Portions cupcakes!
Who are you and where are you?
Anne. I live in London, Ontario and have spent a fair bit of time in Guelph since going gluten free.
Tell me about your relationship with gluten..
I’ve been gluten free for 4 1/2 years.
Why should gluten free travellers visit your town?
In both London and Guelph there are a number of places that have good food coupled with knowledge of ingredients and the issues of cross-contamination.
Beautiful Seattle
Who are you and where are you?
Hi! I’m Adina from the blog, Gluten Free Travelette and my home base is Seattle, Washington!
Tell me about your relationship with gluten..
Gluten and I are not friends. In fact, we really don’t get along. I’m gluten intolerant and sensitive to even slight bits of cross contamination. Although, I’m lucky that I can still eat out at restaurants that have good safe food preperation procedures.
Why should gluten free travellers visit your town?
Seattle is a wonderful place to be gluten free. We’ve got a number of delicious gluten free bakeries, shops that specialize in gluten free products, and oodles of restaurants to choose from. I tend to seek out good gluten free sandwiches when I travel and Seattle has lots of places where you can find one.
Lincoln Cathedral
Who are you and where are you?
Martha from Lincolnshire, UK
Tell me about your relationship with gluten..
I have been a diagnosed celiac since I was 15 but only recently restarted a gluten free diet.
Why should gluten free travellers visit your town?
Louth is a market town on the edge of The Wolds. It has stunning architecture including an impressive cathedral. The Wolds are beautiful for walking.
Gluten free pizza!
Who are you and where are you?
Hi! My name is Jeanni and I live in Kansas City, Missouri- smack dab in the middle of the USA! I didn’t even know gluten-free options existed in this part of the country until just this past year.
Tell me about your relationship with gluten..
I too LOVE to travel, and 7 years ago while in Eastern Europe I got super sick and had to end my year-long-jaunt early and come back to the states to try and figure out what was wrong with me. Six years later, I finally feel like I know now- GLUTEN. I’m not a medically confirmed celiac but through trial and error, and lots of self-experimentation, I know gluten does not do my body good. My digestion was so screwed up while in Europe. I was not digesting food at all, was majorly constipated and had no energy. I felt like I was 90 years old and dying. That is super scary for a 22 year old! To top it off, medical doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with me. They labeled me having IBS and sent me home with fiber. Only when I started changing my diet did my symptoms start to improve, and that took me 6 years to figure out! Those are years I will never get back, and it makes me mad that I didn’t find the right information sooner, finding the truth shouldn’t be so hard! I would never go back to those days of being sick, but I would never trade them in either because I’ve become a totally different person in the process, one that is much more focused on what’s really important in life.
Why should gluten free travellers visit your town?
Well, I don’t know that I would make Kansas City a destination priority but for people that are passing through or visiting friends or family in the area there are several good gluten-free restaurants to patronize, health food stores like Whole Foods, Natures Pantry (has a huge gluten-free shopping area, the biggest I’ve seen anywhere let alone in KC), Green Acres, and Trader Joes, and a local gluten-free bakery called Kneaded Specialties that I just found out about that is totally gluten-free and has amazing white & chocolate birthday cake, muffins, cookies, and cinnamon rolls, among other things!!! So, Kansas City does have stuff here to meet your gluten-free needs, even in the heart of America!!!
Malaysia!
I loved Malaysia! For my 30th birthday adventure John and I spent a week in the fantastic Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, and a few days in the beautiful historic city of Malacca (Melaka).
Kuala Lumpur is a great city for exploring and people watching. There are a few must sees like the Batu Caves, Petaling Street and the amazing Petronas Twin Towers but if you simply love wandering and exploring new cities then Kuala Lumpur has plenty more things to see and do. Kuala Lumpur is a sprawling city and each neighbourhood has something different to offer in terms of diversity, culture and food. Despite not being the most walker friendly city in the world, as a result of insane driving and a lack of pavements, John and I still managed to explore for miles on foot.
Table Mountain
Who are you and where are you?
Hey, I am Roisin Looney and I’m currently living in Cape Town in South Africa
Tell me about your relationship with gluten..
I haven’t been for any tests but think I’ve always had a problem with gluten. A few years ago my sister was diagnosed with gluten intolerance and when my health got worse I too cut gluten out of my diet and feel so much better for it.
Why should gluten free travellers visit your town?
Cape Town has GOT to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world – and I have lived all over the place. It’s got everything, the beach, the mountains, the winelands, amazing people, lovely food…
Tasty Chicken Rice
Beautiful Singapore!
