip,
we mostly used the refrigerator although we baked brownies and
muffins at a relative's home.
(9) I carried with me a list of brands that voluntarily list all the
allergens and/or gluten sources which I found pretty helpful (at least
I know I can believe their ingredient labels). I will share my list
with anyone who wants it. Next time I will also research brands of
food that we know we will be buying (like soy milk) so I have a list of
brands that are OK and not OK before we go on the trip instead of
wondering which brand to choose when we get there.
(10) Don't beat yourself up if everything doesn't go smoothly.
Friends, family, restaurant employees, hotel employees ALL are very
understanding if you tell them you are just learning how to travel with
this condition and ask for their help. I found taking a notebook and
making notes as I made mistakes or thought of better ways to do things
to be very helpful. It also helped me to see our trips as learning
processes rather than as final exams.
We are emboldened by our success and hope that this will be the
beginning of many new adventures. If you have additional lessons you
have learned about traveling GF and want to share them, I will
summarize.
Jackie in AZ
* Support summarization of posts, reply to the SENDER not the CEL-KIDS List *
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