June 12, 2025 • 22 mins
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.
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.
This episode is brought to you by Find Me Gluten Free—your go-to app for discovering safe, gluten-free dining options wherever you go!
Get your exclusive discount for our listeners at theglutenfreeengineer.com/findmeglutenfree
Because dinning out gluten-free shouldn’t be a guessing game!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Carrie Saunders (00:00):
Quick reminder before we get started on this
episode this podcast is based onmy personal experiences and
isn't medical advice.
If you've ever felt nervousabout traveling while
gluten-free, you are not alone.
I've been there franticallygoogling restaurants in a new
city, packing enough snacks fora small army and wondering if I
can actually enjoy a vacationwithout getting sick.
(00:21):
In today's episode, we're goingto take the stress out of
gluten-free travel.
Whether you're planning a bigvacation, heading on a road trip
or even just visiting friendsor family for the weekend, I've
got your back with somereal-life strategies that work
for me and my family of celiacs.
So let's dive in.
Welcome to the Gluten-FreeEngineer Podcast.
I'm your host, Carrie Saunders.
(00:42):
In 2011, I was diagnosed withceliac disease a moment that
changed everything, but I wasdetermined 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 andeverything in between to rebuild
a life I love.
Whether you have celiac disease, gluten intolerance or simply
(01:04):
choose to live gluten-free, thispodcast is for you.
Join me each week as wesimplify the gluten-free
lifestyle, make it fun and provethat you don't have to miss out
on anything.
Welcome back to the show.
Today we're talking abouttraveling and being celiac or
gluten intolerant or gluten-free, and one of the biggest tips
that you can do and we've talkedabout this before on the
(01:26):
episode is to make sure that youplan ahead without overwhelm.
So we want to make sure that wehave taken some tactics to plan
, but also want to make sureit's easy on us.
So planning is a great way toensure that you don't panic when
you're out away from home, andwe want to make sure that we are
making this easy on us too.
(01:48):
So, you know, take the tipsthat I'm going to give you and
apply them to how yourpersonality and how you, your
style, works.
But one of the things I dosuggest is that you start with
snacks.
I always pack myself go-toshelf stable foods.
So, like gluten-free beef jerky, um think um mixed nuts If you
(02:10):
can have nuts, I like to pack asmuch protein portable protein
as I can, because that helps youstay full longer.
We also will pack complexcarbohydrate type of um granola
bars.
You can find some really gooduh, gluten-free granola bars.
You can find some really goodgluten-free granola bars.
Sam Mills is a great brand thatI absolutely love.
(02:30):
It's also grain-free, so ituses almond flour as one of the
main ingredients in it and it'sa great filling bar.
I also love the Annie'sgluten-free chocolate chip
granola bars too.
Those are really delicious aswell.
So find some that you reallylike.
We used to use Kind Bars a lotbecause I believe most, if not
(02:54):
all, of those are celiac safetoo, although several of us now
in our family have realized wecannot have soy as well.
So those are usually outbecause they have soy in their
chocolate.
But you know your body, youknow yourself well.
So those are usually outbecause they have soy in their
chocolate.
But you know your body, youknow yourself well.
So find you some portablesnacks that you want to enjoy
and love and make it kind oflike a treat.
That's one of the ways thattraveling can help you feel
(03:16):
happier and safer.
When you're traveling andyou're celiac or gluten
intolerant is, bring thosesnacks that you don't usually
allow yourself to have whenyou're at home.
So it's kind of like a reward.
It's kind of an emotional boostof trying to reduce the stress
of actually traveling.
Whenever you need to begluten-free, you know, bring
those snacks that are a treatthat you don't normally eat at
(03:37):
home.
It's a great way to rewardyourself for being confident and
getting out and traveling, eventhough you may have some food
restrictions.
And then another thing we loveto do is we love to look up
restaurants ahead of time.
I can't recommend enough theFind Me Gluten-Free app.
It is a really great app we'vebeen using and I can't remember
(03:57):
how long we've used it, probablysince about its origin.
It's a great free app wherepeople with celiac disease or
gluten intolerance leave reviewsof restaurants and they will
also mark whether it's celiacsafe.
And I have found my favoriterestaurants when traveling from
this app.
And they also have a paidversion of the app which we will
(04:19):
link to in our show notes acoupon that you can get $5 off
for your year, and it's actuallyvery affordable.
So we keep that up.
And we have a family plan too.
That way our children can be onit whenever they travel, cause
two of them are over 20 at thetime of this recording and one
of them was 18 now.
So that lets them have thefreedom to travel, too, on their
(04:40):
own.
And, you know, be confident andbe self-sufficient.
So look at restaurants ahead oftime.
Make a list of the ones thatare safe for you, the ones that
you want to visit and plan partof your vacation around it,
because part of traveling, thegreat thing about it, is getting
to try these new places and newfoods, and we want to make sure
(05:00):
that you're doing that in a funand safe manner, and planning
ahead can really make that a lotmore fun.
