How Much Food Should I Bring On My Trip?

[Guest cassidy]

I'm headed to Paris next month. I travel monthly for business and have traveled gluten-free internationally before and typically bring all my food with me or make a trip to WH at my destination. I am very sensitive and rarely eat in restaurants because I usually get sick, although I never get sick at home. We are renting an apartment in Paris for a week. DH would be fine eating every meal at McDonalds so he won't be upset if I choose not to eat restaurant food. We will also have our 15 month old with us, he has never had gluten and pretty much eats off my plate and nurses. I don't eat much meat and never eat meat when I'm traveling.

So, I'm trying to figure out how much food I should bring with me. A loaf of WF bread and a bag of Tinkyada would have us set. Since we could buy eggs, fruits and veggies I could make us omlettes for breakfast, cheese sandwiches for lunch and veggie pasta for dinner.

Or, I saw that Schar and Valpiform only make gluten-free food and have tons of stores in Paris that sell their products. I do love to try new gluten-free foods so I'm trying to figure out if I should just buy those brands over there. The Schar website tells you what stores are top sellings of their products so I can map out health food stores in relation to our apartment and where we will be sightseeing each day. Is there stuff good? How does it compare to WH bread and Tinkyada?

We really don't eat cookies or sweet treats but my son likes pretzels and perkyO's - little dry snacks throughout the day.

I'm not going to take chances because getting glutened while being a mom on vacation isn't fun, but I do like the idea of trying new gluten-free goodies.

Any advice on how much food I should bring with us?

[ShayFL]

I would just take what you normally would, but try the new stuff while there. Nothing wrong with returning home with what you took.

[missy'smom]

We purchased things online from a source in country and had it shipped to our temporary residence. It was nice to try a few new things and we brought back what was left over and are still enjoying them. My husband doesn't have celiac disease but got a little shop happy ordering If I remember right, on the way home we even put glass bottles of sauces in the suitcase wrapped in plastic bubble wrap and placed in plastic ziplock bags. Security stopped us on the way into the US(dept. of agriculture). We were honest and said I had food allergies and had food and they opened our bag but let us go through. They were mostly interested in meats and fruit. We also brought an inexpensive fry pan with us. The things that came in handy the most in my situation were the snacks and emergency foods that I had brought. On the way home I was served a gluten-free meal on the plane but didn't feel well and didn't feel like eating it so I snacked on my own stuff. I also brought some of it when we were out and about there. The night we came back to our home sweet home DS and DH got MCD's and I nuked my Tastybite meal out of the suitcase cause we weren't up to fixing dinner. I ended up bringing home the pasta and pancake mix I had brought with. Be sure to sample some of the local fare, at least fruit and veg that are better than or varieties that we can't get here.

[Phyllis28]

Below is the list of foods I usually bring:

One or two loafs of gluten free bread (for just me I bring along 1 loaf per week)

1 box of gluten free cereal, I have had trouble locating gluten free cereal when traveling internationally so I bring my own.

Gluten free bars (Glutino, Lara, Enjoy Life are examples) I bring along enough for two each day.

A small jar of peanut butter

A small jar of jelly/jam

Gluten free salad dressing. I use a homemade sunflower oil and rice vinegar dressing with salt, garlic powder, pepper and oregano. It does not require refrigeration. I pack it in a "Leak Proof" container and place it into two ziploc sandwich bags. I like the leak proof bottles available from the Container Store.

I also bring along the following non-food items so I can pack a lunch each day.

Insulated lunch bag

Plastic knives, forks and spoons

Ziploc sandwich bags

A few Ziploc quart and gallon bags to store food in.

Blue Ice to keep the lunch cold.

A small day backpack to carry the lunch any everything else I need for the day out.

My typical traveling lunch consists of a PBJ sandwich, fruit, juice, yogurt, cheese and a gluten free bar.

Hope you have a wonderful trip.

[AMQmom]

We have not traveled internationally, but we find it very helpful to pack a cooler with staples and ice packs and check it on the plane. We also put a clear note on top of the food items explaining that the food it gluten free and requesting that gloves be used if items need to be searched. I go to the extreme of explaining why - but it is up to you! Enjoy your trip!