1. Plenty of research is KEY
I will not go anywhere unless I have researched it before hand. I find it incredibly important, because the last thing you want is to end up somewhere and not be able to eat anything. And of course, naturally when you are just diagnosed, this is something that can be easily done. I didn't think as much into things when I was first diagnosed then what I do now.
Firstly, when you are going abroad, it is generally either self catering, bed and breakfast, half board or all inclusive. If you are going self catering, you obviously need all the cooking facilities and storage facilities, which I am sure you will in self catering accommodation. However, with self catering you are going to be eating out a lot, unless you are cooking in the accommodation.
What I usually do is just search into google (for example if I am going on a holiday to Prague) "gluten free Prague" and you will find that it comes up with LOADS of pages on recommendations into gluten free places to eat in Prague.
When you find a restaurant that you might like, go onto Trip Advisor and search in the box "gluten free" and it will come up with all the reviews with the word "gluten free" in. Or you can even search "coeliac" and reviews may come up with that word in.
I would only ever go to a restaurant if it has good reviews and recommendations from people that have actually experienced it. A lot of restaurants think it is okay to put "gluten free options" but actually, a lot of people have had bad experiences with the restaurant.
If you are going bed and breakfast, half board or all inclusive I would highly recommend doing your research on the hotel beforehand. Best ways of doing this are:
- Contacting the hotel (emailing them or phoning)
- Again, searching on trip advisor, click onto the hotel and then search the key words in the search bar
- Search on Facebook groups or ask for recommendations. Some pages that I recommend are "Coeliacs in the UK" or "Coeliacs Abroad" there are loads of support pages. I would recommend joining them and having a search through.
2. Take the essentials
Essentials to me are snacks and medication. If you can fit it in your suitcase then take a few snacks with you. I would recommend checking with the airline as I wouldn't like to say how much you can take into different countries. There is loads of different dried goods that you can take: biscuits, bread etc.
Firstly, I carry some important medication on me that I feel I need to be with at all times. I will put some in my suitcase as well. Again please be careful about taking medication in your hand luggage/hand bag into certain countries (I wouldn't like to say how much you can take and where)
The things that are most important for me are imodium, buscopan and my lansoprazole. I generally do not go anyway without these. General medications as well I make sure I bring is paracetamol and ibuprofen. These are just the important ones for me in case I get poorly, but you will more than likely have different medications to me.
3. Translation cards
There are loads of translation cards out there in loads of different languages that you can download or print out and take along with you. Just as an example this is one website: http://www.celiactravel.com/cards/
Of course if you have a family member or friend that is knowledgable at a certain language then maybe you could get them to help you out also.
4. Don't be afraid to ASK!
One thing that I find with travelling is that you just have to ask. There is no harm in going up to someone in a restaurant or someone that is trying to get you into a restaurant on the street and just asking if they cater for gluten free/coeliacs.
Sometimes with certain places i.e Ibiza, a lot of the members of staff are English as it is a place they work for the season. So a lot of people will liaise with the rest of the restaurant staff and the chefs to check they can cater for you. Sometimes it is more reassuring when there is no language barrier there for confusion.
5. Travel insurance
Another thing that I find really important is travel insurance. A lot of people just brush this off and think that they will not need it and then when it comes to them needing it, they regret it. I always get travel insurance wherever I go out of the country. You should also really declare that you in case you to get really poorly on holiday from eating gluten.
So these are my main tips for traveling with coeliac disease! I hope they are helpful to you all. I have a few travel guides on my blog in case you wanted to check any of them out to help you with recommendations that I have. Head to www.glutenfreedanielle.blogspot.com/search/label/Travel if you would like to check them out!
Danielle x
