Traveling

When a person is on the Paleo diet with elements of the AIP, Autoimmune Protocol, traveling can seem like an insurmountable problem.

I remember that I was completely distressed at the idea of traveling with Celiac disease and multiple food allergies and sensitivities. I wondered how in the world I would be able to do it when I pretty much have to cook all my meals or suffer the consequences.

One of my tricks is driving if at all possible. Thankfully I live in Colorado, so I can reach many places in the country with an easy two day drive, especially if I am traveling with other people who can help drive.

I usually travel with two large coolers full of food. One is a powered cooler by Igloo designed to fit in the footwell of a car's back seat. The model I use is the Igloo Iceless Thermoelectric Cooler, available from Amazon. The adapter to be able to plug it into a regular wall outlet is also essential, but is bought separately. It is the Igloo 40353 110-Volt AC Power Converter, Black. It is also available on Amazon. The two together cost around $106.00. I would say that it is totally worth the cost.

I use it with 4 reusable ice packs that I buy at Walmart for very cheap. I plug it into the wall the night before we leave and put the ice packs in the freezer the night before. The morning we leave, I put all the meat and items I want to stay frozen into the pre-cooled Igloo electric cooler, put the reusable frozen ice packs into the cooler on top of the frozen items, and plug into the power outlet in the car.

It keeps all the food items that need to remain frozen, frozen throughout the car ride and in hotels that do not have a frozen section in the mini-fridge. I also have a very large folding cloth cooler that I put the food I want to keep refrigerated during the trip instead of frozen.

Most of my vegetables go in the insulated folding cloth cooler, and most of my meat goes into the Igloo electric cooler so that it stays frozen. There are also 4 reusable ice packs in the folding insulated cloth cooler placed on top of the food. You always want to place the ice packs on top of the food because warm air rises and cool air sinks. By placing the ice packs on the top, you get much more consistently cool food.

One point I will make about accommodations; it is always best to insure you have access to a full kitchen when you travel. There are several ways to accomplish this. You can stay in an AirB&B house that has a kitchen, you can be part of a large time-share organization, or you can stay with good friends and family that don't mind you taking over the kitchen during your stay.

I personally have used two out of those three options. I also travel with my service dog that eats a raw meat diet, so the Igloo cooler really comes in handy transporting his food for my trips. I often pre-cut and portion out vegetables, healthy deli meat that I get at the health food store, and a dozen boiled eggs placed into an egg carton into the folding cooler for lunches while I am driving. I only eat the yolk of the egg and throw away the whites, because egg whites are not something you want to eat if you have an autoimmune, immune, or toxicity related disease.

I am able to eat egg yolks with no problem, but many people who are sensitive or allergic to eggs will not have this option. As far as fast food, Wendy's has the option of getting all your burgers on a bed of lettuce, and their meat is 100% beef. Chile's is another option for occasional stops, because they have extensive allergy menus for many different types of allergies, including wheat and gluten.

I would caution people to use those options sparingly, because if I eat at either of those places more than once or twice in a single week, I certainly pay for it, and you may have a similar reaction. I always have a small bottle of digestive enzymes that lives in my purse. I would recommend Zypan, by Standard Process. I get it from my acupuncturist.

You may need a different formulation, so I would ask your alternative health care provider to muscle test you for several different digestive enzyme formulations in order to find the right fit. I would also make sure that the small bottle in your purse is full to the top when you are ready to take a trip. Having that little bottle will probably save your bacon. That is all for today, y'all. Happy traveling!

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