It’s not easy traveling with allergy kids and adults, but it doesn’t have to be hard. And it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy your summer vacation.
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1. Plan ahead – Make a list of food items you will definitely need. We always bring gluten-free bread, crackers, dried pasta/quinoa, nutritional yeast, avocado, and at least 1 container of almond milk. We bring enough bread and almond milk to get us through the first few days (sometimes the entire trip if we’re not going to get to a store that stocks our necessities).
2. Determine what you will need for the road trip – Unless you want to stop for fast food salad and fries, make sure you bring lots of snacks for the road. We always bring crackers and almond butter, wraps or sandwiches, cut up veggies, fruit, nuts, and our water bottles. Bring a few treats for those moments; you know the ones.
3. Ask your host/hostess to stock a few items for you – If you’re staying with friends or family, don’t hesitate to ask them to pick up a couple of items that you can’t travel with. Dairy-free ice cream is a good place to start, especially since it’s summertime!
4. Bring a couple of your easy go-to recipes – We always do some cooking while we’re at other people’s houses. It’s one way to make sure we get a healthy meal and it’s our way of saying thanks to our hosts for putting up with all of our stuff (we usually bring a big bin of food).
5. Find out where the local health food store is located – You could even check out their website before arriving, or call to see if they stock any of the items you always use. I love hitting up new-to-me health food stores. It’s fun to browse for new products.
6. Locate some allergy-friendly restaurants – I always make a point of googling gluten-free restaurants before we’re headed out of town. I google vegan restaurants too, since we’re also dairy-free and egg-free. I find vegan restaurants are really good about accommodating gluten-free eaters and most of them have gluten-free items on their menu.
We recently went to Ottawa for a little holiday. Before we left home, I searched online and found an amazing restaurant called Zen Garden. We were treated to gluten-free and vegan Apple Fritters, Buckwheat Pancakes, and Tostadas with Daiya Cheese! It was an amazing meal and everyone left the restaurant with happy hearts and happy bellies.
