Eating while travelling can be a stressful thing. A lot of people tend to dread upcoming vacations because of the indulgent food and inevitable weight gain that seem to be associated with them, but eating while on vacation has always made me anxious for a different reason. See, travelling usually involves a lot of eating out, and eating out is a lot more difficult when you have a severe food allergy to contend with – sitting at the table wondering if what you’re eating is going to put you in the hospital makes it just a tad bit more difficult to really enjoy your meal.
For that reason, I usually don’t bother with eating out, I just see it as too much of a hassle. We never went out to eat while I was growing up, so it’s never been a big part of my life or something I put much value in. Still, the older I get, the moreI realize how much of an inconvenience my reluctance to eat out becomes. Besides the potential of freeing me from the burden of always having to pack my own food, there’s an important social aspect tied with going out to eat that I often miss out on.
That being said, one of my main goals on our trip was to enjoy some of the fine food that Cali has to offer, so let’s see how I did in today’s travel edition of WIAW…
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The night before our trip, I loaded up my suitcase with some emergency snacks. Even though it was only a 3 hour flight and I knew I’d be able to stock up on some groceries after we landed, there’s nothing I hate more than being caught without food when I get hungry, so I brought along some of my favorite easy-to-pack snacks:
Annie’s snack mix, a banana, my favorite almond butter, Enjoy Life Cocoa Loco bars, SunRype fruit & grain bars, baby carrots & cherry tomatoes, a turkey/cheese/spinach melt, Popchips.
Oh, and I threw in a box of my favourite instant coffee, you know, just in case…
The morning of our flight, a combination of nerves and having to throw everything together at the last minute meant I wasn’t able to get a breakfast in my belly before I had to walk run out the door. Since I’m never one to skip out on my favorite meal of the day, I packed up my breakfast and enjoyed it at the airport…
Plain Greek yogurt – banana – Kashi Cinnamon Harvest – Puffins – roasted almond butter – vanilla latte
That deliciously comforting combination ended up holding me over throughout most of the flight, but I just couldn’t pass up an opportunity to enjoy some good old-fashioned airplane snacks…
From that point on, any and all hopes of structured or predictable eating went out the window. Bye bye. Between having to adapt to the eating schedules of two other people, not having regular access to a kitchen/grocery store, and my pesky allergies, I basically ate whatever I could, whenever I could. So, in no particular order…
Turkey, cheese, and spinach melt packed from home… eaten while waiting in the rental car office.
Fresh bread basket and Chicken Caesar salad at La Brea Bakery Cafe in Downtown Disney.
BBQ Chicken flatbread from La Brea Bakery Cafe (kind of fell in love with the place).
Typical yogurt messes enjoyed for breakfast, usually eaten in the hotel room…
… except for one time where we went out and I had an egg/avocado wrap that made me feel like I was going to die.
– Stank eye –
Thankfully, Ginger Ale still works wonders when it comes to fighting off nausea.
(Did anyone else’s parents give them Ginger Ale when they were sick as a kid?)
It’s kind of sad how happy I was to find a Starbucks in California Adventures, but I needed this iced latte badly.
Finally got to enjoy another one of Chipotle’s burrito bowls. Why can’t we have this here?!
Arguably my favorite food from the entire trip: a Häagen Dasz vanilla bean espresso sundae. Swoon.
Italian Sausage flatbread from La Brea Bakery in Downtown Disney. Told you I loved it.
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Not too bad, if I do say so myself. A lot of the meals did cause me varying levels of anxiety, but none landed me in the hospital. Score! I have no problem admitting that I tend to be overly paranoid when it comes to my allergy, but that’s just how I was raised and it’s kind of hard to undo 20-some years of adhering to a particular mindset. It’s a good thing I was able to enjoy so much delicious food while I was gone, though, because I came home to this frightening sight…
Yogurt – pudding – kombucha – watermelon – cheese strings – salad – pickles – apple – carrots.
Thankfully, the situation has been remedied.
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Do you pack food when you travel?
How often do you go out to eat?
Do you have any allergies/intolerances that make it difficult to eat out?
Omg, that egg burrito LOOKS like it could kill you! So glad you survived sweetie! Although I wonder what on earth they could do to something so simple to make it nearly lethal! *stank eye*
That pizza looks INSANE! I’ve been craving some good pizza lately, but all the places around here suck! I made a cauliflower crust pizza last weekend, but the craving’s still there…sometimes, you just gotta have the real deal! Mmm, breaaaaaaaaaaaad!
