Gluten Free Engineer - Making Gluten Free Easy

How to Travel Gluten-Free Without the Stress

• Carrie Saunders • Episode 23

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If you’ve ever felt nervous about traveling while gluten-free, you are not alone. I’ve been there—frantically Googling restaurants in a new city, packing enough snacks for a small army, and wondering if I could actually enjoy a vacation without getting sick.

In today’s episode, we’re going to take the stress out of gluten-free travel. Whether you're planning a big vacation, heading on a road trip, or even just visiting friends or family for the weekend, I’ve got your back with real-life strategies that have worked for me and my family of celiacs.


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Carrie Saunders:

Quick reminder before we get started on this episode this podcast is based on my personal experiences and isn't medical advice. If you've ever felt nervous about traveling while gluten-free, you are not alone. I've been there frantically googling restaurants in a new city, packing enough snacks for a small army and wondering if I can actually enjoy a vacation without getting sick. In today's episode, we're going to take the stress out of gluten-free travel. Whether you're planning a big vacation, heading on a road trip or even just visiting friends or family for the weekend, I've got your back with some real-life strategies that work for me and my family of celiacs. So let's dive in. Welcome to the Gluten-Free Engineer Podcast. I'm your host, Carrie Saunders.

Carrie Saunders:

In 2011, I was diagnosed with celiac disease a moment that changed everything, but I was determined not to let it hold me back. With my two engineering degrees, I set out to reverse engineer the gluten-free lifestyle, breaking down recipes, safety tips, travel hacks and everything in between to rebuild a life I love. Whether you have celiac disease, gluten intolerance or simply choose to live gluten-free, this podcast is for you. Join me each week as we simplify the gluten-free lifestyle, make it fun and prove that you don't have to miss out on anything. Welcome back to the show. Today we're talking about traveling and being celiac or gluten intolerant or gluten-free, and one of the biggest tips that you can do and we've talked about this before on the episode is to make sure that you plan ahead without overwhelm. So we want to make sure that we have taken some tactics to plan, but also want to make sure it's easy on us. So planning is a great way to ensure that you don't panic when you're out away from home, and we want to make sure that we are making this easy on us too. So, you know, take the tips that I'm going to give you and apply them to how your personality and how you, your style, works.

Carrie Saunders:

But one of the things I do suggest is that you start with snacks. I always pack myself go-to shelf stable foods. So, like gluten-free beef jerky, um think um mixed nuts If you can have nuts, I like to pack as much protein portable protein as I can, because that helps you stay full longer. We also will pack complex carbohydrate type of um granola bars. You can find some really good uh, gluten-free granola bars. You can find some really good gluten-free granola bars. Sam Mills is a great brand that I absolutely love. It's also grain-free, so it uses almond flour as one of the main ingredients in it and it's a great filling bar. I also love the Annie's gluten-free chocolate chip granola bars too. Those are really delicious as well. So find some that you really like.

Carrie Saunders:

We used to use Kind Bars a lot because I believe most, if not all, of those are celiac safe too, although several of us now in our family have realized we cannot have soy as well. So those are usually out because they have soy in their chocolate. But you know your body, you know yourself well. So those are usually out because they have soy in their chocolate. But you know your body, you know yourself well. So find you some portable snacks that you want to enjoy and love and make it kind of like a treat. That's one of the ways that traveling can help you feel happier and safer. When you're traveling and you're celiac or gluten intolerant is, bring those snacks that you don't usually allow yourself to have when you're at home. So it's kind of like a reward. It's kind of an emotional boost of trying to reduce the stress of actually traveling. Whenever you need to be gluten-free, you know, bring those snacks that are a treat that you don't normally eat at home. It's a great way to reward yourself for being confident and getting out and traveling, even though you may have some food restrictions.

Carrie Saunders:

And then another thing we love to do is we love to look up restaurants ahead of time. I can't recommend enough the Find Me Gluten-Free app. It is a really great app we've been using and I can't remember how long we've used it, probably since about its origin. It's a great free app where people with celiac disease or gluten intolerance leave reviews of restaurants and they will also mark whether it's celiac safe. And I have found my favorite restaurants when traveling from this app. And they also have a paid version of the app which we will link to in our show notes a coupon that you can get $5 off for your year, and it's actually very affordable. So we keep that up.

Carrie Saunders:

And we have a family plan too. That way our children can be on it whenever they travel, cause two of them are over 20 at the time of this recording and one of them was 18 now. So that lets them have the freedom to travel, too, on their own. And, you know, be confident and be self-sufficient. So look at restaurants ahead of time. Make a list of the ones that are safe for you, the ones that you want to visit and plan part of your vacation around it, because part of traveling, the great thing about it, is getting to try these new places and new foods, and we want to make sure that you're doing that in a fun and safe manner, and planning ahead can really make that a lot more fun.

