“We never used to have all of these picky eaters with their food allergies.”
As a thrifty child of the Depression, my Mom has no patience with people who won’t just shut up and eat. I get that, and until recently I’ve been able to eat pretty much anything and so has my family, so I agreed with her.
Now, however, my teen daughter is tussling with some digestive issues and has become lactose-intolerant.
We spent a few weeks figuring out which fake milk tasted best and didn’t have a weird taupe color (winner: the H-E-B grocery chain’s Mootopia) and suddenly, I’m having to think about dietary restrictions in a way that I hadn’t before, including when traveling.
How Some Travelers Handle Food Restrictions
Here are some thoughts and resources….
From travel photographer Alison Cornford-Matheson:
“This is a hot topic for me right now as I just learned I may in fact have to go gluten-free. I’m experimenting with it now as I wait for a diagnosis. I live in Belgium and food and dining out is a big part of my life. It’s starting to be more recognised in Brussels at least but still not easy. Bread and pasta free Europe… not so fun.”
From writer Lanora Schoeny Mueller:
“France + Italy + LactAid = dairy-free tragedy averted.”
From entrepreneur Shennandoah Diaz:
“I was born on a dairy farm and have to take my own food with me to visit my parents. If I eat gluten or dairy it’s bad for me. Just suffered in Cancun – everything had gluten, dairy, sugars, etc. in it. Should have packed more food! I took gluten-free snacks, nuts, dried fruit, tea, Kashi instant oatmeal, snack bars and Splenda, but everything they made had dairy in it, even the vegetables. I wasn’t prepared.”
Shennandoah also told me that she wishes she’d checked luggage so that liquids restrictions wouldn’t have applied and she could have taken some almond or soy milk.
From traveler and author Aline Dobbie:
“India is [a good] country for gluten problems; they even have other breads made from chick pea or corn flour (but glorious rice is the answer.)”
Extended world traveler Jeanne Dee of SoulTravelers3 fame has been dealing with recent severe dietary restrictions lately (not sure why, she jokes that she, “Must have eaten the wrong Indian food while in Penang,”) but here’s how she’s handled it in remote areas:
“…had to carry a whole bag of herbs and medicines…but I managed quite well. I did miss out on some great food, but I enjoyed some special things too, since I could have bread and simple soups. Bhutan was harder because I cannot have any spice and the food tends to be very spicy. Jordan was fairly easy as I can have bread and hummus. I carried seaweed and miso in my bag too so that I could make a soup out of hot water if nothing was available that I could eat, but didn’t need to use it too much. I could only drink warm water, so that was a challenge, but I managed with a small thermos.”
Jeanne had all of this written down by a doctor to make airport security checkpoints do-able.
Some Resources for Travelers
** Debbie Dubrow has a series of posts about food allergies on her Delicious Baby family travel blog.
** Tripbase has a post telling you how to say “I’m Allergic to Peanuts” in 45 languages.
** Celiac sufferers can get language cards on Celiac Travel that explain their situation.
** Katie Aune launched a whole blog called Globally Gluten Free travel resources.
Since this is all new to me, I’d love to hear more comments and feedback below about how you handle dietary restrictions while traveling. Thanks so much for your thoughts!
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Excellent and helpful post Sheila and I am sorry to hear your daughter has to deal with this. We don’t eat pork so that sometimes is a challenge in some countries ( like Spain where we spend a lot of time) but hasn’t been too hard.
I’ve never had problems, so had an attitude like your mom, but boy this digestive problem I got in Penang was the worst problem I have had since childbirth..and we had a very rough one of those.
I went to hospitals in Penang, got blood work, ultra sound, more tests, consult with the best GI specialist etc etc and I was still in pain and extreme distress despite the medicine.
Finally in desperation I went to their Chinese medicine hospital and worked with an acupuncturist who specialized in gastric problems.
I have tried acupuncture before without any stunning results in America, but this guy was amazing and I felt better as soon as I took the first treatment.
He gave me herbs, did treatments and even came to my house to do some so that I could get better enough to take my flight into Bangkok, Bhutan and Jordan.
By accident in rural mountainous Bhutan I took one bite of soup that was very spicy. That got me really sick, but luckily I had carried all those herbs with me and it happens my Bhutanese guide was an expert in herbs too so understood why I needed them and helped me prepare them. He does some treks high into the Himalayas so has to know how to rely on herbs when no doctor is available..so it is part of the culture.
It was risky to take that trip to Bhtuan and Jordan ( especially Bhutan where we were in very isolated areas) but I am glad we did. I didn’t enjoy the food as much as I would have liked, but I still got to enjoy the travel…and some of the safer traditional foods like their bread and buckwheat pancakes.
The doctors note was very handy with TSA..sometimes they were easy, but one lady was a pill..but they eventually decided not to nuke my herbs and special food with xray thing in security and hand checked it.
You have to work harder with special needs ( I also travel the world with a gimpy leg and bad arm from old severe injuries so have some mobility challenges) BUT it does not have to stop you from enjoying your life or travel!
Thanks for your input, Jeanne. Persistence and a focus on the joy of travel itself has obviously worked for you. Really appreciate your feedback.
Sheila,
Stephanie Stiavetti has written quite a bit about gluten free eating at The Culinary Life http://www.wasabimon.com/
and a resource that’s especially helpful for travelers — allergy cards in many languages (even custom made if needed). Vera Marie Badertscher describes it succinctly here (it’s #4 in her list): http://atravelerslibrary.com/2009/11/16/10-perfect-gifts-for-travelers/
and here’s the (not so succinct) site itself: http://selectwisely.com/
As your title suggests, there’s a big difference between picky eating and legitimate dietary restrictions. If someone isn’t adventurous when it comes to food, I have little patience for them when I meet on the road – so much of what makes travel fascinating is connecting to local people through their food.
But to those with dietary restrictions, that’s a whole other story. I’m celiac and recently wrote a love letter to spices, as spices have ensured that I’ve kept a lively, taste-filled food lexicon even without wheat. But when I am in a situation where socially it is inappropriate to be picky (e.g. with Bedouin in Jordan or Berber in Morocco) and offered wheat, I’ve just dealt with the stomach issues because it would be culturally insensitive not to. I’m not sure my doctor would agree, but it felt like the right thing to do! 🙂
Hi Kerry – thanks for the helpful resources!
Hi Jodi – well said, and I’ve heard other people with digestive problems say that they don’t know what they’d do without a good spice kit. I agree with your call on the situations where you had to smile and eat things anyway – hope your recovery was fairly swift.