Marnix: a different experience

Through the years I’ve been lucky enough to travel a lot. Sometimes for work, other times with friends. Usually with minimal planning, and often with unexpected results. The best thing about traveling is that completely unexpected for me. Iris and I talked about and traveling abroad for years. But the limitations of the gluten free diet seemed to block such plans. Especially with my preference for the unplanned, free way of traveling.

Adventure

One of the countries I’ve visited, years ago, is Japan. I would like to go back there one day to see what has changed, and what might be fun even more, what I still recognise. So when we had some leftover money and cheap tickets were available, we decided to leave for a holiday. Unfortunately, the tickets turned out to be for the wrong month. But Japan in summer would be way to expensive. Now what? We didn’t want to wait a year, so we went looking for an affordable alternative: South-Korea.

When we arrived in Seoul, the gluten free diet turned out to be a lot more challenging than we thought. In addition, it’s insufferably hot in the summer in the capital of the peninsula. Our planning went out the window and Iris’ diet consisted mainly of banana’s and Bibim-bab. Nevertheless, it was a great experience. This short trip to one of the more difficult gluten free countries was very educational. If you want to, gluten free travel is possible. Even in South-Korea.

This experience was certainly an eye-opener for Iris. A few months later we decided to take the plunge and leave. See you later, home, work and family. Hello adventure, uncertainty and challenge!

Choices

The first thing to do was to choose the countries we would visit. Particularly a starting point. And where I would normally randomly poke the map to choose a location, the diet meant that we did not have that kind of freedom. China, for example, is one country likely to be at the top of the list of complicated countries. Everywhere (gluten containing) soy sauce, poor knowledge of hygiene, and high risk of cross-contamination. Not to mention the noodles, dumplings and spring rolls. After extensive internet research, conversations with people who lived in China, etc., the country did not seem like an option for now. We gave other countries a “rating”. That is, we looked at the expected difficulty of the country.

China: too difficult.

Pakistan, Central Asia: Very difficult

India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia: Acceptable

Vietnam: Very doable (munchfest)

Most of these assumptions were based on information from the Internet. Sometimes specific information about gluten-free food, but especially knowledge about the local cuisine. With this list in mind, we decided to make a plan. We didn’t want to start too difficult. Vietnam was not a good option in terms of season, so we decided to start in India. And while it seemed pretty good in terms of food, the country is not exactly the easiest country for the rest. Under the guise of; if we can manage India, we can manage everything, we left.

A different way to travel

Not only the preparation is different. Traveling itself is also different. As soon as we arrive at a new location, we always start with “scouting”. We are looking for places that are suitable for eating that afternoon or evening. Then we visit a supermarket or a stall where fruit, nuts or the like is sold. When we’ve found something for Iris to eat, we hit the road. This is a lesson we learned on our trip to South Korea. When you walk into the umpteenth restaurant at ten o’clock in the evening to hear again that there is nothing to eat, the fun is over quickly. This is how we usually start now, when we are in a new place.

Hospitality

Another part of traveling is the food that is offered by the hospitable locals. And so far, this has been the case in every country. People are often proud of the national cuisine, and certainly of the regional dishes. These are therefore frequently offered to you (read: forced down your throat in some cases). You can’t really get out of it.

When the gluten-free diet is unknown, refusing this food sometimes seems rude. Sometimes it takes quite some effort to explain that it really is not possible due to health reasons. With some regularity, neither Iris nor myself is in need for a discussion on this topic. So when the person in question is not paying attention, I stuff Iris’ portion in my mouth. That is not always problem at all, because the food is often very tasty. Other times I would rather have eaten nothing, but it is twice over my turn. Sometimes the food is downright gross, but when people have just gotten over the disappointment of Iris’ refusal, there is no escape for me.

Well-intentioned shamans

Usually traveling is a great experience. If Iris gets sick, it’s not. We’ve been together for over ten years so it’s not like I don’t know the works. However, things have been going well at home for years. There is never a good place to be sick. But there is certainly bad places to be sick, several in fact. At those moments there is nothing more that can be done. I offer some aspirins, a glass of water and leave. That is more difficult when you are really on the road. In a bus, or on foot in the middle of a strange city. I am pretty tired of traveling on days like that. Often I’m explaining to people that there is really nothing to be done, that we dont have to go to a doctor.

Furthermore, I have a conversation about all kinds of different perspectives on allergies. About the healing effects of young coconuts, pure vodka and the healing shaman of the cousin’s cousin of the neighbor.

Downside

On the other hand, it always gives a kick to discover something new. New dishes, ingredients or even a harvest festival with almost only gluten-free candies and cookies. I really enjoy cooking myself, and I regularly write down new recipes to try out at home. Things that are gluten-free, or things that I can make gluten-free at home, because it was delicious and I want to make it for Iris too.

A gluten-free world trip is not easy, but with the right preparation and mind-set it is not impossible. If you go out for several months and travel like we did, you probably will get sick from time to time. You’ll have to decide for yourself whether it is worth it. What I have seen with Iris is that the times she has been ill do not outweigh the feeling of freedom that this trip brought. So there is a good chance that we will be on the road again. Maybe even to China.