Travel-Part 2

A while age I posted about travelling with a peanut allergy and everything that comes with it (calling the airlines, exploring restaurants, proximity to the hospital etc…). A few weeks ago we went to Maine with my sister in law, brother in law and their baby. It was a wonderful week away, especially because it gave me the opportunity to have a full week with the boy. We rented a house, and it was the best decision we could have made. My husband grew up going to Maine every summer, and most of the accommodations are motels or B and B’s. Given we were with a baby and our toddler we wanted a fridge, a yard and enough room for the kids to move around inside. We found a great house that was adorable, updated, and walking distance to the beach.

When renting a house, it is important to anyone with an allergy to consider the fact that the homes utensils, pots and so on may pose a risk of cross contamination. When we arrived, I wiped the counters down, and in an effort to not use anything from the house, I brought all sorts of stuff with me, down to the coffee maker! We travelled by car, so it was easy to bring this stuff. I took cutlery for myself and the boy (we didn’t have the test results at the time), 1 large pot, 1 small pan, a disposable baking dish, 1 small mixing bowl (I used this the most), paper plates, and my own coffee mug. I’m not a breakfast person, so that was not a big deal for me, and the boy was happy with cereal. Given my restrictions of only eating in restaurants that have absolutely no peanuts on the menu altogether it was a challenge to find somewhere to go 7 nights in a row. Ultimately we ate at 3 places, two of which we doubled up on. Myself and the boy even had lunch at one of those three restaurants 3 times! The other nights we stayed home. There were definitely places I would have loved to try out, but given my reality I was better off without it. I’m looking forward to going back next year, and at least the boy can enjoy the bakeries and countless ice cream shops.

Travelling with an allergy can be a difficult task, but this happened to be one of the easier trips for me. I was relieved to know that we were only about 7 minutes from a hospital (the fire chief told me when we were at the station visiting the trucks!).

: )

J.