I ALWAYS pack snacks for my trips…even when I went to the Blend Retreat in May where I KNEW there would be a ton of free “swag” food! When I went on vacation in Florida with some friends a few years ago, they laughed at my whole EXTRA bag that I brought full of food…but guess how many times I got requests for snacks? Mmmhmm! It pays to be prepared! Lol
I go through phases with eating out, but at the most, I’d say 2-3 times a week (and that’s usually on the weekends). But now that I think about it…when IS the last time I ate out? Ohhh yeah! About 3 weeks ago when BB and I were out on the lake and went to a lakeside restaurant…that’s where I had my near life changing blueberry cobbler! 😀
Ugh I wrote a comment and then my internet shut off and it disappeared 🙁
It looks like you took full advantage of all the amazing food options while in Cali and tried some great restaurants! Isn’t Chipotle delicious? I seriously can’t get enough of it sometimes!
Eating while traveling was something that worried me too before I set out abroad a few weeks ago (my stomach sometimes sucks). I packed A LOT of snacks but ended up barely eating them. You’re right – there is a social aspect to food and eating, and there’s nothing worse than not being able to partake in a wonderful meal with friends and family. I was surrounded by people who approach food as nourishment and something to munch on over great conversation…it was so refreshing!
Ugh Chipotle was SO good that I was almost depressed while I was eating it because I knew I wouldn’t be able to enjoy it at home!
Sooo I just wrote a longgg comment… and it got erased by me accidentally highlighting the whole thing and erasing. Excellent. The gist of what i was saying is first, yummm your meals look great! Yay for La Brea bakery too.. my dad was a construction site manager at one of the factories being built a few years back. I was able to taste warm, freshly baked bread right off of the line! Yum to say the least
I used to get quite anxious back in the worst times of the ED. But continuing to get myself out there and realize nothing bad happens is the most helpful thing I have done for this
I always pack food when I travel and that is actually what makes me anxious. I try to plan for everything and I feel like I’m having to pack so much just to go on little trips! It’s totally worth it, but still stressful!
Stellar job! Maybe now you can find some place in your area where you come to feel comfortable with in terms of trusting with the allergy — and it can be a go-to for meals with friends, take-out when you are lazy (wait …are you ever lazy?) and you know…..maybe dates. (0;
Yessssss I can be lazy. Aside from going to work and having to get up to use the bathroom, I’ve barely moved from my chair in the past two days… I had enough walking in Cali!
Travelling is really difficult for me food wise. Not because of allergies, because of remaining anxieties from the ED. I know it will get better with time, but I still tend to badly stress out and make myself sick. I wish I could act normal around food, but I’m simply not there yet. I guess it comes with time.
All the food you had looks delicious! Loving the ice cream you enjoyed!
And I always relied on ginger ale when I was a kid, its so comforting when your tummy feels ill. I guess its a child hood comfort thing.
It definitely takes a while to become comfortable with food again… A few summers ago, being away from all of my normal foods nearly caused me to relapse, so I think it’s important to not push yourself -too- far, but to make sure to challenge yourself to try foods you fear so that you don’t come to a standstill in recovery.
More than anything, I just wanna feel and act like a normal person when I’m on vaca. Before I developed any food issues, I didn’t bring snacks or meals or freak out about getting hungry or eating something I normally wouldn’t eat, so although it can be hard, I just totally let go on vacation. Turns out vacations are much more enjoyable that way and I don’t get all anxious to be back home with my routine. It’s perfectly okay to NOT have a routine 🙂 And surprise, I’ve never gotten fat or totally lost my sense of a healthy lifestyle just from being on vacation for a week.
I am tyypically always anxious about traveling because like you said, Im just unsure about the food. But compared to you, I really have no worries!! I just want to feel GOOD while on vacay, and a lot of times I eat just way too much junk that weighs me down and makes me feel like crap. For our honeymoon we ate out almost every meal, but I was ok with it because we WALKED everywhere. No car, no bus. All on foot.
And all your pictures make me seriously want to go to the Bakaery now! Ive never ate there, maybe I should go back just to get a sandwich or something. Wanna meet me there? 😉
YES! How about today for lunch? 😉 *wishful thinking* But no, I would definitely give that place a shot at least once, because those flatbreads are seriously amazing.
