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Our Traveling with Food Allergies Journey
Our Traveling with Food Allergies Journey – Intro to Food Allergies
Our Traveling with Food Allergies Journey!
When my daughter was only 15-months old, we were on vacation in California having an early morning breakfast at a local diner when our World changed, in an instant.
As it would happen, my sister and I had taken my daughter Katie out for breakfast. It was our 1st day visiting family and as we are from Maryland, eating at a diner was the only option at 5 am Pacific time.
I ordered the blueberry pancakes, Katie a bagel with jam. All seemed normal.
All of a sudden, Katie began coughing, her eyes turning blueish purple and her lips swelling. While it seemed like seconds, I felt we were in a weird time contraption.
Everything was happening super-fast but at the same time, in super slow motion, if that makes sense.
I knew Katie was having a reaction only because a husky I had years earlier had a reaction from a bee sting & his lips swelled.
My 1st thought was she needs Benadryl (that’s what our vet had done for our dog). However, no stores were open that early.
Getting worse quickly, I called 911 from the restaurant & the ambulance team gave Katie epinephrine & took us to Stanford Medical Center ER.
Now, this was 2003 and I had never even heard the words FOOD ALLERGY before the doctor told me his diagnosis.
Not knowing what the exact food allergen was, he gave me 2 EpiPens and told me not to try any new foods until Katie could be tested by an allergist in 3 weeks.
I had no idea at the time how our lives will change forever.
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Hawaii Days After Our 1st Anaphylactic Reaction
As life would have it, California was only a mid-way stop to our vacation destination of Maui, Hawaii just a few days after Katie’s anaphylactic reaction.
So, not being given any more info/direction, I packed Katie’s EpiPens in our checked luggage for our flight from San Francisco to Maui – a full 5-hour flight over the Pacific Ocean, with nowhere to land in an emergency…yup, we’ve come far!
🌟 (If you’re looking for suggestions of what & where to pack everything you are taking for a food allergy trip, get our FREE Ultimate Packing List. It’s our 24-years of Traveling the USA & Internationally with Food Allergies. For every kind of trip!)
In hindsight, super scary looking at the photos of this trip!
Asian fried rice with peas (did they use peanut oil?), ice cream sundae with hot fudge & nuts…it was absolutely mind-boggling the lack of knowledge about food allergies both my husband Joe and I had at this point. So, we TOTALLY understand people who’ve been newly diagnosed with food allergies.
A Mothers Intuition
Looking back, it all started to make sense…Katie had been a very colicky baby.
Often, I would see red bumps/rash/hives on her face, as well as eczema.
As a 1st time Mom, I called our pediatrician many times when Katie was only 3-weeks old.
Guess what I was told?
“Calm down new Mom. As you’re breastfeeding, take out dairy from your diet.”
Then remove gluten, finally omit eggs.
No mention of nuts or peanuts.
With smaller food options, I was eating more & more peanut butter.
Back Home Getting Tested for Food Allergies
After our trip to Maui and Oahu, 3-weeks later, Katie was tested for food allergies. The allergist said:
She has an environmental allergy, not a food allergy & to feed Katie everything.
OK, still don’t know how I was believing this diagnosis but Joe and I did. Maybe because there wasn’t a wealth of info on food allergies online & we didn’t know anyone who had a food allergy…
Ice Cream Almost Killed Our Daughter
Of course, not long after that allergist appointment, Katie wanted some ice cream.
Giving her my favorite peanut butter brittle caused such a rapid and horrifying reaction.
Seriously, our daughter could have died that afternoon on our kitchen floor.
Another 911 call.
This time, the ambulance had to pull off the highway to administer another dose of epinephrine en route to the ER.
In the ambulance with my daughter, 6 months pregnant, I was trembling & trying not to sob.
Now, I knew Katie was highly allergic to peanuts.
Scared sh*tless, I was determined to find the leading food allergy expert. No matter where in the world they were located.
Luckily for us, highly esteemed allergist Dr. Robert Wood was only about an hour from our home in Maryland. This was before Dr. Wood became the head of pediatric allergy at Johns Hopkins.
