Traveling On SCD
General Travel Advice gathered from the internet and social media.
Road trips
Depending for how long you'll be gone, consider investing in a car refrigerator that plugs into your AC outlet to keep it charged. You'll be able to bring more food or just more perishable food. It's also easy to cart into a hotel room if they don't have a refrigerator (and you don't have to unpack) since it also has an outlet charger. Here is an example of a Plug in mini refrigerator.
Do a little pre-travel research on available grocery stores and restaurants along your travel route and destination. Pick up fresh food when needed to avoid having to pack large amounts of food in coolers.
Freeze what food you can so that it does not perish before your destination or so that it will be thawed when you want it to be.
Airplanes
Air Travel information on what you can bring on a plane.
Air travel food tips from SCDers.
Get a letter from your doctor on letterhead that states you are on a medical diet and therefore should be permitted to bring food and water. A letter also works for locations that don't allow people to bring food (ex. theme parks).
I bring both yogurt and other food as carry on all the time. My strategy is as follows. I pack the food in a separate soft sided "cooler". I include ice packs and/or frozen food. I fill the glass yogurt container 100% full, so it looks solid. I then tape it shut. When going through TSA, I pull it out and send it through as a separate piece. About 80% of the time, I make it through with no issues. The other times, I get pulled a side, I tell them I have severe food allergies, they say no problem, take a swipe, put in machine and send me on my way. I have done this hundreds of times and have made it though every time. As for checking food, if I have to travel for over two days, I fill a cooler, with individual frozen meals, and check it. Never an issue. I think in the past there may have been more issues, but for me, I never have any.
I did yogurt in breast milk storage bags in my carry on and froze my chicken broth in the bags for my checked baggage. We flew from Houston to London and everything was fine. I had a Dr Note stating my health issues and restricted diet but the first time they said they didn't need to see it. I had maybe 6 bags of yogurt in my carry on, but each bag only had the 3 ounces in it so they meet me through. The broth was fine and fit me through the first 3 days in a fridge upon arrival
I have packed yogurt in a checked suitcase for my daughter. We found some metal thermos type containers that keep food/drinks cold for 8-10 hours. They are sturdy/unbreakable, so they do fine with rough handling. We did include ice packs and put it all in a very large zip lock bag. It was still cold when we arrived at our destination 12 hours later.
Apply for TSA Precheck to make it easier to get through security with food.
Miscellaneous
Hotels
Hotels with a full kitchen, timeshare rentals or VRBO's are ideal. They are worth a few extra dollars if you are staying for an extending length of time. You can find rental properties at Vacation Rental By Owner - VRBO
It is easy to get a frig in your room in America for FREE when we are clear it is for a medical need and call ahead. It is rather simple to find hotels that offer all rooms microwaves and refrigerators (and coffee). If there is no refrigerator in the room tell them you have food allergies and you should be able to use the hotel/employee refrigerator.
Travel with an electric skillet, Foreman Grille or a portable one burner gas grille and make an SCD meal in the bathroom. You don't want a fire or the smoke alarm to go off so stay in the bathroom. :) Bring travel utensils, but if you can, book a room with a kitchen.
Eating at free hotel chain breakfasts can be hit or miss and mostly miss. Many of the scrambled eggs are not real eggs and mixed with milk. There are a lot of muffins, donuts, cereal and bagels. You might get lucky and find hard boiled eggs, bacon, bananas, apples, oranges or other fruit.
Outdoors, hiking and camping.
Honey Pie - Cajun Flavor, Family Friendly, Travel, Camping and Hiking SCD Blog
Backpackingchef.com Not SCD but great tips on dehydrating and packing meals for backpacking and hiking.
Dehydrating Info on Dehydrating.
Gut Harmony - Menu Plans for Sending your child to Summer Camp
Cruises
Generally cruises will bend over backwards for their customers. They want you to come back and spend more money with them. Contact them before the trip and explain your dietary restrictions and send them a list of what you need to avoid. Your cruise line should have a dietary restriction/allergies page on their website that goes into further details and their procedures. The following links provide further detail.
Dining on a Disney Cruise with food allergies Official Disney Site
Carnival Cruises Special Dietary Needs Official Carnival Site
What type of special meals does Royal Caribbean offer? Official Royal Caribbean Site
10 Tips for Cruising with a Dietary Restriction -- and Eating Well Blog
Cruising With Special Dietary Needs Onboard the Disney Cruise Line Blog with good tips and info.
Paleo Mom - Cruising Paleo? It’s possible! Paleo blog, not 100% SCD legal advice but some good info.
Miscellaneous info
You really don't have to eat that much for a week. Just eat enough to get by and make it up when you get home. Don't get hung up on places not having much or anything to eat. Enjoy your trip, don't worry about the food.
Here's a list of the legality of E-codes for Food In Europe E-Numbers
Neat little travel gadgets. 20-Ounce Lunch Crock Food Warmer and Mini Personal Portable Oven
If you would like to contribute to this page or anywhere else on Everything SCD please email everything.scd.2017@gmail.com