[AllyRae]

My 3 year old and I both have Celiac disease (meaning we are unable to eat wheat, rye, barley, and oats in any form, including in soy sauce). Normally, it's fairly easy to find things when we're travelling, but going to Vietnam for 2-3 weeks for our adoption is a whole different story--fresh foods are out of the country, and with the language barrier, it's hard to know what's safe in terms of being gluten free. And there's a 20 hour flight in there as well. So, for those with major dietary restrictions, how do you deal with international travel--the flight, the stay in another country...you don't just shrivel up and avoid eating the whole time, do you?

[CalandraLark]

Oh man, that must be a challange. I have friends who's youngest boys were gluten intollerant and it was hard enought for them to get foods that were safe in Europe, when they lived there and knew more of the places to shop.

I hope someone with more knowledge than I, has some suggestions for you.

[teranga]

I could be wrong here, but my thought is taht it wouldn't be too hard in Asia. When I traveled through SE Asia, rice was always an option, as were fresh cooked vegetables). The US is much heavier on wheat, etc. than Asian countries. I would think someone could help you choose a few dishes which were rice and veggies (w/o soy sauce) and then you could just stick to those as much as possible. Or stick with meat on rice if you eat meat.

It adds an additional element to traveling, but I venture to guess those ingredients are in a lot more of our (processed) foods than their fresher foods...

[teranga]

Oh, btw, book your flight well in advance (as much as is possible anyway). Then inform the airline of your dietary restrictions and they will accomodate you.

[momraine]

I would suggest a couple of things.
1. Bring some non perishable snacks for yourself. Whether it some sort of bars or dried fruit or rice cakes or whatever you can eat for any times when you have trouble finding something.
2. Find someone who speaks Vietnamese, maybe your agency can provide someone or try to check phone books for a vietnamese church or civic group. Ask that person to write you a note in Vietnamese explaining what you cannot eat, I would phrase it a severe allergy. Make photo copies of it (I beleive in back ups of everything when traveling, LOL) and then take it with you to restaraunts. Show it to the waitress, and also in stores you can show it to someone who looks friendly and they can help you find things. If you are going to be in one place a lot and eat in one restaruant a lot, I would be sure to tip well, since they will know a way to get even if you don't, but if you do they will be inclined to look for more dishes you can eat.

[isabel41206]

try glutenfree mall(online store) they have alot of pre packaged food that travels well. my sis has celiacs disease so I know how difficult it can be to find things to eat.

[amyfk]

Dear AllyRae,

I have Celiac Disease and I recently came back from russia where we adopted our baby.

Russia is a two trip system. On the first trip I didnt bring much food and left it up to what the hotel had in the restaurant. I ended up disliking a lot of the foods, and some of the food that I was able to eat was affected by the water. I had bad stomach problems for two weeks after we returned home.

I dont know what the drinking regulations are but for the second trip, although it was heavy, I brought half a suitcase filled with food. I didnt like the breakfasts at my hotel, so I brought my own gf cereal. I also brought several gf lunches and snacks with me as well.

I'm not sure about the food in Vietnam, but I'm assuming you may be able to get a lot of rice noodles. However, you may want to cart along your own gf soy sauce and teriyaki sauce, etc. I would also try tofind a gf dining card in Vietnamese. I had one in Russian and believe me it helped. Hopefully the restaurants/hotels will accommodate you and they can cook with your food additives.

Best of luck with the adoption and the eating situation. It's tricky but I bet it can be done.

Amy K, NJ