Dr. Wood administered the allergy tests himself.
No surprise, Katie is off the charts allergic to peanuts. As well as legumes (peas/chickpeas/beans), shellfish, & tree nuts.
Is Disney the Only Place to Vacation?
Terrified to eat out most places, scared out of our minds to travel away from our safe spots, we travelled to Disney World (easier for us food allergy peeps at this time!) several times every year for many years.
So much so, that my daughter asked:
Is Disney the only place to vacation?”
As avid travelers, Joe and I missed seeing our family & friends in Europe & scuba diving in the Caribbean.
I knew I had to figure out how to Travel Safely with Food Allergies.
😎 Our Traveling with Food Allergies Journey Begins!
Before having kids, I was a marketing and sales manager for IT companies. Taking my background of tenacious fact-finding & applying it to figuring out SAFELY traveling with food allergies became my mission.
And taking a systematic approach to trip planning, backup food & always considering the unexpected, we started taking small trips.
Then further from home. And then traveling to our favorite, Europe!
Our Traveling with Food Allergies Journey – Summers in Italy
Italy has been a passion of mine for many years.
When our children were young, we would rent a house for several weeks in the summertime, spending our mornings at the markets.
Always visiting ancient Roman ruins, castles and historic sites.
Afternoons by the pool or at the beach…one year, my kids made their own slip-n-slide on the rooftop terrace of our apartment in Rome!
Evenings making dinner together & eating al fresco in the garden to the tune of distant church bells.
Often, we’d stroll around town, tasting food allergy friendly gelato & laughing!
We created absolutely amazing memories as the children ran around in the Tuscan sun without the distractions of everyday life.
The times we had a garden allowed Katie & Brandon to pick grapes, kumquats, raspberries, lemons, oranges & enjoy the natural beauty & serenity of the region.
It’s easy to see why our kids were always super excited for our summer trips!
They played football (soccer) in the piazza with the local kids & learned how to correctly pronounce “Mozzarrellaaaa” by stopping by the weekly markets.
Games of Uno or cards were an almost nightly occurrence.
My son learned to make Biscotti in our vacation rental & my daughter, homemade, fresh pasta with only flour and water.
Life skills that they are proud to show off 20 years later!
Doesn’t this sound fantastic? Yes, with food allergies.
Our Traveling with Food Allergies Journey – But How?
Our Traveling with Food Allergies Journey didn’t just magically appear!
It took months and months of planning & research. Which turned into years & unexpectedly starting a travel consulting company, An Easy Journey, LLC. to help others also travel more safely with food allergies.
As I started our preparations for our 1st European trip, fear is an understatement.
Being that my husband is able to only get 2- 3 weeks’ vacation, I would be traveling alone to Europe with a 5- and 7-year-old who has multiple, anaphylactic food allergies.
Although this may sound very intimidating (it was!), I was determined.
And couldn’t travel this far without our “Handy-Dandy backpack cooler” to bring safe food allergy friendly meals & snacks!
Every new destination adds a new chapter to our food allergy travel journey!
From unforgettable food allergy-friendly meals to lessons learned, we’re here to help you feel encouraged, confident, inspired & prepared.
Part 1 of a 2-part series!
✈️ And if you want to know ALL of our 20+ years of “How to travel with Food Allergies” tips, see our Travel Starter Guide here.
To know more – our interview!
Follow along as we discover more, connect with food allergy friendly places & prove that food allergies don’t have to hold you back from seeing the World!
For more, join our Private Facebook Group Food Allergy Travels and Life here, where the Community is super helpful, shares their food allergy tips & experiences, asks questions in a very supportive environment!
And, follow us on Instagram where we share real life with food allergies, reels of where we are & what food allergy-friendly foods we’re eating!
xo, Cindi
PS – to see a WONDERFUl trip Katie & I took to Paris & Southwest of France, see our blog post:
3 perfect Days in Paris with Food Allergies: Tips, Tours & Food Allergy-Friendly Places to Eat!
🌟 SO MUCH MORE TO COME: SUBSCRIBE NOW.
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