Carrie Saunders:

And then check wherever you're staying, so does the place that you're staying. Does it have a mini fridge? Does it have a microwave? Having at least those two elements can really help you, especially whenever you do eat out gluten-free and safely storage your leftovers so that you can have them as breakfast the next day or a snack or lunch. So making sure you have these basic amenities and wherever you're staying can really help you when you have a food intolerance and food issues, like we do. And planning isn't about perfection, it's just about reducing the stress. Later you can always change your mind. You know, maybe you don't have a good gut feeling when you do go to that restaurant and ask the questions that we're going to talk about here in the next section of the episode. So you know, feel free to pivot if you need to have some extra options.

Carrie Saunders:

This is something my husband has done for our kids since they were in sixth grade, because they would go on I think it was sixth or seventh grade. They would go on a Washington DC Actually, no, it was eighth grade. They would go on a Washington DC trip with their eighth grade class. While having three celiacs, we had to really plan ahead and they didn't generally take parents as volunteers to this, it was teachers. So we had to one inform the teachers and then we also had to equip our children with the tools they needed to be able to travel safely. So this is a great way to help practice with your children if they're still in school age years, to help them be able to be self-sufficient when as an adult and you know, deal with the constraints that they have with how they eat. So, just, you know, make sure you give them options when, if it's you on vacation, make sure you give yourself options and you know, go with your gut, like we like to talk about on the podcast. Whether that's your heart gut or your stomach gut, you know. You know if it's going to be safe for you or not. I feel like you get a good intuition on it. And then let's go into the. How do we dine out safely on the road? So it's often one of the trickiest parts of traveling gluten-free, but it can definitely be done with confidence.

Carrie Saunders:

We have traveled to several different places and found the best foods oh, my goodness, the best foods. One that comes to mind is San Francisco. We found this one place that was gluten-free. 90% of the products there were gluten-free. The only thing that didn't that had some gluten in it was some other ice cream flavors, but it was a place that had waffle sandwiches gluten-free waffle sandwiches and oh my goodness, it was so delicious. So it was like you would have a lunch sandwich, say a turkey and cheese sandwich, but waffles were your bread instead of bread, and it was so delicious. And we've traveled to Maui and found some wonderful restaurants over there. New York City, you know, just be ready to look at what the options are out there. There are some really great and dedicated gluten-free options out there. When you're traveling, especially to some of these big cities, also the Washington DC, we found some of the best places to eat there as well. So when you go to these restaurants, have your gluten-free script ready.

Carrie Saunders:

How do you ask you know what is safer to eat? What? What words are you comfortable with? Usually what I say is I have a gluten allergy or celiac disease. Sometimes I use both words, because some people understand a gluten allergy more than the word celiac disease, and so that really will click for them and I will tell them I need my food to be gluten free and safely prepared to avoid cross contact. And then if the server doesn't, you know, doesn't spark a light bulb and go oh yes, I can help you with that. If she's not confident or he's not confident, I'll ask to talk to a manager, or many times they'll volunteer to have them have the manager or the chef come out and talk to me. So don't feel you know that you're putting them off by doing that or you're, you know, making extra work for them. That's their job to make you feel safe, make you eat safely.

Carrie Saunders:

You know they deal with this, with traditional food allergies as well. So don't feel like you're the oddball. You know if somebody comes to the restaurant with a peanut allergy, a dairy allergy, a wheat allergy, they're going to be doing these same things for them. So just because yours is, you know, gluten, I feel like sometimes, when it's a gluten problem. We feel like we're not as important as the ones with true allergies and really it's just a different type of importance.

Carrie Saunders:

So make sure that you stand up for yourself and ask the questions you need to ask. And some of the other questions you need to ask about is the fryer. This is something many times the servers don't think about unless they're really attuned to this. So ask if anything containing gluten is fried in the fryer, because we don't want to be cross contacting or cross contaminating our food in the fryer as well. And you can also ask if they use shared surfaces or shared pans. And be kind but firm, because your health matters. And again, this is not really any different, um, from a procedural you, a procedural standpoint, as somebody with a food allergy, a traditional food allergy. So make sure that you're supporting yourself and being kind and firm and sometimes sticking with chains that have a good reputation are a decent way to, you know, be safe too. So if you're in a pinch, you can pick, you know, chain places like Chipotle, five Guys or Chick-fil-A. They have solid gluten-free protocols. When you're in a pinch, you could use those. You know, double check current policies for them, because that's always ever changing. But those are some examples of places that we've been able to eat at before, safely gluten-free, as celiacs.

