Gluten Free Travel Tips
The last 3 years I’ve come down with a serious allergy to Gluten. I was like most people and had no idea what that was. After 2 years of doctors visits, going through hell and not being able to do much that didn’t allow me to be within running shot of a bathroom. Enough said. If you are reading this, I’m guessing you understand the issues. My allergy has become so bad that I can no longer even enjoy the items labeled with no gluten in the ingredients BUT if it says it was “made in a factory that may contain gluten”. I’ve tried, hoping it wouldn’t affect me but even the slightest bit is 8 hours of hell!
Traveling with a Gluten Allergy
Now I always notify the airline ahead of time BUT I will tell you that it’s still about a 50/50 if they have it registered when I arrive so I always mention it when I arrive. Most people don’t truly understand what gluten is and how many things it’s in, and I don’t blame them, neither did I!
Whether you avoid Gluten for an allergy or other reasons, I hope this info will help you travel easier & stress free when it comes to food. Gluten Free items can be great tasting or some taste awful so here are my recommendations for travel worthy Gluten Free snacks.
Items I Never Travel Without
Now that airlines are going low budget AND if one person on the entire plane has a peanut allergy, they do not even serve peanuts anymore so traveling with your own snacks makes a lot of sense.
-GF Crackers: Recommend these Nairn’s Oat Grahams, they taste similar to a Graham Cracker and come individually wrapped-about 4 per package. You can always get cheeses with no problem so bringing my own crackers is helpful and great for snacks.
-GF Trail Mix-this to me is one of the BEST items to travel with. Very filling, great proteins, vitamins and antioxidants and it comes in a resealable pouch: Power Up Trail Mix, Mega Omega Trail Mix
–Kind Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Nuts & Sea Salt, these are a tasty snack and get the sweets craving taken care of. I find that when I travel I get a craving for something not only sweet but salty so these are perfect.
-Activated Charcoal Tablets. These have been a life saver! If you’ve never taken these, if you feel that you may have eaten something that is making you feel like it had gluten in it or you feel bloated, take these! Organic Activated Charcoal Capsules 1,200 mg. These capsules are a high dose so you don’t have to take so many like with the lower doses and also help with bloating which many times happens when flying. I don’t believe there is any reason not to take these but of course always consult with your physician.
-Something sweet….yep, chocolate can even have it in there…and ice cream. It can be frustrating when anything that has more than a few ingredients in it, can easily have gluten (that goes by @ 20 names) so asking if there is gluten in there is a bit of a lost cause. I actually have the LIST of all of the names gluten is hidden under on my phone so Ican check an item if it has the ingredients listed. I stick with LINDT 70% Dark Chocolate, I either bring it or hope that a shop has it but it’s better to bring it! Some of the Lindt Chocolate bars with flavors (orange, etc) do have Gluten so you need to stick with the Dark Chocolate. They can be quite pricey (but worth it), stock up here: Lindt 70% Dark Chocolate Bars.
-If you don’t have favorites or been able to try a lot of different items & brands, I highly suggest you get this Care Package that has 20 different items in it and they are great for travel. This way you don’t have to commit to a Costco sized box of items you’re not even sure that you’ll like, why not sample them first? Gluten Free Snack Pack
Eating at the Airport
For those Airport Lounge buffet areas, I stick to salads with olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette, cheese and fruit. The only meats I can have are without sauce so unless I’m ordering a sirloin steak or plain chicken breast, I skip the meats. No breads, no cakes, no crackers….frustrating to have to try and fly with these issues for sure so bringing your own helps with that.
Starbucks which is in most airports, if they don’t have a huge line I’ll grab a banana, coffee and water. Yes it is absolutely overpriced but I’m not a big breakfast eater so a coffee, banana and water will often times be my breakfast and that suits me just fine.
If you are in one of the convenience stores in the airport and are craving something sweet, these items are ones that I’ve found are Gluten Free: Rolos, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (only the Regular/Original are GF), Dark Chocolate (read the ingredients every time) and Bounty Dark Chocolate with Coconut if you’re in South Africa.
Living Gluten Free
I am lucky that I Gluten Free has started to be a trend…not just because people can’t have it, but that they don’t want to (oh and believe me…I want to)! In the small town where I live we do have some GF items…not much, and it sells out often, but it’s workable. Traveling through London Heathrow Airport (LHR) was one of the worst times I’ve had trying to find a GF meal so far. It could be that I was just so hungry or in a rush, but I just couldn’t find a GF meal. Since I now travel through this airport often, next time I’ll have a good look around and find a good restaurant.
I am from California and I miss my Trader Joe’s! Whenever I travel back home, I enjoy trying all of their Gluten Free items, they are always delicious and a few alway come back with me on the plane.
Please tell me below in the comments what YOUR favorite Gluten Free items are and if you have any emergency remedies like the Charcoal Tablets. I’m still new to this so looking forward to your comments!