Travel

For me travelling is not as simple as deciding on a place to go, booking a flight, packing my bags and heading off. It is a research project that can takes weeks, if not months.

My allergy has prevented me from experiencing many once in a lifetime opportunities. While I like to try and see the positive aspects of being allergic to peanuts, I also resent it at times. I was not able to join 90% of my grade on an Israel trip in grade nine, I also didn’t go on a free trip to Israel offered through the community to young adults when I was 21, I was the one who never went on an all inclusive with my girlfriends in College, I couldn’t go backpacking through Europe with my friends in University, I even had to rearrange my honeymoon.

My allergy has certainly put up road blocks with respect to travel, but it has also taught me how to handle disappointment and to face reality. The fun in planning a trip becomes slightly more stressful for me, and more of a challenge. Everything from the airline, restaurants, and even hotel choice come into question. The airline must be peanut free, the restaurant must be peanut free, and the hotel must be close to a hospital.

I have come to terms with the fact that I will likely never travel to any part of Asia, and that I will probably never go on an all inclusive. I am certainly not a jet setter, but I have been to many places in Europe, Canada, the US and South Pacific and I will continue to travel in the future.

Have these situations changed who I am as a person…I think so. I have experienced enough disappointment related to my allergy that I am now able to accept it for what it is. My attitude as a teenager was completely different then from what it is now as an adult and a mother. As a teenager, I tried to convince my mother to let me go on these trips and she never budged. She literally threw out the mail that arrived for the free Israel trip so I wouldn’t see it and want to go. Now that I am a mother, I will probably do the same if I had to. At the time, I was so caught up with the fact that I wasn’t able to go on these trips that I lost sight of the safety issues involved. Now, I accept the fact that the allergy can hold me back from travelling the world. Of course everyone handle’s their respective allergies differently, and while some people may not agree with my decisions, I respect the decisions other people make around travel. I realize that I have a responsibility to myself, my husband and the boy to do my absolute best to be as careful as possible so I don’t have a reaction.

:)

J.

The List

Being allergic to peanuts completely restricts the number of restaurants I can eat at. Every time I eat at a new restaurant it’s like doing a research project. I google the menu, if it appears to have nothing with peanuts, I then call and speak with the manager, explain my situation, and ask him or her to check with the chef on the type of oil and flour they use, ask whether they have any peanut butter or peanut products in their kitchen and inquire whether the bread and desserts are made on site. Even if it is a restaurant I have been to 50 times, I ask the exact same questions every time just to be sure they haven’t changed their recipes, oil, or menu items. FYI, the dessert menu is usually the deal breaker.

When I am lucky enough to find a restaurant that is 100% safe, and the food is good, it goes on my list. Before the boy was born my list was much longer than it is today.
My husband and I love good food. When we lived downtown (the good old days!), we used to go out every weekend. We had our list of safe restaurants, and enjoyed Saturday nights to their fullest. Despite my allergy, my list had some great places to eat. I am fortunate enough to live in a big city full of fantastic restaurants. Since having the boy … our lives have changed! We rarely go out anymore. Many of those restaurants on my list have not seen us in over a year now. I wonder if they remember us?

I love to cook so during the week I have always been one to make a homemade dinner daily. Now that we live in the burbs (hardly, but it’s not downtown) we stay in Saturdays instead of hitting the town, and I usually whip up a nice dinner, we uncork our favorite bottle of red wine and watch PVR’d shows from the week. We are not complete losers, we do go out, but for the times we do go out we are always looking for new ideas . So if anyone knows of any 100% peanut free restaurants, please share!


:)

J.