Travel is a big motivation for me in life. Since going on my first big trip and moving to Ireland almost seven years ago, I have become obsessed with travel and new experiences. As well, my job sometimes mandates that I do a bit of travel. As another holiday is upon me, I have gone through most of my usual steps. I posted some tips on tumblr a few months ago when I was preparing for a trip to not necessarily celiac-friendly destinations when language would be a barrier. I also posted a few months ago about what I bring with me when I'm travelling to random cities for work. I even posted a rant stemming from some pre-travel research I was doing a few weeks ago.
But what about when you are travelling to gluten free friendly places? Or where you know you won't have time and/or language constraints and lots of options? My next trip is a holiday in Europe, and I prepare for trips to big cities in North America and Europe a little bit differently, so I thought I would share.
- Air Travel: All major airlines offer gluten intolerant meals on flights. I always have energy bars and snacks on flights so I can eat when I feel I need to.
- Hotels: I rarely stay in designated GF-friendly hotels as I don't eat in the hotel often. However, if there is a breakfast included I will send an email about one week prior asking if they can accommodate my needs.
- Where will I eat?: Having dietary restrictions has made me compulsive about always having food in my bag, as well as knowing where I can eat. To determine where I can eat, I search blogs, Google Maps and Yelp for where to shop and eat.
- I've gone rogue this trip - I am not going to bring food other than said energy bars and snacks for the plane. I will buy snacks upon arrival though.
- Star on your Google Map where you can go! Then cache your map in your phone so you'll always have it close.
- Ask the concierge at your hotel for recommendations. They will often have some.
- If I am travelling to a region that English is not the first language but is widely spoken, I still bring a few restaurant cards and learn the words for celiac and gluten free.
How do you prepare for gluten free travel?
Jennifer, it was great to read your post. I think I may be able to help you plan and enjoy your future travels with even more ease. I am the founder of GlutenFreeTravelSite ( http://glutenfreetravelsite.com ), and our site contains thousands of user-submitted gluten free dining and travel reviews from all over the world (with the majority being from the U.S.) -- searchable by location. We've been around for 5 years, and we launched a free app back in January called DINE GLUTEN FREE (available for iPhone and Android) that enables you to access places to eat -- and reviews of them -- when you're on-the-go. We also have a Trip Planning page, an Air Travel page, and a Hotels page within the RESOURCES section of our website that provide details of airlines offering GF meals, hotels with kitchens, hotels that have GF menus, etc. I think you'll find our site very helpful and would love your feedback! Looking forward to reading more about your GF travels....
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