CLEVELAND, Ohio - This past weekend I took a trip to California to drive up the coast and spend the holiday weekend with some west coast friends.
The trip was a blast, but spending five days in five cities required a lot of planning in order to avoid gluten issues. So if any of you find yourselves driving from Los Angeles to San Francisco, drop me a line and I'll send you some suggestions.
I've traveled quite a bit since learning of my diagnosis six years ago and there's a lot I have learned through trial and some unfortunate errors. The biggest advice when it comes to gluten-free traveling is to plan. And when you think you've planned enough, plan some more.
Throughout the past six years of eating gluten-free I've come up with a few to-dos that make traveling safely go much more smoothly:
Pack some go-to snacks to carry in your bag. You rarely see peanuts as in-flight snacks anymore and the alternative usually seems to be either a snack mix or pretzels, which are both off limits. But even if peanuts were still an option, on a potentially hours-long flight I like to know exactly where my food came from to avoid having issues on an airplane. I usually pack a few Luna bars in my backpack in case I get hungry. Use gluten-free restaurant finders in new cities. Websites such as Find Me Gluten-Free are a great starting point when trying to navigate the gluten-free scene in a city you've never been to. All you have to do is enter the zip code or address in which you'll be staying and the search will show you nearby restaurants. Click on restaurant names to see links to their gluten-free menus, type of cuisine, user ratings and reviews. Look up local gluten-free bloggers. I may be a little biased on this one, but local gluten-free writers who are experts in their specific city can be great resources for in-depth reviews of restaurants, grocery stores and other topics unique to their location. Purchase a Nima sensor. Even after all of your due diligence on finding a safe restaurant, the only way to truly know your food is gluten-free is to test it. Bring a Nima sensor, which lets you test your food for gluten on the spot. If a restaurant lists menu items as gluten-free and is rated highly from the community I usually feel safe, but if you're especially nervous this is a great route. Do you have any tips or tricks you use while traveling? If so, please share in the comments section below.
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