Gluten-Free Road Trips Without the Stress: My Real-Life Survival System

Road trips are supposed to feel fun and freeing, but when you’re gluten-free, they can quickly become overwhelming. Questions start piling up fast:

• Where are we going to eat?
• Is there anything safe at this exit?
• Can this restaurant actually handle gluten-free food safely?
• What happens if we’re starving and there are no good options?

After recently taking a long road trip from Ohio to Texas and back again, we realized just how much planning ahead changes the entire experience. Having a system in place made traveling feel dramatically less stressful and helped us avoid a lot of the panic that can come with gluten-free travel.

In this episode, we’re sharing exactly how we approach gluten-free road trips, including:

• What we pack for the drive
• How we research safe restaurants and stops
• The strategies that worked really well
• And one restaurant experience that went very, very wrong

By the end of the episode, you’ll have a practical gluten-free road trip system you can use on your own travels instead of simply hoping for the best.

Come join us in our free Facebook Community, The Gluten Free Engineer. 

It’s a space where you can connect with others living gluten-free, ask questions, swap tips and recipes, and get support from people who truly get it. Whether you’re newly diagnosed or a seasoned gluten-free pro, you’ll feel right at home.

Transcript

Personal Experience Disclaimer

Carrie Saunders 0:00

Quick reminder before we get started on this episode. This podcast is based on my personal experiences and isn't medical advice. Road trips are supposed to be fun, but if you're gluten-free, they can get stressful fast. You're probably wondering, where are we eating? Is there anything safe at this exit? Do I trust this restaurant? What happens if we're starving and have no options? My husband and I just did a long road trip from Ohio to Houston, Texas, and back to Ohio again. And planning had made all the difference. So in this episode, I'm walking you through exactly how we handle gluten-free road trips, what we pack, how we research safe stops, what went well, and what went very, very wrong at one restaurant. Because by the end of this episode, I want you to feel like you've had a real road trip system, not just hoping for the best. Let's dive

Why Gluten Free Road Trips Feel Hard

Carrie Saunders 0:48

in. Welcome to the Gluten Free Engineer Podcast. I'm your host, Kiri 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. So why do road trips seem so stressful for those of us who are gluten-free or celiac? They can feel stressful because we're not at home with our safe kitchen, with our familiar brands, with our familiar routines. On the road, there can be chaos. Random restaurants, long stretches without options, unfamiliar kitchens, fatigue plus hunger usually means bad decisions. So road trips are not where you want to rely on luck. This is where planning can really help you actually enjoy and have a lot of fun on those road trips. So that is my first biggest role is planning ahead. This can help you save everything and save your sanity. It is about not panicking and not making bad decisions and not getting too hungry and not

What We Pack For The Car

Carrie Saunders 2:12

settling. What we do is we love to plan ahead. We bring specific snacks that we love to have on the road. Um, for us, we find a gluten-free, soy-free beef jerky for protein. We find some safe crackers or snacks that are good for us. Um, we find bring like fresh fruit, fresh vegetables. Uh, on this trip, we actually brought uh coconut, um, Greek coconut yogurt. Another thing my husband did um for protein for him for on the trip was we hard-boiled eggs ahead of time. Apparently, if you hard-boil them um and then peel them and put them in a Ziploc baggie, you can actually they can last for several days in a fridge. So we did that for him for breakfast. For me, I just did uh rolled up really clean um turkey that I got at our local natural food market here, had absolutely no weird fillers in it. So that was a great breakfast option for me as I just had rolled up turkey slices. I also did the Owen O Wy N protein shakes. There's about 20 grams of protein in them. They are certified gluten-free and allergy-free, so there's no soy in them, uh, no dairy, any of those things. So those were great for a protein to, you know, to add to my protein for my breakfast. So that's how we handled our breakfast was we basically planned that our breakfast would be on the go in the car or in the hotel most of the time. And we had things that we could pack in that cooler and brought with us, you know, that were dry goods too. Like we brought granola to to add into that yogurt. Now, as far as uh lunches and dinners, we knew that that was going to be a lot easier to do on the go and in restaurants just simply because it's hard to bring that much food when you're going to stay into hotels rather than into like a condominium or an Airbnb because you can't really cook food in