And then check wherever you'restaying, so does the place that
you're staying.
Does it have a mini fridge?
Does it have a microwave?
Having at least those twoelements can really help you,
especially whenever you do eatout gluten-free and safely
(05:23):
storage your leftovers so thatyou can have them as breakfast
the next day or a snack or lunch.
So making sure you have thesebasic amenities and wherever
you're staying can really helpyou when you have a food
intolerance and food issues,like we do.
And planning isn't aboutperfection, it's just about
reducing the stress.
(05:44):
Later you can always changeyour mind.
You know, maybe you don't havea good gut feeling when you do
go to that restaurant and askthe questions that we're going
to talk about here in the nextsection of the episode.
So you know, feel free to pivotif you need to have some extra
options.
This is something my husband hasdone for our kids since they
(06:04):
were in sixth grade, becausethey would go on I think it was
sixth or seventh grade.
They would go on a WashingtonDC Actually, no, it was eighth
grade.
They would go on a WashingtonDC trip with their eighth grade
class.
While having three celiacs, wehad to really plan ahead and
they didn't generally takeparents as volunteers to this,
it was teachers.
(06:24):
So we had to one inform theteachers and then we also had to
equip our children with thetools they needed to be able to
travel safely.
So this is a great way to helppractice with your children if
they're still in school ageyears, to help them be able to
be self-sufficient when as anadult and you know, deal with
(06:45):
the constraints that they havewith how they eat.
So, just, you know, make sureyou give them options when, if
it's you on vacation, make sureyou give yourself options and
you know, go with your gut, likewe like to talk about on the
podcast.
Whether that's your heart gutor your stomach gut, you know.
You know if it's going to besafe for you or not.
I feel like you get a goodintuition on it.
And then let's go into the.
(07:07):
How do we dine out safely onthe road?
So it's often one of thetrickiest parts of traveling
gluten-free, but it candefinitely be done with
confidence.
We have traveled to severaldifferent places and found the
best foods oh, my goodness, thebest foods.
One that comes to mind is SanFrancisco.
We found this one place thatwas gluten-free.
90% of the products there weregluten-free.
(07:30):
The only thing that didn't thathad some gluten in it was some
other ice cream flavors, but itwas a place that had waffle
sandwiches gluten-free wafflesandwiches and oh my goodness,
it was so delicious.
So it was like you would have alunch sandwich, say a turkey
and cheese sandwich, but waffleswere your bread instead of
bread, and it was so delicious.
And we've traveled to Maui andfound some wonderful restaurants
(07:54):
over there.
New York City, you know, justbe ready to look at what the
options are out there.
There are some really great anddedicated 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 theserestaurants, have your
(08:15):
gluten-free script ready.
How do you ask you know what issafer to eat?
What?
What words are you comfortablewith?
Usually what I say is I have agluten allergy or celiac disease
.
Sometimes I use both words,because some people understand a
gluten allergy more than theword celiac disease, and so that
really will click for them andI will tell them I need my food
(08:37):
to be gluten free and safelyprepared 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 helpyou with that.
If she's not confident or he'snot confident, I'll ask to talk
to a manager, or many timesthey'll volunteer to have them
have the manager or the chefcome out and talk to me.
So don't feel you know thatyou're putting them off by doing
(09:00):
that or you're, you know,making extra work for them.
That's their job to make youfeel safe, make you eat safely.
You know they deal with this,with traditional food allergies
as well.
So don't feel like you're theoddball.
You know if somebody comes tothe restaurant with a peanut
allergy, a dairy allergy, awheat allergy, they're going to
be doing these same things forthem.
So just because yours is, youknow, gluten, I feel like
(09:23):
sometimes, when it's a glutenproblem.
We feel like we're not asimportant as the ones with true
allergies and really it's just adifferent type of importance.
So make sure that you stand upfor yourself and ask the
questions you need to ask.
And some of the other questionsyou need to ask about is the
fryer.
This is something many timesthe servers don't think about
(09:45):
unless they're really attuned tothis.
So ask if anything containinggluten is fried in the fryer,
because we don't want to becross contacting or cross
contaminating our food in thefryer as well.
And you can also ask if theyuse shared surfaces or shared
pans.
And be kind but firm, becauseyour health matters.
And again, this is not reallyany different, um, from a
(10:09):
procedural you, a proceduralstandpoint, as somebody with a
food allergy, a traditional foodallergy.
So make sure that you'resupporting yourself and being
kind and firm and sometimessticking with chains that have a
good reputation are a decentway to, you know, be safe too.
(10:30):
So if you're in a pinch, youcan pick, you know, chain places
like Chipotle, five Guys orChick-fil-A.
They have solid gluten-freeprotocols.
When you're in a pinch, youcould use those.
You know, double check currentpolicies for them, because
that's always ever changing.
But those are some examples ofplaces that we've been able to
eat at before, safelygluten-free, as celiacs.
