With the holiday season well and truly underway, and having just come back from a week in Tenerife, I thought I’d chat about traveling with food allergies and epipens!
So firstly I have allergies to nuts and peanuts and carry two epipens at all times. I found out about my allergies 6 years ago and feel fairly confident now about living with my allergies.
Most airlines and holiday companies are now well aware of allergies and have procedures in place to look after an allergy passenger, but its always worth an email to the company before booking if you like to find out their allergy policy, or after booking so they have your allergy on your booking.
With regards to flying the general response I've had from every airline is to let the cabin crew know when boarding that you have a nut/peanut allergy and they will then make an announcement to let everyone on board know they will not be serving nut products and ask passengers not to consume their own nut products brought on board. I recently flew with Monarch and was very impressed with their service.
Most airlines and airports state you should have a doctors letter and recent prescription showing you need to carry epipens, I have these things but I've never once had to show anyone. I always think its best to have them and not need them than one day randomly be asked for this and not have it. Plus an up to date prescription will come in real handy if you need to replace epipens abroad, lose or run out of any other medication and need to get some more or just in a general emergency when hospital staff need to know what medication you're on. I was also told to let airport security know I had epipens but had mixed experiences at two different airports, at East Midlands they wanted them out of the case, in their own tray going through the scanner and I had to have my bag and belongings searched and drug and explosive swabbed, in Birmingham they didn't give two hoots and I just left them in my bag. Not sure why they were so different! Maybe I looked a bit shifty in East Midlands airport!!
I know a lot of allergy people go self catering and cook themselves, if you choose this option it might be wise to keep with you a list of your allergens in the language of the country you're visiting when out food shopping. Some people take a bit of food with them too.
Apart from my recent holiday I've always gone self catering and eaten out. Since my allergy was diagnosed I've only ever been to the Greek Islands and can’t remember having any issues eating out, even before the new EU regulations for providing allergy information. Its always a good idea to have translation cards which you can get from allergy uk.
This holiday was my first half board holiday, not gunna lie I was a little nervous about eating in one place! What if they sucked with allergies? What if there was nothing safe? But I needn't have worried. Every dish was colour coded to match what allergens were present and the chef came out every night to go through the dishes with me. Amazing service! I ate out a few times at lunch and all the menus I saw had pictures next to each dish with which allergen they contained. I also found it really easy communicating that I had a nut allergy. I think the change in the law has really made it easier to eat out abroad. I have no fears or worries about eating out at all now abroad.
Make sure you memorise the number for the emergency services for whatever country you're visiting. Also where I stayed turned out to be only a few minutes from the hospital so in my welcome pack was a card stating it may actually be quicker to get treatment going by taxi than waiting for ambulance (obviously if you can move safely and aren't immediately dying!) and it translated medical emergency please take me to hospital into Spanish to give to a taxi driver. I’d never seen this before and while you immediately think why the heck would you get a taxi instead of waiting for an ambulance, well there were taxis literally everywhere, so to jump in one and get to hospital would be quicker than to stay and wait for help to get to you.
Keep your phone close, incase you need to call the emergency services. I got myself a waterproof case for mine as I knew I’d be in the sea alone and in a kayak in the sea so I invested in a waterproof case, but luckily only used it for filming and photos! I also got a waterproof bumbag to keep my epipens and other medication dry and safe when in the sea, I never used it as I wasn't doing as much water stuff as I’d planned but I will definitely keep them and use them another time. I had planned to use it at a water park and kayaking in the sea and some snorkelling, sadly these never happened this time but I will be doing them at some point!
Another little thing I find handy to have, not just on holiday but all the time, is a little medical id type card which states my allergies, medication, other medical conditions and past surgeries and emergency contact info. You can also have this info on your phone so emergency services can access it from the lock screen. On the iPhone this is in the health app and entering you're information in the medical id section. Super handy! I got chatting once to a paramedic who said they're trained to check this immediately when attending someone alone and unable to speak so its worth sorting out.
So thats a bit of a summary of how I travel with my allergies. I’m sure I've forgotten things and other people will have their own cool ideas, especially with things like water sports and skiing and things so I’d love for this to be a start of sharing our travel tips! So if you have any tips of your own please comment and let us all know how you travel with you're allergies!
Thanks for reading!
Vikky
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