Finding Safe Stops With An App

Carrie Saunders 4:06

a hotel. So, what we did was we love to use the Find Me Gluten Free app. We have the paid version of that, it is uh with our discount, $25 a year. It is so, so worth it. Just think about you know, saving yourself from getting sick. It's so much worth it. Um, if you are interested in that app, I'm gonna tell you a little bit about it. Um, I will have the link in the show notes too, but you can always go to theglutenfreeengineer.com forward slash find me gluten free. And I'll repeat that later in the show as well. But let me talk about the gluten-free find me gluten free app. What I do is I research apps ahead. So the paid version can help you with this because you can create collections. So I create a collection per city. So, like I created a collection for Little Rock, Arkansas. That was about 11 to 12 hours into our drive, and that's where we stayed the first night. It's also where we stayed on the way home because we knew we would be leaving Houston about noon, and we knew we wouldn't want to drive a super long time. We wanted to get in at a reasonable time to be able to get dinner and then to be able to sleep for that long leg back, which would be about 11 to 12 hours back after Little Rock for us. So I used the Find Me Gluten Free app to create collections at the different cities. So I created some collections in Little Rock, Arkansas, and then I created collections in we were technically in Sugarland, Texas, so uh southwest of Houston, Texas. And so I created, you know, I looked ahead and created some collections. So we had a general idea of where we wanted to go. Now, in doing that, that helped me find a dedicated gluten-free bakery in Little Rock, Arkansas. So that was our planned breakfast for the morning. We were leaving Little Rock and going to Houston, and it actually was our breakfast on the way back through back to Ohio. So using the Find Me Gluten Free App can really help you find um dedicated gluten-free items, um, restaurants, I mean, um, you can also check a box that's um most celiac safe or dedicated gluten-free um things like that. So it's really nice to use, and you don't get any ads whenever you have the paid version, too. You also get a better map experience. So when you're in the location, you turn or when you're where you are, where you want to be to be eating, you can turn on location and use the map to find things that are really close to you. So basically, I did preliminary search when I was at home to get a general idea. And then while we were in the city, I would use the map feature to find things that are really close to us. So the key here is we just didn't look for food when we were hungry. We looked ahead of time. We had some pre-options ahead of time, but then while we were there, we did adjust based upon what we wanted to do and how close we were to the thing. So we but we always had that backup plan because we had that pre-planned options. And then I want to go back to that packing list that I talked about right before I talked about finding me gluten-free. Um, you know, when you're thinking about what to pack, I want you to think about packing your favorite proteins, fruits, and vegetables, and then, you know, some appropriate carbs too. We want to have our body balanced, but protein's going to help us the most, as well as stuff with fiber in it, like the fruit and the vegetables. That's going to help us feel fuller longer, and it can help you on that road trip to make it easy for you to not be in a place where you're starving and you have absolutely nothing to eat. We always overpack, we always bring back more snacks than we needed, but that's actually okay. I would rather bring too much stuff and you know have bring it back than not enough and be scrambling for food because you know nobody wants to be scrambling for food whenever you are celiac gluten-free or have some sort of food allergy. So definitely find that portable protein that is your friend. Um, we use both beef jerky as well as turkey jerky. Um, there's also a mushroom jerky out there for vegans and vegetarians. Um, there's actually really good too. So there's lots of options out there.

Hotel Fridge Strategy That Matters

Carrie Saunders 8:09

So one thing you can do is plan a little bit of a hotel strategy. And here's where we kind of had a bit of a miss on this. On the way down, our first stop was um it was either Spring Hill Suites or a Town Place. I can't remember which one it was, but it was one of those ones with the mini kitchen in it. Now that was actually a hit because we had not really a full-size refrigerator, but it was closer to a full side. I had a you know separate freezer from the fridge. It was like a small um refrigerator. So that was great on the way down because then we could put all of our groceries in it. We could re-refresh our ice packs to you know refreeze them. But our miss was when we were in Houston or in Sugarland technically, our mini fridge was very mini, like it was super small. So we couldn't even put the ice packs in the fridge. Um, we just barely got all the refrigerated items into it. So I would recommend you plan ahead on your hotel stay and make sure that their mini fridge is at least a normal mini fridge size, if that's what you need. Ours was a mini, mini fridge. It was very, very tiny. Um, one time I had to put leftovers in it, and I kind of had to uh crush the leftovers box a little bit just to get it to fit in there. Thankfully, it was uh flexible and I could do that. So planning ahead on where you're staying can really help. So using one of those ones that's a suite instead that has a little bit more of a mini kitchen can help you with refrigerated items. Now, when we're actually on the active driving side, we generally generally will eat breakfast and lunch in the car. Um, and we just pack accordingly for that. Now you definitely can plan a stop for lunch, especially if you're using that Find Me Gluten-free app to help you find some safe options. But you know, don't feel discouraged to just eat in the car. I mean, we literally will just eat in the car and plan a bigger dinner for later that night um to refuel ourselves before we drive again. So those are a couple options. Some people don't think about that. They think they, you know, are stuck in their old ways and think, well, I have to stop to eat every single time. You don't really have to unless your body really needs that volume of food. For my husband and I, if we're driving, we don't need that much volume of food. And honestly, our kids don't either. If they've tagged along with us, um, we all tend to tolerate eating our breakfast and our lunch, right? And that car with whatever we've brought. Um, it can really help minimize the decision fatigue and figuring out when and where to stop.

