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.

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.