It was my 30th birthday in January and so to celebrate we spent a couple of weeks exploring Singapore and Malaysia. What a fantastic trip. This was an extra special adventure, not only because I was turning 30, but also because I was visiting my 50th (and 51st) country! Travel geek 😀
Let me start off by saying that Singapore was awesome! It’s a really fun city to explore. Celiac friendly options are certainly not abundant but don’t let that stop you from exploring this fantastic city-state. There are gluten free options to be found, you just need to know where to look!
Keeping it simple..
Time for more delicious sushi!
More gluten free at Da Luciano’s!
Lots of options at De Luciano!
Who are you and where are you?
My name is Melissa. I was born and raised in southeast Iowa but now live in the northwest suburbs of Chicago.
Tell me about your relationship with gluten..
About a year ago I started noticing that the extreme fatigue spells I had always experienced throughout my life were happening more frequently after eating certain meals. I suspected some sort of food sensitivity and after some research discovered a list of celiac symptoms. I found many things that I have seen in myself: reproductive issues, missed periods, extreme fatigue, anemia, depression, tingling in hands/feet, headaches, brain “fog”, inability to concentrate, Irritability. Oh! And there are also several auto-immune conditions in my family’s medical history. Â All of these are things that separately could be written off or diagnosed as something else but here I was looking at something and my brain was thinking, “Could this be the reason?” When I asked my doctor about celiac, his reaction was “You’re not a classic case, so I’m not going to test you for it”, even after I pressed him for it. I did an elimination diet, watching what I ate very closely to see how I reacted to it. In addition to gluten, I have a small reaction to some dairy products but my reaction to gluten is huge and my physical symptoms are worse than I originally thought. I feel like I have been hit by a truck (or a really bad flu) and I have to watch cross-contamination like a hawk. When I relayed my findings to my doctor, he was surprised, but said to keep doing what I was doing – super strict gluten free. I do wish I had an official diagnosis but I’m reluctant to go back on gluten for the test.
Why should gluten free travellers visit your town?
Why wouldn’t you? It’s CHICAGO! Never let eating gluten-free stop you from visiting an awesome city (or its suburbs 😉 ). Do some research beforehand and you’ll do great. Â There are a lot of great options in this area.
Beautiful Honolulu
Who are you and where are you?
Amanda, Honolulu, HI
Tell me about your relationship with gluten..
I was diagnosed with celiac disease one year ago after 12+ years of misdiagnoses of symptoms that are anything but “classic” celiac.
Why should gluten free travellers visit your town?
Hawaii is an amazing place even if it isn’t the most gluten aware place on earth. Â There are definitely enough options to stay safe and healthy while enjoying one of the most beautiful places (I think!) on earth.
Main Street, Bozeman
Who are you and where are you?
My name is ZuZu. I’m a 25 year-old recently-graduated English M.A. student, and I live in Bozeman, Montana, USA. Bozeman is a small city (about 38,000 – big for Montana!) and home of Montana State University.
Tell me about your relationship with gluten..
I am lactose intolerant, but I have no sensitivity to gluten. My sister, whom I live with, has celiac disease, and I have several friends with celiac disease. I’m very aware of what having celiac entails, since we have to keep our kitchen strictly gluten-free. I love learning how to cook safe food for my celiac sister and friends, since I can’t imagine what a challenge it must be to live with celiac. I try to encourage awareness of celiac (and other food intolerances/allergies) whenever I can to make the world a safer and easier place for people living with celiac, etc.
Why should gluten free travellers visit your town?
For a small city in the middle of the American west, Bozeman is surprisingly gluten-free friendly and gluten-free travellers will not have to work hard to stay well-fed, be it from grocery stores or restaurants. My sister and I went to Portland, Oregon, last spring and were surprised that for such a health food-conscious city, it was harder to be gluten-free there than in Bozeman! I think this is partly because Bozeman is small enough that almost everyone knows someone else in town with celiac disease and is aware of what living with it requires. It’s also a very health-conscious, slightly hippie town. We have a ridiculous number of grocery stores, including an excellent food co-op that makes an effort to cater to the gluten-free community. There are two other little natural markets that carry gluten-free products, as well as two locations of a larger grocery store that is very good about carrying gluten-free products.
Because almost everyone in town has had to learn about safely preparing food for celiacs, most of the restaurants in town are aware of it, especially if you call in advance and speak to the chef. There is even an entirely gluten-free restaurant! It’s called Vera Fare, and while the hours are a little funky (it’s not open on Sundays, or Saturday evenings), it’s delicious. They do gluten-free waffles that are to die for.
Overall, people in Bozeman are very friendly and willing to help you find a safe, tasty meal. It’s rare you’ll run into someone who isn’t familiar with celiac, and people are usually willing to listen and be helpful.
