Rainbows and unicorns: gluten free travelling
On day six of our trip, we take a train from New Delhi to Amritsar. In the train, an Indian family takes us under their wing. They tell us when it is safe to fetch water from the platform (while the train is still going, mind you). Or how standing in the doorway is not a problem, even when the train is traveling at 60 miles/h. And they share their food with us.Or at least, with Marnix. Because roti with curry is not exactly suitable for me. That’s the first time I have to decline food, but certainly not the last. And it feels awful. The puzzled looks of people who don’t understand why. The feeling of guilt combined with the relief that at least I won’t get sick today. Well.
With this blog I try to give as much information as possible about how you can travel gluten-free, and how I usually manage to do this. But that does not mean sometimes it ain’t very difficult.
De refuser
I am regularly offered food I cannot have. During bus or train trips or when we stay over. People are often very social and enjoy chatting (with the foreigners). This often starts with offering food or tea. This is as a way people come together; they enjoy food and each other’s company. I can tell I have this allergy (autoimmune disease being one bridge to far) and really can’t join in the eating. Mostly this explanation is enough.
For me, watching people eat is not really fun, even less so when you are hungry and can smell the fresh bread.Moreover, I can only hope people will understand that you are not eating because of a medical condition; and not because you are uninterested in the local cuisine… Or you’re just an uninterested jerk, who doesn’t appreciate their culture. The diet sometimes makes contact difficult: what do people think of you when you refuse?
A lot of vodka
In most places, the gluten-free diet is unknown and some people genuinely can’t imagine it actually exists and you’re not fooling around. And misunderstanding can lead to frustration, on both sides. Over time, I have received all kinds of ‘interesting’ advices on how to deal with my condition. Some of them frustrating: ‘Drink a lot of vodka, you will be better’ or ‘Don’t think about it, then nothing will happen.’ ‘Drink young coconut juice.’ And ‘Get an Ayurvedic treatment, I can recommend you a hospital.’ Some of these ‘advices’ make my toes curl up in annoyance. If it were ever so easy! Get me a bottle of vodka, right now!
But the hardest part is actually missing out on getting to know a country. If you want the complete experience, eating local food is kind of unmissable. And absolutely impossible, a big part of the time. Food is such an important part of a country’s cultural identity. Often I have the feeling that I cannot really participate and miss outbecause of the gluten.
No breakfast no more
Which country you visit makes a big difference. I’ve gotten used to no more breakfast. Or a small breakfast of porridge (I find this a mediocre way to start the day) and fruit / eggs to start with and later on a large lunch.
Many countries lean heavily on something like bread to start the day. Disgustingly greasy pastries in Sri Lanka or oily paratha’s in India. Pakistan with roti, Nepal with bread. No insurmountable problem, with breakfast. when it’s just bread for breakfast. But it’s not. In many places bread is always an important part of the meal. Even worse: when sharing is the norm, sometimes by all eating with your hands from the same plate. Or, the worst, using pieces of bread to eat food from the same bowls. Having your own plate with your own food is not always the normal. Food = sharing, is a common idea in certain other countries. Not everywhere, but much more often than I anticipated.
Bread, bread and even more bread
Before we travel somewhere I search online for the best foods to try. This can be downright depressing. The list of not-gluten-free foods sometimes seems endless, especially when combined with a lactose-free diet. Take Azerbaijan, a country where bread rules. Fresh bread, just about everywhere! A ridiculous amount of gluten!I am salivating when I walk past a bakery stall. Good grief. But no Lavash or Tendir for me, things they serve with every meal (Read more my time in Azerbaijan, there is a lot of good stuff to find for a celiac! I do like to a little dramatic sometimes).
Even though there is food for me everywhere, it gets me down sometimes, not to share in the bread love. And then I think about the blissful things I’ll eat at home like paste, pizza and freshly baked bread and I do feel better.
Rainbows and unicorns
I am blessed with a husband who enjoys cooking and likes to recreate gluten food. And still, this does not really give me much consolation when we walk by a bakery and it will never ever be for me, any of what they’re making. Travelling is not easy at all (hello food poisoning), but even less so with a diet. But.
It is not an option for me not to travel because of the gluten. The experiences are so worth it. I don’t feel sorry for myself (except during a disastrous bus ride in India, self-pity aaaaall the way there). I am in a great position, where I can have crazy adventures in all kinds of countries. Besides, I can always have food. I’ve also seen people who don’t have enough. So nocomplaining!
It comes down to this: travelling is not only rainbows and unicorns (even for the people who do eat gluten). And particularly not when you carry along your gluten free diet across the world. As long as you assume this, it will work out. Most days are blissfully free from gluten and that one time it goes wrong; this was your expectation all along. Tomorrow is a new day, filled with new (gluten free) chances.