Top Unavoidable Challenges While Traveling with Food Allergies

Having food allergies and traveling is a bit like being in a National Lampoon movie We find little gems of places to eat and we also find rare moments of kindness that make our challenges a little less hard. And then, out of nowhere, you get dealt a side swipe of a doozy that makes your head spin and you think, "Hmmm, maybe I am not quite as invincible as I thought I was"

I am not talking about just cross contamination, which is a very real and constant thing.that can result in end game, but there are a slew of other challenges to face. If there weren't, we wouldn't spend so much time on blogs and forums/groups discussing them. If they weren't there, we wouldn't own our food allergies like a badge that irritates those who don't have them. It is just a fact of a food challenged life. 

Here are some of our top unavoidable traveling challenges:

1. Rented a cabin with full kitchen and arrived after a snow storm, only to find the pots and pans were all non-stick surfaced, except for the baking sheet. Needless to say our menu options were a challenge, but aluminum foil is our friend.

2. Rented an Air BnB house, arrived and found that the stove was broken. It was in a remote location with no cellphone service to call owner, so I drove down to a spot I could get signal. When I finally reached the owner, he suggested we take our food to a local pizza restaurant because no service could be rendered on weekend?!? Uhhh, not acceptable. So we left and drove to a city and got a hotel.

3. Caught in a freak snow storm while driving and it took 4 hours to get to a restaurant to safely stop to eat. Now we never get in the car without something packed

4. Airports with not one safe thing to eat except for a KIND bar. Thank goodness for KIND, but our nut allergy friends? Nada. Refer to #3 and pack your carry-on bag with a few things.

5. Emergency pit stops may necessitate you have toilet paper or tissues on hand, in the car, anywhere you can grab it. This will be extremely helpful before hanging off the side of a hill, hiding from cars, while having a coming to Jesus moment because there are no bathrooms in sight...Trust me.

6. Got food poisoning and thought it was cross contamination. Drove 80 MPH to get to health store before they closed to get supplies to help the reaction. Realized it was actually food poisoning because the drive took 6 hours instead of 4. Both my face and bottom know every bathroom between Louisville and St Louis now.

And that's just the top moments revisited. What are some of yours?
We don't know about you, but we can't wait for what 2018 will bring. :)
Happy Travels!