Oh gawsh – that flatbread is drool-worthy! I don’t go out to eat much at home, but I love eating out when I travel. That’s half the fun!
I can definitely relate to the anxiety about eating out at restaurants sometimes – especially since one time I actually had to go to the hospital after a restaurant put pecans in my salad (even though I told them about my allergies!). But I still don’t let that stop me from eating out a lot. In all my 23 years of living and 100’s of restaurants I’ve gone to, I’ve only been sent to the hospital once from a restaurant, so I’d consider that a pretty good statistic.
I’m glad you were able to let loose and enjoy yourself while eating out on this trip though! Those flatbreads look absolutely amazing! And isn’t Chipotle so good? I just tried it for the first time too this summer. I think there are one or two in Toronto though so it looks like they’re migrating into Canada. Woohoo! 😀
Thanks for sharing, Chelsea 🙂 That’s a comfort to know. Anxiety aside, it was definitely nice to be able to go out to eat and enjoy food with others, so I think I’m going to try to keep it up even at home. I -pray- that Chipotle is going to come to Canada, because their food is just friggin’ delicious.
Girlfran I wanna travel with you!! Not just for the Disney part, but for the deliciousness!! 😀 Those yogurt bowls and all the noms from La Brea Bakery have me swooning haha
Glad you wee able to thoroughly enjoy your trip without all the dumb, unecessary anxiety that comes from “eating right” on vacay. 🙂
Girl you ate some friggen delicious looking food!!!!
I’ve heard so much about La Brea Bakery! I def. need to go there. You should have tried Earl of Sandwich while you were there! They just opened — sooo goood 🙂
your fridge looks like mine right about now. Even the half bottle of kombucha. LOL
I can’t drink a whole one in one go! My stomach goes all topsy turvy on me.
Looks like you did pretty well, Amanda! I’m definitely one to pack snacks before heading on a trip too, and the times that I don’t I ALWAYS regret it. My favorite staples include Larabars, fruit, and packets of nut butter 😀
i’m not sure i knew you had a food allergy. have you posted on this before? would be really curious to read about it. i recently realized i am intolerant to soy products and i completely get how eating out is challenging. hard to go out and then realize you can’t eat most of what is on the menu! glad you enjoyed yourself and didn’t get sick!
I’ve mentioned it a few times here and there in the past, but never went into too much detail about it. I have a severe allergy to peanuts, and have to carry around an Epipen.
I tend to worry more when eating on vacation abroad than at home just because its usually such a different kind of food I’m eating. When I was vegan I wasn’t too worried about things having a tiny amount of animal products in them and now I’m labeless I’m even more relaxed which can only be a good thing – eating out is definitely going to be more enjoyable!
I can definitely relate to that! When I was in Poland a few summers ago, all of the products available in the grocery stores were completely different from the ones we have here, so figuring out what I was supposed to buy ended up being a task and a half!
I love to eat out. I do it once a week if my budget allows it. But mostly in places I know. No fast food chains, no typical German places – Asian restaurants totally preferred. I never could make the bowl of pho as delicious as my favorite Viatnamese place or the curry as fragrant as my favorite Indian. So going out for food is kind of an extravagance that I allow myself as often as possible 😉
On the other hand I am totally the one who packs a bag full of food just when she leaves the house for 5 hours of work or university. I hate to depend on whatever a lousy cafeteria may offer or even worse – the snack vending machine *shudder*.
I’m so glad you loved La Brea! I think that bakery bakes up some of the best bread in the country. 🙂
My mom always served ginger ale when I had the stomach flu, and as a result, I actually can’t drink it anymore! 🙁 The flavor reminds me of being sick, and actually makes me feel nauseous. So funny how a specific memories trigger such strong associations, isn’t it? Now when I’m having tummy troubles, I usually stick to fizzy water with lemon, ginger tea, or good ol’ fashioned coca cola. 🙂
And yes, I am definitely a food packer! The joke has been thrown around that when I travel, half my suitcase is filled with food. I beg to differ, but I do always bring along protein powder, peanut butter, hardboiled eggs (if I know there will be a fridge in the room) and a stash of bars and nuts.
I can’t believe you don’t have Chipotle in Canada! That’s almost a crime 😉 But aren’t their burrito bowls the best? Especially with tons of guacamole on top.
I don’t have any allergies or intolerances but being a vegan means it can be hard to eat out in smaller towns and certain places. I try not to be picky and expect amazing food so I always pack stuff I know I’ll eat and then get whatever vegan-friendly option is available, even if I have to modify an order to make it that way. I would love to vacation on the West Coast though because I know they have tons of vegan restaurants!
