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Going on Vacation Without Taking the Whole Kitchen — Seasoned Celiac Style

I’m heading out on a road trip to visit a college with my daughter and then on to the beach for a few days.

Earlier, I showed you the very short list of things I’m taking with me.

Here’s why each one made the cut.

Onion and Garlic Powder

Premixed.

I use them constantly, they add flavor to almost anything, and bringing a small jar means I don’t have to spend time in an unfamiliar grocery store trying to figure out which seasoning blends are safe.

Small item. High usefulness.

Salt

Well, all of life needs salt.

Gluten-Free Pancake Mix

This one is doing a lot of work.

I can make pancakes.

I can make doughnuts.

I can use it as a thickener.

I can use it as breading.

It is one of those ingredients that gives me a bunch of options without taking up much room.

That is exactly what I want when I’m traveling.

The goal is not to reproduce my entire kitchen somewhere else.

It is to bring a few things that give me flexibility.

That is part of what I mean when I talk about traveling gluten free without packing your entire kitchen.

Gluten-Free Soy Sauce

I’ve learned not to assume gluten-free soy sauce will be available everywhere.

Could I probably find it?

Maybe.

Do I want to spend part of vacation hunting for it?

Nope.

It is easy to pack, easy to use, and opens up a lot of cooking options.

So it comes with me.

One Tomato

There is no celiac strategy here.

I bought it yesterday to go on my tacos, left it in the car, and apparently it is now going to the beach.

Sometimes a tomato is just a tomato.

Aluminum Foil

Not food, but close enough.

This may be one of the most useful things I bring.

I can line sheet trays.

I can use it on grills.

I can cover questionable surfaces.

And I can use it as my personal favorite:

The kitchen condom.

Rental kitchen counter top makes me nervous?

Foil.

Problem solved.

I am not bringing separate pots, pans, baking sheets, cutting boards and half of my kitchen.

A roll of foil does a lot of work.

That is also where understanding cross-contact in the kitchen becomes more useful than simply assuming every unfamiliar kitchen is automatically unsafe.

Dishwasher Pellets

When I arrive, I’ll run the dishwasher with the plates, silverware and pans I think I’ll use.

That gives me a clean starting point without turning the first hour of vacation into a kitchen decontamination project.

Also, I do not do dishes on vacation.

Having dishwasher pellets means I can run the dishwasher more often and continue pretending hand washing dishes is not part of my vacation responsibilities.

And That’s It

I’ll stop at the grocery store when we arrive for eggs, ham and cheese sandwich supplies, fruit, chips, root beer, ice cream and whatever else looks good.

Breakfast is easy.

I like eggs and grits.

Lunch is easy.

Gluten-free ham and cheese sandwiches with fruit and chips will get me through the day.

Dinner depends on where we are and what we’re doing.

Most nights, I’m hoping to eat out.

And nothing tastes better than a root beer float at the beach.

Road-Trip Snacks

For the car:

Gluten-free pretzel rods.

Popcorn.

Skittles.

Blow Pops.

I like all of those things.

My daughter likes all of those things.

So we should be fat and happy while we’re on the road.

Restaurants

I’ve already researched restaurants with gluten-free options in both the college town and at the beach.

Even better, I found restaurants in both places with dedicated gluten-free fryers.

That gives me some good options.

But I still don’t think “has a gluten-free menu” is enough information.

When I’m eating out, I want to know how the food is actually prepared, which is why I ask more specific questions about fryers, sauces, preparation areas and cross-contact. I’ve written more about that in How to Order Gluten Free in a Restaurant.

If fast food ends up being part of the trip, I also start with the restaurant’s own allergen and ingredient information rather than relying on someone online saying, “I eat there all the time and I’m fine.” That’s the approach I explain in Celiac Disease and Fast Food Safety Tips.

I Don’t Need Every Meal Planned

That may be the biggest difference between how I travel now and how I might have traveled earlier in my celiac life.

I don’t need every meal scheduled.

I don’t need to know exactly where I’m going to eat three days from now.

I don’t need enough food in the car to survive an unexpected week-long detour.

I know what I need to bring.

I know what I can buy almost anywhere.

I know how to research restaurants.

And I know that if Plan A doesn’t work, I can figure out Plan B.

That is what seasoned celiac travel looks like for me.

Not eliminating every unknown before I leave home.

Just bringing the things that actually make my life easier and trusting that I know how to handle the rest.

That confidence didn’t happen immediately. It came from learning the rules, making mistakes, asking better questions and eventually realizing that living gluten free does not have to mean making everything harder than it already is.

I wrote about that idea years ago in Don’t Make It So Hard, and I think I believe it even more now.

Travel Is Still a Celiac Decision

None of this means I forget I have celiac disease when I leave home.

I still research.

I still pack a few specific things.

I still ask questions.

I still think about cross-contact.

I still make decisions about where I am comfortable eating.

But the goal is not to eliminate every possible unknown.

The goal is to have enough information and enough options to live my life.

That is really the larger Fat Celiac philosophy too: understand the risk, ask better questions, and make decisions with more confidence.

I’m going on a college road trip and then to the beach.

I’m bringing pancake mix, soy sauce, foil, dishwasher pellets and one tomato that apparently refused to be left behind.

That should be enough.

I’ll keep you in the loop on how it goes.