(10:52):
And if you're travelinginternationally, if you want,
bring some gluten-free diningcards for you, especially if
there's a language barrier, andexplain your needs clearly.
Actually, one of my childrenjust traveled to Japan recently
and he was able to use the FindMe Gluten-Free app Plus.
He had already worked a lot onhis Japanese and was able to use
the find me gluten-free appplus.
He had already worked a lot onhis Japanese and was able to
(11:15):
communicate his needs and gotsick only once in about two
weeks staying there.
So we feel like that wasactually pretty good.
Um, and so you know, make sureyou're planning ahead, even if
it's traveling internationally.
And now that he's done thistrip, he wants us to go
somewhere internationally as afamily.
Um, so we're considering thatbecause it's one.
It's scary, but at the sametime, it sounds really, really
(11:35):
fun.
The rest of us have not beenout of the country before, so
there are some countries thatare really good at gluten-free.
Italy is one of those that hasan actually really good
reputation of being safe forceliacs and for gluten-free
folks, so don't write offtraveling internationally If
that's on your heart, just planahead, do a little bit even more
(11:57):
probably digging than you wouldif you're traveling locally and
, um, you know, make it part ofyour plan and make it part of
the fun things that you're goingto do and explore while you're
out there.
And then what I also recommendis having a gluten-free travel
kit.
I never leave home without aset of gluten-free things and it
saved me more times than I cancount, especially like if you
(12:20):
get tied up in traffic andthere's no place safe to eat.
You've got those snacks withyou, so I always bring a meal
bar snacks, like I said earlierbeef, jerky, bags of nuts or
tins of nuts.
It's really good idea to alsobring small containers when
you're traveling for leftoversthat can help you fit them in
(12:41):
the mini fridge, because manytimes the mini fridge doesn't
fit, like you know, thetake-home containers Sometimes
those are a bit too big.
We also always bring a travelsize cutting board, at many
times one of our kitchen knivesthat we really like and in a
safe manner.
We bring it with us.
We'll also bring, especially ifwe're going to a condo we'll
bring a few pots and pans thatwe, you know, from our house
(13:05):
because we don't know whetherthey are using nonstick pans or
not.
You know, it's that way we weresafe and don't get cross
contaminated there.
We also bring enzymesupplements, too, with us in
case we get glutened or if we'reat a restaurant that we're
pretty confident at but aren't ahundred percent confident at.
And I hear that charcoal pillsalso are great, although we've
never tried those ourselves, andI always have a list of
(13:28):
gluten-free restaurants, likeyou know, who were prepping
earlier in this episode ofplaces we feel like we're
confident and we can go to.
So you're going to want to havesome of these things with you
on your gluten-free travel kit.
If you're flying on an airplane,prepackaged, sealed things can
be brought generally on yourcarry-on.
I've not actually ever had aproblem with that other than one
(13:49):
time I brought too manycarry-on.
I've not actually ever had aproblem with that other than one
time I brought too many, and sothey wanted to thoroughly go
through my bag because of thedensity of the items.
But they were fine with the youknow products I had, because I
told them I had, you know, foodproblems and I couldn't just eat
anywhere.
So they were completely finewith it.
So just bring what you know youneed to give you peace of mind
and, you know, make sure thatyour trip is enjoyable.
(14:13):
And then some real life traveltips from a celiac mom of three
is I like to bring a cooler withsafe meals, even for short
drives Sometimes.
It just sometimes makes thingseasier and honestly, I'm one of
those people that just when weget on the road we go Like we
don't stop for anything otherthan a bathroom break.
We have the food in the carwith us and coolers.
(14:36):
We make our own sandwiches orwhatever we're eating.
Or I might pre-bake like I liketo make pancake bites.
So you this is actually alittle side tip so to make
pancake bites.
They're a really great way tobring breakfast with you.
Just make pancake like youusually make it, add in
something you know special, likechocolate chips or a little bit
(14:57):
of maple syrup and pre-cookedbacon or something like that,
and then all you have to do isput that in muffin tins and bake
them in the oven.
You just prepare the pancakemix like you usually would until
they're done I think it's about10 or 12 minutes it's about
muffin or cupcake time timingand you can pop those out and
they're on the go.
You know you can eat them atroom temperature type of
(15:19):
breakfast meal.
So that's a quick tip forbreakfast on the go in the car
is make yourself some pancakebites.
We've also done like a littleegg cups and put those in the
cooler so that they're cold.
Those are great things to putin for road trips.
So I love to pack a cooler ormultiple coolers with food for
us.
We go to Myrtle Beach just aboutevery year.
(15:41):
It's about an eight hour drivenow it used to be more like 11
and I pack pretty much all thegroceries we will need for down
there.
One, I don't want to have to befinding my favorite gluten-free
items in the store you know ina different state.
And two, nobody wants to beshopping on their vacation.