Carrie Saunders:

And if you're traveling internationally, if you want, bring some gluten-free dining cards for you, especially if there's a language barrier, and explain your needs clearly. Actually, one of my children just traveled to Japan recently and he was able to use the Find Me Gluten-Free app Plus. He had already worked a lot on his Japanese and was able to use the find me gluten-free app plus. He had already worked a lot on his Japanese and was able to communicate his needs and got sick only once in about two weeks staying there. So we feel like that was actually pretty good.

Carrie Saunders:

Um, and so you know, make sure you're planning ahead, even if it's traveling internationally. And now that he's done this trip, he wants us to go somewhere internationally as a family. Um, so we're considering that because it's one. It's scary, but at the same time, it sounds really, really fun. The rest of us have not been out of the country before, so there are some countries that are really good at gluten-free. Italy is one of those that has an actually really good reputation of being safe for celiacs and for gluten-free folks, so don't write off traveling internationally If that's on your heart, just plan ahead, do a little bit even more probably digging than you would if you're traveling locally and, um, you know, make it part of your plan and make it part of the fun things that you're going to do and explore while you're out there.

Carrie Saunders:

And then what I also recommend is having a gluten-free travel kit. I never leave home without a set of gluten-free things and it saved me more times than I can count, especially like if you get tied up in traffic and there's no place safe to eat. You've got those snacks with you, so I always bring a meal bar snacks, like I said earlier beef, jerky, bags of nuts or tins of nuts. It's really good idea to also bring small containers when you're traveling for leftovers that can help you fit them in the mini fridge, because many times the mini fridge doesn't fit, like you know, the take-home containers Sometimes those are a bit too big.

Carrie Saunders:

We also always bring a travel size cutting board, at many times one of our kitchen knives that we really like and in a safe manner. We bring it with us. We'll also bring, especially if we're going to a condo we'll bring a few pots and pans that we, you know, from our house because we don't know whether they are using nonstick pans or not. You know, it's that way we were safe and don't get cross contaminated there. We also bring enzyme supplements, too, with us in case we get glutened or if we're at a restaurant that we're pretty confident at but aren't a hundred percent confident at. And I hear that charcoal pills also are great, although we've never tried those ourselves, and I always have a list of gluten-free restaurants, like you know, who were prepping earlier in this episode of places we feel like we're confident and we can go to. So you're going to want to have some of these things with you on your gluten-free travel kit.

Carrie Saunders:

If you're flying on an airplane, prepackaged, sealed things can be brought generally on your carry-on. I've not actually ever had a problem with that other than one time I brought too many carry-on. I've not actually ever had a problem with that other than one time I brought too many, and so they wanted to thoroughly go through my bag because of the density of the items. But they were fine with the you know products I had, because I told them I had, you know, food problems and I couldn't just eat anywhere. So they were completely fine with it. So just bring what you know you need to give you peace of mind and, you know, make sure that your trip is enjoyable.

Carrie Saunders:

And then some real life travel tips from a celiac mom of three is I like to bring a cooler with safe meals, even for short drives Sometimes. It just sometimes makes things easier and honestly, I'm one of those people that just when we get on the road we go Like we don't stop for anything other than a bathroom break. We have the food in the car with us and coolers. We make our own sandwiches or whatever we're eating. Or I might pre-bake like I like to make pancake bites. So you this is actually a little side tip so to make pancake bites. They're a really great way to bring breakfast with you. Just make pancake like you usually make it, add in something you know special, like chocolate chips or a little bit of maple syrup and pre-cooked bacon or something like that, and then all you have to do is put that in muffin tins and bake them in the oven. You just prepare the pancake mix like you usually would until they're done I think it's about 10 or 12 minutes it's about muffin or cupcake time timing and you can pop those out and they're on the go. You know you can eat them at room temperature type of breakfast meal. So that's a quick tip for breakfast on the go in the car is make yourself some pancake bites. We've also done like a little egg cups and put those in the cooler so that they're cold. Those are great things to put in for road trips. So I love to pack a cooler or multiple coolers with food for us.

Carrie Saunders:

We go to Myrtle Beach just about every year. It's about an eight hour drive now it used to be more like 11 and I pack pretty much all the groceries we will need for down there. One, I don't want to have to be finding my favorite gluten-free items in the store you know in a different state. And two, nobody wants to be shopping on their vacation. So I kind of look at it as a blessing and that I'm going to shop when I'm at my house and bring the food with me so that I can save my time when I'm down, you know on vacation and not be bothered by taking an hour or two to go shopping. So it can save you time and it's a great boost that you have all the products that you're used to and that you love and enjoy.

