As I mentioned in my previous post, Ireland was a truly
breathtaking country and such a wonderful place to visit. Over the years we
have had many mishaps while traveling with severe food allergies but this was
one trip that turned out pretty well since we managed to avoid a trip to the
emergency room. However, we did have a few minor difficulties that we were not
anticipating but that we managed to overcome. Here is a list of what worked for our allergic daughter and other aspects where we
could have done better.
Airplane:
It’s hard to believe but this was the most difficult
challenge for our daughter travelling with food allergies. The first hurdle was
with the airline Aer Lingus. While they did offer several different food
alternatives, including gluten free and vegetarian meals, they did not have
anything free of dairy, eggs, nuts or sesame. I know that’s a tall order but
this girl was hoping we could as least bring a sandwich on board. Aer Lingus and
the TSA would not allow us to bring any foods on the plane other than a few
snacks. While we loaded our daughter up with McDonalds outside of customs, that
was at 4:00 p.m. During the 8 hour trip across the Atlantic they serve you
dinner and breakfast so the rest of us were eating most of those 8 hours. Our
allergic teen’s limited snacks seemed pretty measly compared to our two course
meal. While I know this made me more uncomfortable, our teen was okay with it.
You go girl!
Allergy Cards:
These cards were the best! In the past, we have always addressed
all our allergy issues directly to the server just by talking to them. Since we
were going overseas, I wanted to be extra careful so we used the allergy cards.
At first we were a bit timid about using our cards but the look of relief on each
waiter or waitresses face was enough to convince us that this was theway to
approach ordering from now on. In most cases, the server took the cards back to
consult with the chef or manager. That gave them the time to come up with food options
that were safe for our allergic teen.
“Go To” Foods:
For anyone with food allergies your “go to” food is the one
item on the menu you know, in most cases, is safe for you to eat. Our teens “go
to” food is hamburgers. On the first night, we were starving and found a very “Irish”
restaurant in Killarney. Thanks to the food allergy card we gave the server,
she was able to tell us their restaurant used egg to bind their burgers. This
was a surprise to us because we had never heard that before, but as it turned
out using egg for binding is the norm in Ireland. Our “go to” choice quickly changed
to sautéed chicken breast with fresh veggies and fruit or a plain baked potato.
We learned you should never assume your “go to” food would be made the same way
everywhere. On our first night back to the States we all had hamburgers—that’s
the American in us—and avoided chicken for a while.
Supermarkets Are Your Next Best Friend
Since we usually rent an apartment or house when we travel,
we hit the supermarket first thing. This allows us to save money and to
purchase food we know our allergic teen can eat. In Killarney, we went to the
local Tesco Supermarket where we loaded up on breakfast and lunch items, snacks
and food to make two dinners. We even tried eating something new such as the
great potato waffles she ate each morning for breakfast. On most days, we
packed our lunches and always carried fruit and snacks. Not only was this a
great way to avoid allergens but it also saved us a lot of money.
In the end, while travelling with food allergies it was always
best to be prepared, be flexible, carry “safe” food and always carry your Epi-pen.
