Anyone ever deal with food allergy travel? We’d like to travel with our young son who has multiple food allergies. We’ve done day trips and weekend trips but are nervous about taking a longer vacation so far from home – especially out of the US. Is this normal and what can we do to prepare?
Planning everything in life when dealing with food allergies takes time. Time to research food options, hotel choices, airlines and more.
To be honest, we rarely travel overseas and it’s because of food allergies that we are planning our 2012 vacation before we even enter the year 2011.
That might seem crazy to most. However, if you consider the fact that many families can travel only during school breaks and that food allergy families have a lot more to consider – one can see why it’s important to plan well in advance.
There are many places we’d personally like to go as a family. Some are more realistic than others. Having a Thai background – we’d love to take the kids to Thailand, however we can’t see doing that with a peanut allergic seven year old. Italy is on hold until our son fully outgrows his egg allergy as most fresh pastas contain egg. What would Italy be like without enjoying pasta?
We’ve finally narrowed down our 2012 family trip to beautiful Hawaii and here is why.
Reason 1. It’s part of the United States
This means no translation issues, better medical facilities and pretty tame food. Also, any food we’ll need to purchase (while expensive) will more than likely be brands we know and trust and will follow US labeling laws.
Reason 2. It’s a popular destination
Popular destination means a higher likelihood that restaurant and hotel staff have dealt with food allergies before. While we plan to write and call the places we will eat and stay – popular destinations like Hawaii mean many high end resorts and hotels go out of their way to treat their guests.
Hawaii is beautiful, tropical and offers so many things for a family to do. It’s like Jamaica or Costa Rica except it’s in the US. Hopefully it will offer our food allergic family a safe and peaceful place to rest and have fun.
If you plan to travel and are dealing with food allergies – it is possible. It just takes a little extra time and effort.
Following are some important tips to get you started:
– Bring your emergency medication.
– Notate the hospitals in the areas you plan to travel.
– Consider wearing an allergy bracelet.
– Consider renting a house or condo with a kitchen.
Have you traveled with your food allergic child? Share your stories and favorite destinations in our comments section.
If you’ve been to Hawaii – we especially want to hear from you. Where did you stay and what did you do?
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