How to Take a Gluten & Dairy-Free Vacation
We go on lots of vacations and it can be challenging when you eat Gluten and Dairy Free. These tips for traveling with food allergies will make your vacation go much smoother on a Gluten & Dairy-Free Vacation.
Whether you have Celiac Disease or you’re gluten intolerant, allergic to dairy or have an intolerance to dairy, it makes it hard to travel far from home. Special dietary needs follow you everywhere, and the only way to go and enjoy yourself is to plan ahead.
You can still have a fantastic vacation and enjoy great meals and snacks without worrying about what you’re eating or dangerous cross-contamination. All you have to do is prepare yourself for travel so that you can enjoy your vacation and eat well at the same time.
First, arm yourself with a list of restaurant chains in the area that you’ll be visiting so that you know which ones offer gluten-free options. You can go online (before you leave for vacation) and search dairy-free, gluten-free or vegan restaurants. I find it much easier to search for a Vegan restaurant and then choose an item with no breads. I also ask if sauces have gluten in them. But the following apps will help and we prefer Happy Cow. They have found suitable places everywhere we have travelled!
These are just a few apps that are very helpful:
Eating Smart finds Dairy Free, Gluten Free and Vegan Restaurants – iTunes App
Happy Cow for Vegan which would include Dairy Free Restaurants – Android App & iTunes App
Find Me Gluten Free – Android App & iTunes App
Simply Gluten Free – iTunes App
Gluten Free Restaurant Items – iTunes App
Dine GF – iTunes App
Some grocery chains post wheat and gluten-free food lists. You’ll want to check out what supermarket chains are in the area you’ll be in, so that you can know where to shop when you need a few supplies for snacking or making your own meal if you won’t be dining out. There are more Apps to help with this also.
Bringing along a supply of gluten & dairy-free food snacks that you love and are familiar is very helpful if you are going to a place where shopping will be difficult. They are a lifesaver when you’re at the airport or traveling out of country. Plus, you can bring your favorites.
Some of the most well known brands for gluten & dairy-free snacks are Enjoy Life, Bumble Bars and Lara Bars. They can be purchased online or at some retailers. You will still have to read the ingredients because some gluten-free products still contain dairy. But Enjoy Life is SAFE and doesn’t have either. Ener-G Foods produces a great line of single serving gluten-free cereal packages and packets of gluten free bread (2 slices per pack).
Armed with your list of restaurants that offer great gluten-free items, your supermarket list, snack bars, cereal and bread packets, you’ll be more than ready to take a vacation and never have to give a moment’s thought worrying about what you’re ingesting.
Instead, you can sit back and enjoy yourself, bask in the sun, or ski down a powdery hill and be secure in the knowledge that you have the eating part of the vacation handled and won’t have to worry about your nutrition.
Do they have a way to find vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, egg-free, yeast-free, shellfish-free, peanut-free? If so, I might be able to find something without the rest of my allergens there. There is nothing which is why I haven’t been out to eat in 5 yrs.
Hi Mary, If you found Vegan which they can do…..it would be shellfish free, egg free. You can find gluten free and soy free. Yeast free would be the hardest I think. Many people are allergic to peanuts so you could find that too. You would just have to call ahead and ask what dishes would not have those. It is amazing how allergy free you can eat going out. Not fancy but with simple things.
These are some great apps and tools to get information while travelling. What a great post…thanks!
Your Welcome Monique! My GF and I rely heavily on the restaurant apps when we travel. It makes our trip so much more enjoyable not to fret about food!