Vacation Rentals, Gluten-Free Safe
One of my favorite ways to travel or take a break is
using Vacation Rentals. I always seem to travel with a troop…anywhere from 4 to
40 people…and we very seldom stay in hotels.
If we’re not on a Cruise Ship somewhere…we’re in one of these private
homes. From screened huts in Peru, to
mobile homes in Florida, log cabins in Tennessee, thatched cottages in Ireland
and even a castle in Scotland…Vacation Rentals are a great way to go! They come in absolutely every size, shape and
location you can imagine, from dirt cheap to as extravagant as you can dream,
there are very few limits.
And the best part? My own kitchen! Traveling Gluten-Free can be a real challenge
at times and I love being able to prepare my own meals on occasion, on my own
terms without worrying about someone else’s carelessness. Yes, we do eat out when we travel. But we also love to eat in as well. I will admit travel with people who love food
as much as I do really makes the trip so much more enjoyable. And we all love to immerse ourselves in the
local culture which means local food as well. 
We have one rule when we travel…we never eat, shop, or
explore anything we could do at home. That means when we shop for Gluten-Free
food we stick to local as well. And it’s
a lot easier than you’d expect if you eat real food…fresh fruits, vegetables
& proteins. I’ve also found that countries outside the U S are truly much
more Gluten-Free safe than I had imagined.
I still use my Triumph Dining Cards all the time…even when grocery
shopping and I can’t read the labels.
And yes, we were able to find a Gluten-Free Haggis in Scotland…but I
won’t tell you what I thought about it, you’ll need to find out for yourself.
Generally, the kitchen in our Vacation Rentals have been
pretty clean and neat. There is NO maid
service but they do have a cleaning crew go through the house from top to
bottom before you move in and then again after you move out. So the kitchens have never really been a
problem for me. The first thing we do
upon arriving is inspect the house, find our bedrooms and begin making a note
of items we’ll need to shop for. Usually
tops on the list is soaps & paper products for the kitchen, bath and
laundry. 
I check out the kitchen.
Glass is my friend! I love
finding glass and ceramic dishes, glasses, cups, bowls and baking pans! When in doubt…wash it out! Plastic gets shoved to the back of the
shelf…I don’t like using it. Pots &
pans take a ton of abuse so I inspect them closely. Scratches, dents, unknown burnt bits…those
get shoved to the back of the shelf as well.
If I have to, I’ll purchase my own trusty fry pan to use while I’m there
and then simply leave it behind when I’m gone.
I absolutely dislike aluminum…but if needed I’ll sacrifice my dislike
and purchase aluminum baking/roasting pans and foil…simply to protect
myself. I’ve also been known to convert
the entire kitchen to disposables if absolutely nothing in the kitchen is safe
to eat from. 
Can this get expensive?
Perhaps. But not so much when you
consider my share of renting the house can be as little as $10.00 a night! You probably won’t find any hotel that
cheap…and if you do you might not want to walk outside alone. And if
eating unsafe food puts me into a hospital in a foreign country…well, I don’t
think that's very cost effective either.
So I consider the costs for my Gluten-Free safety and put those right
into my travel budget too. And since we all eat the same food we all share the food budget as well.
Carolanne LeBlanc
Meeting: 4th Saturday of every month except December
Imperial Palms, East Clubhouse
101 Imperial Palm Drive
Largo, Florida 33771
