Post by kickingfrog on Nov 17, 2013 10:29:29 GMT
GLUTEN-FREE IN COLLEGE: BLOG SERIES PART 2
Traveling Abroad at 19: “I am Celiac”
This summer I decided to become a counselor for a teen travel company and was assigned to the “Discover Europe” trip. Our stops included Barcelona, Rome, Florence and Paris. While I had traveled with the company as a teen twice already, both trips were over two years ago, before I discovered that I had celiac disease.
When I first read through the itinerary for my trip to Europe, the first things I noticed were the spontaneous “picnic lunches” and “pizza stops” that seemed to overwhelm my upcoming plans. Somehow I managed to make it through all three countries, and our German airport layovers, without a single noticeable gluten contamination. As high school and college-aged students traveling, our main living situations were hostels and low-end boutique hotels. While they held culture, I did not expect them to hold much agency or knowledge when it came to providing for gluten-free guests. This blog essentially recaps my experience as a young, college-aged traveler in Europe. I made it through without a reaction, and so could you! One could say I got lucky… or that I am living as a person with celiac disease in a time where traveling is becoming increasingly less difficult for us....
www.celiaccentral.org/gluten-free-in-college-blog-series/traveling-abroad-at-nineteen-celiac-10175/
Traveling Abroad at 19: “I am Celiac”
This summer I decided to become a counselor for a teen travel company and was assigned to the “Discover Europe” trip. Our stops included Barcelona, Rome, Florence and Paris. While I had traveled with the company as a teen twice already, both trips were over two years ago, before I discovered that I had celiac disease.
When I first read through the itinerary for my trip to Europe, the first things I noticed were the spontaneous “picnic lunches” and “pizza stops” that seemed to overwhelm my upcoming plans. Somehow I managed to make it through all three countries, and our German airport layovers, without a single noticeable gluten contamination. As high school and college-aged students traveling, our main living situations were hostels and low-end boutique hotels. While they held culture, I did not expect them to hold much agency or knowledge when it came to providing for gluten-free guests. This blog essentially recaps my experience as a young, college-aged traveler in Europe. I made it through without a reaction, and so could you! One could say I got lucky… or that I am living as a person with celiac disease in a time where traveling is becoming increasingly less difficult for us....
www.celiaccentral.org/gluten-free-in-college-blog-series/traveling-abroad-at-nineteen-celiac-10175/