The Restaurant Mistake And Recovery

Carrie Saunders 10:35

So let's talk about the one restaurant that went wrong. Okay, so we researched, or actually, this one was me. I researched some options in Little Rock, Arkansas. Well, I found this one Mexican restaurant that was supposed to be really good for gluten-free. However, I completely forgot about the fact that we both need to be soy free. We got soy so bad at this restaurant, it wasn't even funny. I was not feeling good for probably three or four days straight after eating here. I don't think I got gluten. It was not my normal gluten symptoms, it was more of my soy symptoms. So, one caution I want you to do is if you have multiple food sensitivities like I do, don't forget your other ones. That was a big fail on my part. Um, I I just felt, you know, awful for several days. And so, even with planning, sometimes things can happen. So, we just kind of want to be prepared for that. Now, I did bring some, I've talked about on the podcast, gluten-free digest gluten digest pills, but there's also digest spectrum pills. That's what I use when I think I may have been soyed. Um, so note that there are other digest pills out there too. If you have other food sensitivities that may or may not help you, for me, they do help some, um, but I definitely had too much soy for those things to be able to help me too much with them. So I want you to, you know, plan ahead, think ahead, and don't forget about any other food sensitivities you had, like I

How To Read Reviews For Safety

Carrie Saunders 12:01

did. Now, what I do when I'm using the Find Me Gluten Free app is I will look at the reviews as well as the safety rating. They have both on there. So for celiacs, there's a safety rating. Sometimes I have to ignore the safety rating. Sometimes it's not doesn't exist or it's not very high. And I have to look at the comments and see whether this is a celiac person, what their experience was, what questions they asked. And when you're reading these reviews, I can really help you understand um how well the patrons that have gone there and how valid their reviews are to you know to make sure they understand what you need as far as how careful you need to be. And also look for recent reviews. That's definitely helpful. See if they mention whether the staff says there's a dedicated uh prep area, you know, see if they mention how um careful the staff is. Many times people make comments about staff. Um, it can really, really help. And then one thing I want to make sure you note, and I need to do this too after this trip, is go back and review those restaurants you went to that was very successful. There was a wonderful restaurant in Sugarland, Texas that was a Mexican restaurant. Yes, we tried Mexican again, but this restaurant um had a relative or two that was celiac, so we felt very comfortable eating there. Also, the reviews on it said people had other food issues like dairy and things like that, and they were very good at accommodating. So we felt comfortable going there with both a gluten and soy issues and being able to feel safe. And let me tell you, I had the best chicken and cheese quesadillas I've had, and I can't remember how long because I can't remember last time I had a quesadilla, they could do those with corn tortillas. Um, and the amazing thing was their menu marked when things had gluten in it, not when they were gluten-free. So that kind of told me that most of their menu was gluten-free naturally, which was kind of awesome and is something you normally don't

Emergency Rules For Eating On The Road

Carrie Saunders 13:56

see. So then let's quickly talk about some road trip emergency rules. One, never let yourself get starving because hungry, you can get reckless. This is one thing. If I start to feel hungry, I will ask my husband to pass me a snack. Usually I'm the one driving, and then I always want to have some backup food because even if you think dinner's handled, have some backup food just in case something happens. Like you get in and everything's closed. Um, and then on rule number three is I want I always eat protein first when I am driving and when I'm on a road trip. That helps you keep your energy stable. So protein first, and then your veggies and your carbs. And then rule number four is assume plans can change. Closure, there could be the restaurant could be closed, it could be a holiday. You didn't think about it, maybe they're closed on a Sunday, maybe they're closed on a Monday. You could have potentially delays at a restaurant. So just assume that plans can change and be ready for that and be ready to go in the flow without you'll have a much, much better time if you do that. And then lastly, I want us to make sure we make this a fun. Planning doesn't have to ruin spontaneity. We, you know, like I said earlier, we used the Find Me Gluten Free app to create, you know, a list of items of places that we thought were safe. But then when we were there, we decided to go to the one we felt in the most in the mood for. Uh, we found some great cool gluten-free spots, like dedicated gluten-free bakery, and like that Mexican restaurant that was really great with allergies. It really helped make it part of the adventure and having a lot of fun and enjoying our food. So at the end of the day, gluten-free road trips do not have to feel stressful. A little planning can go a very long way, and it makes the trip so much more fun because when you're focused on the adventure and not panicking about food, you just enjoy yourself so

Keep It Fun Plus App Discount

Carrie Saunders 15:51

much more. And I want to mention again before we close that gluten-free um find me gluten-free app, just go ahead on over to the glutenfreeengineer.com forward slash find me gluten free. That's going to give you a discount on their premium membership. That brings it down to $25 a month as of the this recording. It is a great gluten-free um app. It's a great small um team working behind it that really care about those who use the app. Hopefully, these strategies will help you on your next road trip and help you become much more competent. 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 theglutenfreeengineer.com. 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 medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional for medical questions, concerns, or advice specific to your health.