So I kind of look at it as ablessing and that I'm going to
(16:04):
shop when I'm at my house andbring 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 ortwo to go shopping.
So it can save you time andit's a great boost that you have
all the products that you'reused to and that you love and
enjoy.
And then for theme parks youknow we have many times gone to
(16:26):
Universal Studios or to DisneyWorld.
We're going to be going soon toZoom Beasy Bay, which is a
water park here in Ohio, and wewill look ahead on the website,
see what type of coolers we canbring in, what type of food we
can bring in and plan ahead forthat.
And many times what we'll do iswe'll rent a locker.
We've done this many times downin Orlando at Universal Studios
(16:48):
or Disney World locker, movedon this many times down in
Orlando at Universal Studios orDisney World, um, and rented a
locker, put, you know, packed,pre-packed, like lunch
sandwiches for each of us, youknow, tailored to everybody's
taste.
You know, you know differentsandwich for each person and
some fruit and maybe some chipsor something, and had a complete
meal.
And you know, pack the coolerwith, um, you know, ice packs
(17:08):
and put it in a locker.
And then we always come back tothe locker at lunchtime.
It's a great break.
It's a great way to get awayfrom the crowd and eat something
safe and not worry about havingstomach issues or not feeling
good when you're at a theme park, because nobody wants to not
feel good at a theme park, asI'm sure you can imagine.
So look ahead on theme parks.
(17:29):
You can't, you don't need towrite those off.
You can bring in most of thetime like lunch size soft sided
coolers, um, and have your ownfood there.
And you know you.
All I do is tell them you knowwe have celiac disease or we
have food allergies.
Many times I just use the wordfood allergies because that's
just an easier way to getthrough and they have no problem
(17:50):
.
They just look through ourcoolers and then they let us go
on our merry way.
And then also for family visitsI've learned to gently educate
extended family and often tobring part or all of the meal.
I try not to be rude at all.
It's because it's not beingrude, it's just being
responsible, responsible foryour own health, responsible for
your children's health.
(18:11):
If your children are celiac,like mine are, and you know, you
just bring the things and manytimes they want to eat your food
.
Actually, recently I broughtsome stuff and like people were
loving my gluten-free casserolethat I had brought, you know we
first got our food out, so therewas no cross contact in the
(18:31):
dish, and then other peopleenjoyed the dish.
So you know, all the people canenjoy those things like that.
And sometimes your first trip isthe hardest.
So don't beat yourself up ifyou've not done this very much
and if you feel like it's a painand it's a lot to do.
But the more you do it, themore confident you're going to
be, the easier it's going to beand, honestly, I kind of look at
(18:53):
it as a blessing.
I save money when I go on tripsbecause I'm not eating out as
much.
We have more family timebecause we're not eating out as
much, and I'm healthier becauseI'm, you know, deciding what I'm
putting in my body and I knowwhat's in the ingredients that I
purchase.
So look at it towards, you know, as a blessing as you get more
used to this.
(19:13):
So let's recap on our traveling.
So, first off, planning is yoursuperpower.
It is the best way to travelsafely and with more fun.
So pack your snacks, researchyour restaurants and think ahead
.
What do you want to be doingand where do you want to be
going?
And eating out can be safe whenyou advocate for yourself or
(19:34):
when you use a great app likeFind Me Gluten Free, and also
having a little gluten free kitcan help you make your trip 100
times less stressful, and youcan even many times.
What we will do is we will havea list that we make, that we
save and we reuse it every timewe go on a trip.
These are the things we alwaysbring with us on a trip the
(19:55):
cutting board, the knife, thepot and the pan that we like to
bring with us, maybe the toasterwe like to bring with us, so we
have a safe toaster.
So you know, make a list andreuse it every time so you're
not starting from scratch.
And, most importantly, you canyes, you can travel gluten-free
and enjoy your life while you'retraveling.
So just know that you can andit gets easier over time If this
(20:20):
is new to you and just havefaith that you're going to enjoy
this and it's going to be greatbecause you will find what you
expect.
So and I love to like encourageyou guys to have a really
positive attitude about beingceliac or being gluten free, for
whatever reason that you are.
You know you can bring joy tothis, you can have a good time,
(20:41):
and so just keep a light heart,learn from any mistakes you
might have and don't beatyourself up about it, but just
do better next time and enjoythat trip and don't be afraid to
go.
Thank you for listening to thisepisode of the Gluten-Free
Engineer.
If you found value in thisstory, please share it with
someone who might needencouragement on their own
gluten-free journey.
(21:02):
For more tips, recipes,resources and even links to my
YouTube channel, head on over totheglutenfreeengineercom.
It's your one-stop hub to makegluten-free living simple, fun
and full of flavor.
And don't forget to subscribeso you never miss out on an
episode, and we will see younext week.
The Gluten-Free Engineerpodcast is for informational and
(21:26):
entertainment purposes only.
I share my personal experiencesand stories about living with
celiac disease and navigating agluten-free lifestyle.
