This topic I always get a lot of questions about – I travel about 25% of the year and no not on company dollars. Therea are ways to travel it just takes a little but more planning and research.
Keys to traveling successfully gluten free:
Smartphone/internet: If you will have access to your smartphone you can use BatchGeo, Yelp and Evernote to track your research ahead of time. You also will have the ability to google on the spot. If you don’t have a smartphone but have access to internet plan accordingly and make sure you carry enough information in between internet availability. If you don’t have a smartphone or won’t have access to one on the trip and won’t have access to internet then make sure you do as much research ahead of time as possible and print everything – maps, lists, phone numbers, more information is always better than less.
Transportation: If you are using public transit you need to plan for such things. It is difficult to get people to cross Manhattan for brunch – not impossible but they won’t be happy! Study the public transit maps overplayed with your restaurant research to prioritize where the best places to eat would be. If you have a car then you have the ability to hit some of the more outskirt places that tend to be the best.
Accommodations: Is there a kitchen where you are staying? Is there a refrigerator? Microwave? This is huge for being the safest. This can get expensive – remember, Celiacs, not to use any kitchen items that are not glass, stainless steel or ceramic. Tinfoil and paper products will be your best friend – you can cover all cookware in it to make it safe. If you have a kitchen of sorts and the ability in your schedule to eat at least one meal – do it. It will save your digestive system. Are you staying with friend/family? Do they know anything about gluten free? This is almost more dangerous than restaurants – people with the best intention that don’t know any better. Be careful and don’t feel bad for asking a million questions.
Travel buddies: What are you traveling for? Who are you traveling with? Clients make it a but harder to pick places you can eat unless you are able to take control of the reservations. Large groups are also difficult to move around at all, nevermind to always make sure there are gluten free options. Traveling with just a couple people make it much easier. You can usually do enough research so that it isn’t a pain for everyone on the trip but it’s few enough people you can be flexible on the spot. Make sure everyone on your trip is aware of your dietary issues – even if they just roll their eyes you need everyone to know because every time you go somewhere you will be asking questions about the food and some travel buddies will choose not to eat with you instead of accommodating for it. It sounds harsh but in the long run it will be better for you.
Language: If you are going to a place that doesn’t speak much English (either in or out of the USA) I suggest printing several and bringing celiac travel cards for any language you might encounter. Don’t just think of front of house – think of the kitchen staff. For example Spanish cards can be really helpful in Texas.
http://www.celiactravel.com/cards/
If you are traveling outside of the USA research how the country treats celiac. Some take it very seriously (Germany you buy gluten free food at the pharmacy) while others have never heard of it. Learn how to say and read gluten free in that language so if nothing else you can recognize it in a grocery store.
Airports: If you are able to research what gates and terminals you are flying through you can do some research on the food available. My go tos are Wendy’s baked potato, Starbucks gf snack options and juice smoothie drinks from Odwalla or Naked (they state gluten free right on the bottle).
Snacks: Bring food with you. Whether you think you can figure every meal or not, bring snacks with you that can sustain you for at least half your trip. If you are going for 3 days then 1.5 days worth of snack food. If 10 days then 5 days worth of snacks. It sounds much more than needed but I have gone days without food at certain events because life happens especially when traveling.
Best snacks: One of the hard parts of snacks is they tend to fall apart easily and not travel well. I like Glutino breakfast bars, Think Thin protein bars, Enjoy Life cookies, Lucy’s cookie packs, trail mix, dried fruit and candy.
Yelp: Best resource for traveling but very time consuming. The way Yelp’s search works is by matching words to people’s reviews. So a review that says No gluten free will come up as the same relevancy as someone saying lots of gluten free. Do research ahead of time and bookmark it. Read all reviews that come up with the gluten free search to make sure they are actually saying the restaurant can handle gluten free.
Attitude: keep in mind that you are out of your comfort zone of food. And the people serving you are human and there is always a chance of getting sick. Use your judgement. Even if I have said I love it and Yelpers agreed with me but your server isn’t taking it seriously – don’t eat there. It is your health and you need to make the best judgement call at that time. Try to keep that in mind and keep a good attitude about it. The worst thing you can do is drag people across to the restaurant you wanted and then when you can’t eat pout about it. Life happens – especially when traveling. Try to roll with the punches and be as happy as you can and people won’t mind making accommodations for you.
Hope these help you continue traveling. It is a passion of mine that I have actually increased since becoming gluten free 🙂 Go see the world and let me know what you find!!!