Criminal… definitely -.- We miss out on a lot of the good stuff up here. Like we don’t even have Whole Foods 🙁 At least not in my part of Canada…
aren’t pop chips the best snacks?? 🙂
everything you ate looks so delish! Particularly that sundae you got. O.M.G. yummmm.
i always pack food when i travel, but than i never end up eating the majority of it because we end up going out to eat most of the time…
Ginger ale was definitely a staple in my household growing up when any of us got sick. I always associate it with making our stomachs feel better.
I do pack food when I go on vacation, but my whole family does because we are all very frugal and like to spend money by not eating out haha. We always stalk up on groceries once we get to our destination! It looks like you had some delicious food while you were on vacation, the BBQ chicken flatbread looks perfect! I was given Canada Dry as a kid when I was sick, but my mom would warm it up in the microwave and it tasted like…really gross stuff!
Eep! I think warm Canada Dry would make me feel even worse.
Sooo glad you were able to enjoy yourself on vacation and eat what you truly enjoy – who doesn’t love ice cream!!! My mom always used to give me ginger ale when I had an upset stomach and guess what it usually did the trick!!!! I always used to get sick while on a plane as a child but thankfully grew out of it!!
I totally get what you mean about food allergies! Other than my dining hall at college, I haven’t eaten out at all since being diagnosed with food allergies in May. CRAZY!! I don’t have severe reactions, but I never want to go back to how I felt before. Just curious, what are you allergic to? I think I remember you mentioning peanuts before??
Yup, pesky peanuts -.-
I always pack food when I travel! And I was always given Sprite as a child when I was sick.
Greek yogurt is something I pack no matter what
and hummus and pita chips
fruits & veggies
what are you allergic to?
Peanuts -.- The phrase “may contain traces of peanuts” has become the bane of my existence…
I love eating out, just not for every meal! Packing food is my savior.
Now YOU know how to vacation. Finally, a blogger who goes away and eats something OTHER than a garden salad ( hold the dressing ) and “indulges” in fat free / sugar free froyo. This post = exactly why I adore you so much!
p.s. Ginger Ale is liquid gold. Sometimes I used to pretend I had a stomach ache just so my mom would let me drink mass quantities when I was younger. She caught on to me when I was drinking mass quantities, alongside 3 slices of pizza. I guess carbs and cheese doesn’t exactly scream “my stomach is killing me!”
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Pfffft! Carbs and cheese are like the perfect cure for an upset stomach! When I don’t feel well, all I want is bread, cereal, and crackers…. and I’m sure a grilled cheese sandwich would go down without a problem too!
I don’t have any allergies, but I know what you mean about feeling anxious that new foods will mess up with your body’s system! When I went to Cuba last summer with my friends as a grad trip, I was kind of paranoid with the idea that I would get food poisoning from eating the foods served at the resort – Cuba isn’t really known as a super hygienic place, you know? 😛 That really prevented me from eating with a peaceful mind, and I stayed away from anything that I believed might contain some sort of pathogenic organism (no raw fruits or veggies, undercooked meats, etc!)
Well, my efforts were fruitless – I actually did get food poisoning -_-. It was horrible.
Ack! That’s like my biggest fear, and honestly why I tend to shy away from vacation destinations like that. I’ve never been to Cuba, but I went to Mexico when I was teeny-tiny and didn’t know enough to be afraid of the food. Good thing, because I don’t know if I’d like to go again!
Yes – pop chips!! I just discovered them, and they’re so fantastic!
My parents always gave me 7up when I had the stomach flu. To this day, I can’t drink and lemon/lime soda without thinking of the nauseous feeling that goes along with it! But it definitely helps with recovery:)
Girl knows how to eat on the go! And that Haagen Daz sundae? SAWooooon. I went to a Haagen Daz cafe for my seventh birthday, we had a sundae cocktail partay:). I think that was the last time I had such a sundae:0 – SAD! I must remedy this situation soon.
Everything you ate looks delicious, you seemed to really make the most of some great food that was safe for you. I totally admire how prepared with snacks you are! I hardly ever do that, I’m just not the organised type, with anything actually:/.
Xxx
7th birthday? Awww no! I’m going to assume that was quite a while ago, so I really recommend doing something about that because those sundaes are just to die for!