This podcast does not provide amedical advice.
Always consult with a qualifiedhealthcare professional for
medical questions, concerns oradvice specific to your health.
Quick reminder before we get started on this
episode this podcast is based onmy personal experiences and
isn't medical advice.
If you've ever felt nervousabout traveling while
gluten-free, you are not alone.
I've been there franticallygoogling restaurants in a new
city, packing enough snacks fora small army and wondering if I
can actually enjoy a vacationwithout getting sick.
(00:21):
In today's episode, we're goingto take the stress out of
gluten-free travel.
Whether you're planning a bigvacation, heading on a road trip
or even just visiting friendsor family for the weekend, I've
got your back with somereal-life strategies that work
for me and my family of celiacs.
So let's dive in.
Welcome to the Gluten-FreeEngineer Podcast.
I'm your host, Carrie Saunders.
(00:42):
In 2011, I was diagnosed withceliac disease a moment that
changed everything, but I wasdetermined 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 andeverything in between to rebuild
a life I love.
Whether you have celiac disease, gluten intolerance or simply
(01:04):
choose to live gluten-free, thispodcast is for you.
Join me each week as wesimplify the gluten-free
lifestyle, make it fun and provethat you don't have to miss out
on anything.
Welcome back to the show.
Today we're talking abouttraveling and being celiac or
gluten intolerant or gluten-free, and one of the biggest tips
that you can do and we've talkedabout this before on the
(01:26):
episode is to make sure that youplan ahead without overwhelm.
So we want to make sure that wehave taken some tactics to plan
, but also want to make sureit's easy on us.
So planning is a great way toensure that you don't panic when
you're out away from home, andwe want to make sure that we are
making this easy on us too.
(01:48):
So, you know, take the tipsthat I'm going to give you and
apply them to how yourpersonality and how you, your
style, works.
But one of the things I dosuggest is that you start with
snacks.
I always pack myself go-toshelf stable foods.
So, like gluten-free beef jerky, um think um mixed nuts If you
(02:10):
can have nuts, I like to pack asmuch protein portable protein
as I can, because that helps youstay full longer.
We also will pack complexcarbohydrate type of um granola
bars.
You can find some really gooduh, gluten-free granola bars.
You can find some really goodgluten-free granola bars.
Sam Mills is a great brand thatI absolutely love.
(02:30):
It's also grain-free, so ituses almond flour as one of the
main ingredients in it and it'sa great filling bar.
I also love the Annie'sgluten-free chocolate chip
granola bars too.
Those are really delicious aswell.
So find some that you reallylike.
We used to use Kind Bars a lotbecause I believe most, if not
(02:54):
all, of those are celiac safetoo, although several of us now
in our family have realized wecannot have soy as well.
So those are usually outbecause they have soy in their
chocolate.
But you know your body, youknow yourself well.
So those are usually outbecause they have soy in their
chocolate.
But you know your body, youknow yourself well.
So find you some portablesnacks that you want to enjoy
and love and make it kind oflike a treat.
That's one of the ways thattraveling can help you feel
(03:16):
happier and safer.
When you're traveling andyou're celiac or gluten
intolerant is, bring thosesnacks that you don't usually
allow yourself to have whenyou're at home.
So it's kind of like a reward.
It's kind of an emotional boostof trying to reduce the stress
of actually traveling.
Whenever you need to begluten-free, you know, bring
those snacks that are a treatthat you don't normally eat at
(03:37):
home.
It's a great way to rewardyourself for being confident and
getting out and traveling, eventhough you may have some food
restrictions.
And then another thing we loveto do is we love to look up
restaurants ahead of time.
I can't recommend enough theFind Me Gluten-Free app.
It is a really great app we'vebeen using and I can't remember
(03:57):
how long we've used it, probablysince about its origin.
It's a great free app wherepeople with celiac disease or
gluten intolerance leave reviewsof restaurants and they will
also mark whether it's celiacsafe.
And I have found my favoriterestaurants when traveling from
this app.
And they also have a paidversion of the app which we will
(04:19):
link to in our show notes acoupon that you can get $5 off
for your year, and it's actuallyvery affordable.
So we keep that up.
And we have a family plan too.
That way our children can be onit whenever they travel, cause
two of them are over 20 at thetime of this recording and one
of them was 18 now.
So that lets them have thefreedom to travel, too, on their
(04:40):
own.
And, you know, be confident andbe self-sufficient.
So look at restaurants ahead oftime.
Make a list of the ones thatare safe for you, the ones that
you want to visit and plan partof your vacation around it,
because part of traveling, thegreat thing about it, is getting
to try these new places and newfoods, and we want to make sure
(05:00):
that you're doing that in a funand safe manner, and planning
ahead can really make that a lotmore fun.
And then check wherever you'restaying, so does the place that
you're staying.
Does it have a mini fridge?
Does it have a microwave?
