It is summer vacation time and I just realized we will be
taking our trip to Ireland in less than three weeks. Now is the time to get my
travel planning ideas out to those of you who are also travelling so you can be
ready to plan your next summer vacation! Even though we are travelling
overseas, most of these tips could apply to any overnight trip.
The first thing we did when we decided to take the whole
family to Ireland was to book our airline and find a place to stay while we are
there.
1. Booking Your Flight
You first need to check with
airlines to see what their policy is on food allergies. This may be very
important if you or your child has a severe allergy. As you probably know, some
airlines serve peanuts on their flights which could be a problem if your child
is severely allergic to peanuts. If this is the case, check with the airline to
see if they would be able to serve another snack, such as pretzels, instead.
For us, all the airlines we looked
at did not serve peanuts as a snack option. Keep in mind that there is no way
to make sure your flight is entirely peanut or nut free since passengers are
allowed to bring on their own snacks. If you are travelling overseas or are
travelling far, you will need to look at their dinner options to see what is
available. In the end, we chose Aer Lingus because they were the cheapest and
they had direct routes which meant that we only had to check allergens on only one
plane. Since it will be a 10 hour flight to Ireland, I went to their website to
see their policy guidelines for their dinner options. This is what their site
says:
“While we do not serve peanuts, there may be trace elements of
unspecified peanut ingredients including peanut oil, in meals and sauces. We do
not offer a special meal for peanut allergies.”
While they have many different
dinner options available (kosher, vegan, gluten) our allergic teen has so many
allergies that I knew it would be difficult to find any option for her to eat. We
always carry snacks with us but I called the airline to see if they would allow
us to carry on a sandwich for her to eat. According to Aer Lingus passengers
are not allowed to bring any food items on the plane due to TSA rules. On the
TSA website, they specifically mention that any food bought after you have gone
through security is safe and allowed on all flights. Safe but expensive! Even
though there are many food restaurants in the international terminal, very few
of them will have any options for my allergic teen. Looks like McDonald’s may
be the only option for us at this time. Either way, we will make sure we bring
a lot of snacks and fruit for her to snack on.
2. Where to Stay?
There are lots of options to look
at when choosing where to stay during your travels. If you are lucky to have
family or friends who live overseas, then you are the lucky ones! Our friends
are more on the domestic side so this was not an option for us.
Contacting a travel agent is
always a good idea because they can help you narrow down your options. Many
countries have a core website to help you look at all the different options. In
Ireland, you can go to Ireland.com
where they have a section for accommodations. Under accommodations you will see
listings for historic house and castles, bed and breakfast, hotels and
self-catering holiday homes. The best option
for us is a cottage or an apartment where we can cook and store our own food so
we looked at the self-catering listings. This has always worked well with us
and I would recommend this for anyone with multiple food allergies. Not only
does it save us money but we know we can make sure our allergic teen will have
food she can eat.
We will be staying at a lovely
rental house from Sykes Cottages in
the Killarney area as our home base for most of the trip. For the other days,
we found another small townhouse near the Waterford Castle and a hotel for the
Dublin area. We feel there may be more food options in Dublin so our food
selection may be more varied.
3. What to Pack?
Snacks, snacks and more snacks!
The international food is not the
same as we have here in the United States. While I am looking forward to eating
the traditional Irish cuisine, we may have a hard time finding food free of
butter and cheese which the Irish are known for. Corned beef or a burger may be
good options but you can only eat so many burgers before you are tired of them.
When we travel by car we always
pack a cooler so that we can pack some of our allergy free items, such as
cheese and always have some cold cuts available for alternative lunch options.
4. On
Your Flight
Clean Your Seat Area
It is a good idea to wipe your arm
rests and tray table with a sanitary wipe as soon as you find your seat just to
make sure there are no allergens from a
previous flight. The airlines is supposed to clean the plane before the next
group but as most of us know, sometimes there is not enough time for them to do
this if the prior flight is late.
Carry On Your Meds
Always carry on your meds. They
could be lost in your luggage and you want to make sure they are within arm’s
reach in case of an emergency. That is why I recommend you keep them under you
seats and not in the overhead compartments. Also, it is a good idea to travel
with more than one set of your Epinephrine (Epi-pen or Auvi-Q) just in case you
need it. The same is true for your Benadryl. If you are flying, some airlines
ask that they be in their original container. I also always carry a written
request for the medicine from our doctor just to make sure there are no additional
questions.
5. While You Are There
Locate the Nearest Hospital
Anytime you travel, whether
foreign or domestic, it is always a good idea to know where the hospitals are
before you go. We have been to several out of town hospitals over the years during
our trips so I know how important this is!
Emergency Action Plan
FARE has an Emergency Action Plan
you can download from http://www.foodallergy.org/faap.
This plan is good to have with you just in case there is an emergency.
Eating Out Guides
It is difficult enough to eat out
here with food allergies or celiac disease but go to a foreign speaking country
the process can seem very daunting indeed.
Kim Koeller is the founder of Allergy and Gluten Free Passport
at http://glutenfreepassport.com/. Kim has
travelled to over six different continents all with gluten, dairy, fish,
shellfish and preservative allergies. With her experience travelling with these
allergies, she has developed dining cards, guides and travel packs that will
help you navigate the language barrier while you are travelling. Her handy dandy
iEatOut Gluten Free & Allergy Free
app will allow you to plug in your
allergic foods on the go.
Other Guides for Travel
in the U.S. include:
AllerDine – United
States
Allergy Eats – United States (with free app)
Allergy Cards
If you are traveling to a foreign
country that does not speak your language, it can be very hard to communicate
your allergies while you are eating out. There are several companies that offer
translation cards in many different languages. Select Wisely has a large selection of allergy
cards, while Allergy Translation will allow you to custom create your own allergy card and have it laminated. If
you would like to print your own FARE Chef Card Template click here. I took ours to the local Office Depot to have it laminated and it cost less
than $2.00 for ten cards.
It's good to know that you can still have a great trip even with food allergies. So go ahead have fun and leave your worries behind and book that
vacation you’ve always wanted to book with the knowledge that you will be well
prepared to manage your allergies no matter where you are.
Happy trip!
