Preparing to Travel
Traveling with Celiac has always required a little more prep work, but traveling after the pandemic is a whole new level. There are less restaurants and hotel options and those that are around have reduced offerings and smaller menus. Hotels that used to stock full pantries and continental breakfasts are facing unique challenges and were always a little suspect even before a pandemic changed offerings. Restaurants that used to be able to make adjustments to accommodate gluten free and avoided cross contamination requests are now even more challenged.
Make sure to call ahead if you need to rely on eating at restaurants or hotels to ensure that your gluten free needs can be accommodated. Pack extra grab-and-go options to make sure you have food that you CAN eat, even if it is just protein bars or nuts, it is better than risking eating something that could cause damage to your body.
If you are staying in a hotel or with friends/family and have access to a refrigerator and microwave consider stopping at a grocery store for some basics that require little to no prep. Meaning it can be prepped with plastic wear and doesn’t require anything more than a microwave (if you have access to one), be sure to grab a roll of paper towel to help with some of the prep. Be cautious if staying with friends or family, do not rely on being able to use any pots and pans that they may have as well as colanders, cutting boards, and small appliances as all can be difficult to remove trace amounts of gluten from.
No refrigerator or microwave:
Shelf stable fruits like bananas, apples, pears, oranges
Avocados (you can actually eat these with just a spoon)
Gluten free bread and nut butter
Gluten free jerky
Gluten free protein bars like Lara bars (watch bars that use shared equipment)
Gluten free snack food (not ideal but it’s at least calories)
Some great options if you just have a refrigerator:
Carrots and nut butter or ranch
Apples and nut butter
Fresh fruit (berries, grapes,
Raw veggies like sugar snap peas, jicama, celery sticks
Hard boiled eggs
Salad bags and gluten free salad dressing
Look for self contained options or bring along a microwave safe bowl:
Gluten free soup
Gluten free Instant noodle cups or mac n cheese (Annie’s makes to go cups for microwave preparation)
Certified Gluten free oatmeal in ready to go cups (provided you do not react to oats)
Microwave popcorn (don’t recommend a steady diet of this but it works great in hotel room or
A great quick meal is a rice packet, prepped chicken strips and broccoli with any sort of sauce to your liking. I personally like gluten free teriyaki or soy sauce.
One of my go to items is Schar’s crisp bread as is has a great neutral flavor for anything from dipping in soups to avocado toast to nut butters, even cream cheese and fruit or veggies can be good. It also survives packing for the most part when sealed and packed in the original box and packed in the middle of the suitcase.
Want to find a better balance with your Celiac lifestyle? Contact me at hello@justjamiesmith.com to learn how we can work together!