Having at least those twoelements can really help you,
especially whenever you do eatout gluten-free and safely
(05:23):
storage your leftovers so thatyou can have them as breakfast
the next day or a snack or lunch.
So making sure you have thesebasic amenities and wherever
you're staying can really helpyou when you have a food
intolerance and food issues,like we do.
And planning isn't aboutperfection, it's just about
reducing the stress.
(05:44):
Later you can always changeyour mind.
You know, maybe you don't havea good gut feeling when you do
go to that restaurant and askthe questions that we're going
to talk about here in the nextsection of the episode.
So you know, feel free to pivotif you need to have some extra
options.
This is something my husband hasdone for our kids since they
(06:04):
were in sixth grade, becausethey would go on I think it was
sixth or seventh grade.
They would go on a WashingtonDC Actually, no, it was eighth
grade.
They would go on a WashingtonDC trip with their eighth grade
class.
While having three celiacs, wehad to really plan ahead and
they didn't generally takeparents as volunteers to this,
it was teachers.
(06:24):
So we had to one inform theteachers and then we also had to
equip our children with thetools they needed to be able to
travel safely.
So this is a great way to helppractice with your children if
they're still in school ageyears, to help them be able to
be self-sufficient when as anadult and you know, deal with
(06:45):
the constraints that they havewith how they eat.
So, just, you know, make sureyou give them options when, if
it's you on vacation, make sureyou give yourself options and
you know, go with your gut, likewe like to talk about on the
podcast.
Whether that's your heart gutor your stomach gut, you know.
You know if it's going to besafe for you or not.
I feel like you get a goodintuition on it.
And then let's go into the.
(07:07):
How do we dine out safely onthe road?
So it's often one of thetrickiest parts of traveling
gluten-free, but it candefinitely be done with
confidence.
We have traveled to severaldifferent places and found the
best foods oh, my goodness, thebest foods.
One that comes to mind is SanFrancisco.
We found this one place thatwas gluten-free.
90% of the products there weregluten-free.
(07:30):
The only thing that didn't thathad some gluten in it was some
other ice cream flavors, but itwas a place that had waffle
sandwiches gluten-free wafflesandwiches and oh my goodness,
it was so delicious.
So it was like you would have alunch sandwich, say a turkey
and cheese sandwich, but waffleswere your bread instead of
bread, and it was so delicious.
And we've traveled to Maui andfound some wonderful restaurants
(07:54):
over there.
New York City, you know, justbe ready to look at what the
options are out there.
There are some really great anddedicated 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 theserestaurants, have your
(08:15):
gluten-free script ready.
How do you ask you know what issafer to eat?
What?
What words are you comfortablewith?
Usually what I say is I have agluten allergy or celiac disease
.
Sometimes I use both words,because some people understand a
gluten allergy more than theword celiac disease, and so that
really will click for them andI will tell them I need my food
(08:37):
to be gluten free and safelyprepared 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 helpyou with that.
If she's not confident or he'snot confident, I'll ask to talk
to a manager, or many timesthey'll volunteer to have them
have the manager or the chefcome out and talk to me.
So don't feel you know thatyou're putting them off by doing
(09:00):
that or you're, you know,making extra work for them.
That's their job to make youfeel safe, make you eat safely.
You know they deal with this,with traditional food allergies
as well.
So don't feel like you're theoddball.
You know if somebody comes tothe restaurant with a peanut
allergy, a dairy allergy, awheat allergy, they're going to
be doing these same things forthem.
So just because yours is, youknow, gluten, I feel like
(09:23):
sometimes, when it's a glutenproblem.
We feel like we're not asimportant as the ones with true
allergies and really it's just adifferent type of importance.
So make sure that you stand upfor yourself and ask the
questions you need to ask.
And some of the other questionsyou need to ask about is the
fryer.
This is something many timesthe servers don't think about
(09:45):
unless they're really attuned tothis.
So ask if anything containinggluten is fried in the fryer,
because we don't want to becross contacting or cross
contaminating our food in thefryer as well.
And you can also ask if theyuse shared surfaces or shared
pans.
And be kind but firm, becauseyour health matters.
And again, this is not reallyany different, um, from a
(10:09):
procedural you, a proceduralstandpoint, as somebody with a
food allergy, a traditional foodallergy.
So make sure that you'resupporting yourself and being
kind and firm and sometimessticking with chains that have a
good reputation are a decentway to, you know, be safe too.
(10:30):
So if you're in a pinch, youcan pick, you know, chain places
like Chipotle, five Guys orChick-fil-A.
They have solid gluten-freeprotocols.
When you're in a pinch, youcould use those.
You know, double check currentpolicies for them, because
that's always ever changing.
But those are some examples ofplaces that we've been able to
eat at before, safelygluten-free, as celiacs.
(10:52):
And if you're travelinginternationally, if you want,
bring some gluten-free diningcards for you, especially if
there's a language barrier, andexplain your needs clearly.