Carrie Saunders:

And then for theme parks you know we have many times gone to Universal Studios or to Disney World. We're going to be going soon to Zoom Beasy Bay, which is a water park here in Ohio, and we will look ahead on the website, see what type of coolers we can bring in, what type of food we can bring in and plan ahead for that. And many times what we'll do is we'll rent a locker. We've done this many times down in Orlando at Universal Studios or Disney World locker, moved on this many times down in Orlando at Universal Studios or Disney World, um, and rented a locker, put, you know, packed, pre-packed, like lunch sandwiches for each of us, you know, tailored to everybody's taste. You know, you know different sandwich for each person and some fruit and maybe some chips or something, and had a complete meal. And you know, pack the cooler with, um, you know, ice packs and put it in a locker. And then we always come back to the locker at lunchtime. It's a great break.

Carrie Saunders:

It's a great way to get away from the crowd and eat something safe and not worry about having stomach issues or not feeling good when you're at a theme park, because nobody wants to not feel good at a theme park, as I'm sure you can imagine. So look ahead on theme parks. You can't, you don't need to write those off. You can bring in most of the time like lunch size soft sided coolers, um, and have your own food there. And you know you. All I do is tell them you know we have celiac disease or we have food allergies. Many times I just use the word food allergies because that's just an easier way to get through and they have no problem. They just look through our coolers and then they let us go on our merry way. And then also for family visits I've learned to gently educate extended family and often to bring part or all of the meal.

Carrie Saunders:

I try not to be rude at all. It's because it's not being rude, it's just being responsible, responsible for your own health, responsible for your children's health. If your children are celiac, like mine are, and you know, you just bring the things and many times they want to eat your food. Actually, recently I brought some stuff and like people were loving my gluten-free casserole that I had brought, you know we first got our food out, so there was no cross contact in the dish, and then other people enjoyed the dish. So you know, all the people can enjoy those things like that.

Carrie Saunders:

And sometimes your first trip is the hardest. So don't beat yourself up if you've not done this very much and if you feel like it's a pain and it's a lot to do. But the more you do it, the more confident you're going to be, the easier it's going to be and, honestly, I kind of look at it as a blessing. I save money when I go on trips because I'm not eating out as much. We have more family time because we're not eating out as much, and I'm healthier because I'm, you know, deciding what I'm putting in my body and I know what's in the ingredients that I purchase. So look at it towards, you know, as a blessing as you get more used to this.

Carrie Saunders:

So let's recap on our traveling. So, first off, planning is your superpower. It is the best way to travel safely and with more fun. So pack your snacks, research your restaurants and think ahead. What do you want to be doing and where do you want to be going? And eating out can be safe when you advocate for yourself or when you use a great app like Find Me Gluten Free, and also having a little gluten free kit can help you make your trip 100 times less stressful, and you can even many times.

Carrie Saunders:

What we will do is we will have a list that we make, that we save and we reuse it every time we go on a trip. These are the things we always bring with us on a trip the cutting board, the knife, the pot and the pan that we like to bring with us, maybe the toaster we like to bring with us, so we have a safe toaster. So you know, make a list and reuse it every time so you're not starting from scratch. And, most importantly, you can yes, you can travel gluten-free and enjoy your life while you're traveling. So just know that you can and it gets easier over time If this is new to you and just have faith that you're going to enjoy this and it's going to be great because you will find what you expect. So and I love to like encourage you guys to have a really positive attitude about being celiac or being gluten free, for whatever reason that you are. You know you can bring joy to this, you can have a good time, and so just keep a light heart, learn from any mistakes you might have and don't beat yourself up about it, but just do better next time and enjoy that trip and don't be afraid to go.

Carrie Saunders:

Thank you for listening to this episode of the Gluten-Free Engineer. If you found value in this story, please share it with someone who might need encouragement on their own gluten-free journey. For more tips, recipes, resources and even links to my YouTube channel, head on over to theglutenfreeengineercom. It's your one-stop hub to make gluten-free living simple, fun and full of flavor. And don't forget to subscribe so you never miss out on an episode, and we will see you next week. The Gluten-Free Engineer podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. I share my personal experiences and stories about living with celiac disease and navigating a gluten-free lifestyle. This podcast does not provide a medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional for medical questions, concerns or advice specific to your health.

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