Actually, one of my childrenjust traveled to Japan recently
and he was able to use the FindMe Gluten-Free app Plus.
He had already worked a lot onhis Japanese and was able to use
the find me gluten-free appplus.
He had already worked a lot onhis Japanese and was able to
(11:15):
communicate his needs and gotsick only once in about two
weeks staying there.
So we feel like that wasactually pretty good.
Um, and so you know, make sureyou're planning ahead, even if
it's traveling internationally.
And now that he's done thistrip, he wants us to go
somewhere internationally as afamily.
Um, so we're considering thatbecause it's one.
It's scary, but at the sametime, it sounds really, really
(11:35):
fun.
The rest of us have not beenout of the country before, so
there are some countries thatare really good at gluten-free.
Italy is one of those that hasan actually really good
reputation of being safe forceliacs and for gluten-free
folks, so don't write offtraveling internationally If
that's on your heart, just planahead, do a little bit even more
(11:57):
probably digging than you wouldif you're traveling locally and
, um, you know, make it part ofyour plan and make it part of
the fun things that you're goingto do and explore while you're
out there.
And then what I also recommendis having a gluten-free travel
kit.
I never leave home without aset of gluten-free things and it
saved me more times than I cancount, especially like if you
(12:20):
get tied up in traffic andthere's no place safe to eat.
You've got those snacks withyou, so I always bring a meal
bar snacks, like I said earlierbeef, jerky, bags of nuts or
tins of nuts.
It's really good idea to alsobring small containers when
you're traveling for leftoversthat can help you fit them in
(12:41):
the mini fridge, because manytimes the mini fridge doesn't
fit, like you know, thetake-home containers Sometimes
those are a bit too big.
We also always bring a travelsize cutting board, at many
times one of our kitchen knivesthat we really like and in a
safe manner.
We bring it with us.
We'll also bring, especially ifwe're going to a condo we'll
bring a few pots and pans thatwe, you know, from our house
(13:05):
because we don't know whetherthey are using nonstick pans or
not.
You know, it's that way we weresafe and don't get cross
contaminated there.
We also bring enzymesupplements, too, with us in
case we get glutened or if we'reat a restaurant that we're
pretty confident at but aren't ahundred percent confident at.
And I hear that charcoal pillsalso are great, although we've
never tried those ourselves, andI always have a list of
(13:28):
gluten-free restaurants, likeyou know, who were prepping
earlier in this episode ofplaces we feel like we're
confident and we can go to.
So you're going to want to havesome of these things with you
on your gluten-free travel kit.
If you're flying on an airplane,prepackaged, sealed things can
be brought generally on yourcarry-on.
I've not actually ever had aproblem with that other than one
(13:49):
time I brought too manycarry-on.
I've not actually ever had aproblem with that other than one
time I brought too many, and sothey wanted to thoroughly go
through my bag because of thedensity of the items.
But they were fine with the youknow products I had, because I
told them I had, you know, foodproblems and I couldn't just eat
anywhere.
So they were completely finewith it.
So just bring what you know youneed to give you peace of mind
and, you know, make sure thatyour trip is enjoyable.
(14:13):
And then some real life traveltips from a celiac mom of three
is I like to bring a cooler withsafe meals, even for short
drives Sometimes.
It just sometimes makes thingseasier and honestly, I'm one of
those people that just when weget on the road we go Like we
don't stop for anything otherthan a bathroom break.
We have the food in the carwith us and coolers.
(14:36):
We make our own sandwiches orwhatever we're eating.
Or I might pre-bake like I liketo make pancake bites.
So you this is actually alittle side tip so to make
pancake bites.
They're a really great way tobring breakfast with you.
Just make pancake like youusually make it, add in
something you know special, likechocolate chips or a little bit
(14:57):
of maple syrup and pre-cookedbacon or something like that,
and then all you have to do isput that in muffin tins and bake
them in the oven.
You just prepare the pancakemix like you usually would until
they're done I think it's about10 or 12 minutes it's about
muffin or cupcake time timingand you can pop those out and
they're on the go.
You know you can eat them atroom temperature type of
(15:19):
breakfast meal.
So that's a quick tip forbreakfast on the go in the car
is make yourself some pancakebites.
We've also done like a littleegg cups and put those in the
cooler so that they're cold.
Those are great things to putin for road trips.
So I love to pack a cooler ormultiple coolers with food for
us.
We go to Myrtle Beach just aboutevery year.
(15:41):
It's about an eight hour drivenow it used to be more like 11
and I pack pretty much all thegroceries we will need for down
there.
One, I don't want to have to befinding my favorite gluten-free
items in the store you know ina different state.
And two, nobody wants to beshopping on their vacation.
So I kind of look at it as ablessing and that I'm going to
(16:04):
shop when I'm at my house andbring 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 ortwo to go shopping.
So it can save you time andit's a great boost that you have
all the products that you'reused to and that you love and
enjoy.
And then for theme parks youknow we have many times gone to
(16:26):
Universal Studios or to DisneyWorld.
We're going to be going soon toZoom Beasy Bay, which is a
water park here in Ohio, and wewill look ahead on the website,
see what type of coolers we canbring in, what type of food we
can bring in and plan ahead forthat.
And many times what we'll do iswe'll rent a locker.
We've done this many times downin Orlando at Universal Studios
(16:48):
or Disney World locker, movedon this many times down in
Orlando at Universal Studios orDisney World, um, and rented a
locker, put, you know, packed,pre-packed, like lunch
sandwiches for each of us, youknow, tailored to everybody's
taste.
You know, you know differentsandwich for each person and
some fruit and maybe some chipsor something, and had a complete
meal.
And you know, pack the coolerwith, um, you know, ice packs
(17:08):
and put it in a locker.
And then we always come back tothe locker at lunchtime.
It's a great break.
It's a great way to get awayfrom the crowd and eat something
safe and not worry about havingstomach issues or not feeling
good when you're at a theme park, because nobody wants to not
feel good at a theme park, asI'm sure you can imagine.
So look ahead on theme parks.
(17:29):
You can't, you don't need towrite those off.
You can bring in most of thetime like lunch size soft sided
coolers, um, and have your ownfood there.
And you know you.
All I do is tell them you knowwe have celiac disease or we
have food allergies.
Many times I just use the wordfood allergies because that's
just an easier way to getthrough and they have no problem
(17:50):
.
They just look through ourcoolers and then they let us go
on our merry way.
And then also for family visitsI've learned to gently educate
extended family and often tobring part or all of the meal.
I try not to be rude at all.
It's because it's not beingrude, it's just being
responsible, responsible foryour own health, responsible for
your children's health.
(18:11):
If your children are celiac,like mine are, and you know, you
just bring the things and manytimes they want to eat your food
.
Actually, recently I broughtsome stuff and like people were
loving my gluten-free casserolethat I had brought, you know we
first got our food out, so therewas no cross contact in the
(18:31):
dish, and then other peopleenjoyed the dish.
So you know, all the people canenjoy those things like that.
And sometimes your first trip isthe hardest.
So don't beat yourself up ifyou've not done this very much
and if you feel like it's a painand it's a lot to do.
But the more you do it, themore confident you're going to
be, the easier it's going to beand, honestly, I kind of look at
(18:53):
it as a blessing.
I save money when I go on tripsbecause I'm not eating out as
much.
We have more family timebecause we're not eating out as
much, and I'm healthier becauseI'm, you know, deciding what I'm
putting in my body and I knowwhat's in the ingredients that I
purchase.
So look at it towards, you know, as a blessing as you get more
used to this.
(19:13):
So let's recap on our traveling.
So, first off, planning is yoursuperpower.
It is the best way to travelsafely and with more fun.
So pack your snacks, researchyour restaurants and think ahead
.
What do you want to be doingand where do you want to be
going?
And eating out can be safe whenyou advocate for yourself or
(19:34):
when you use a great app likeFind Me Gluten Free, and also
having a little gluten free kitcan help you make your trip 100
times less stressful, and youcan even many times.
What we will do is we will havea list that we make, that we
save and we reuse it every timewe go on a trip.
These are the things we alwaysbring with us on a trip the
(19:55):
cutting board, the knife, thepot and the pan that we like to
bring with us, maybe the toasterwe like to bring with us, so we
have a safe toaster.
So you know, make a list andreuse it every time so you're
not starting from scratch.
And, most importantly, you canyes, you can travel gluten-free
and enjoy your life while you'retraveling.
So just know that you can andit gets easier over time If this
(20:20):
is new to you and just havefaith that you're going to enjoy
this and it's going to be greatbecause you will find what you
expect.
So and I love to like encourageyou guys to have a really
positive attitude about beingceliac or being gluten free, for
whatever reason that you are.
You know you can bring joy tothis, you can have a good time,
(20:41):
and so just keep a light heart,learn from any mistakes you
might have and don't beatyourself up about it, but just
do better next time and enjoythat trip and don't be afraid to
go.
Thank you for listening to thisepisode of the Gluten-Free
Engineer.
If you found value in thisstory, please share it with
someone who might needencouragement on their own
gluten-free journey.
(21:02):
For more tips, recipes,resources and even links to my
YouTube channel, head on over totheglutenfreeengineercom.
It's your one-stop hub to makegluten-free living simple, fun
and full of flavor.
And don't forget to subscribeso you never miss out on an
episode, and we will see younext week.
The Gluten-Free Engineerpodcast is for informational and
(21:26):
entertainment purposes only.
I share my personal experiencesand stories about living with
celiac disease and navigating agluten-free lifestyle.
This podcast does not provide amedical advice.
Always consult with a qualifiedhealthcare professional for
medical questions, concerns oradvice specific to your health.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.