Starch-Free Travel Tips: International Travel

When I was diagnosed with AS and started my starch-free journey almost 5 years ago I was afraid that traveling would become too difficult to attempt on a restricted diet.

But…I did it and it was wildly successful!

I just returned home from a 2-week-long trip to the Netherlands with my family. Feeling good for this trip was of utmost importance to me – I didn’t want my health to stop me from enjoying this adventure with my family. As such, I did quite a bit of brainstorming prior to my departure to ensure I set my body up for success.

The biggest thing for me was to ration the food I brought appropriately. Canada isn’t very flexible when it comes to bringing food back into the country, so I wanted to make sure I brought just enough. 🙂 Definitely check with the country you are traveling to for any restrictions when traveling with food. I can only speak to my Canada – Netherlands experience.

My Starch-Free International Travel Tips:

• INTERMITTENT FASTING. I’ve been doing 16:8 intermittent fasting for about 2 years and I found it helpful to be on this schedule for my trip. Not only were there fewer meals to worry about, but I feel that it helped my body adjust to the time difference (9 hours of flying/8 hour time difference). Normally, I consume all my daily intake between noon and 8pm so I continued with these eating times in the local timezone where I stayed. In short, intermittent fasting made life easier for me, but it is certainly not a requirement for traveling!

• A KITCHEN IS KEY! Having access to a kitchen provided freedom and peace of mind. I was in full control and I knew with certainty that my food was starch-free. Being accidentally ‘starched’ by a well-intentioned restauranteur could have been disastrous for me and I didn’t want to risk it. A travel kitchen need not be elaborate: a fridge, a stove, a frying pan, and some basic utensils are essentially all you need. Access to other appliances, such as an air-fryer, blender, etc. are nice but not must-haves. And, if you’re anything like me, you might consider packing your favorite chef knife in your checked-in luggage.

• PROTEINS. I easily found local, unseasoned proteins locally (and even sourced some from a local farm!). Beef. Chicken. Salmon. Pork. Other seafood… I simply paired these proteins with local produce for a complete meal: salad greens, cabbage, radishes, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, fresh herbs, etc.

• EGGS. I know some people can’t have eggs, but if you can – lean into that! Eggs are a super easy, nutrient-rich, and convenient protein source! I sourced farm-fresh eggs and one of the meals each day included eggs. Hard-boiled eggs were a super easy addition to my smorgasbord picnic days, which was a bonus!

• BRING COMPLIANT TREATS! Prior to my departure, I did some baking. I wanted to ensure that when my family was enjoying local delicacies I wouldn’t feel deprived. I brought a Cinnamon Pecan Swirl Loaf, Christmas Stollen Bread with Marzipan Almond Paste (I don’t care that it’s not Christmas – I love this bread!), and No-Bake Coconut Bars. I wrapped each of these in plastic wrap and placed them in a hard-sided container in my checked-in luggage. Upon arrival, I removed the treats from their containers and stored them in the fridge while I used the containers for storing lunch and leftovers.

• SNACKS. Consider both ‘in-a-pinch’ snacks that don’t require refrigeration (homemade trail mix*, paleo granola bars, compliant meat sticks like CHOMPS, etc.) and local treats like fruits, veggies, cheese, etc.
  
  * I needed to make sure my trail mix was finished by the time of my return flight because even though I brought the bag from Canada, Canada does not allow entry of nuts and seeds.

• BRING THE BASICS. Honestly, this isn’t a MUST, but I found it super helpful. When I first started this starch-free journey, I spent hours reading labels in stores to ensure starch-free ingredients. Not only did I not want to waste my time doing this during my travels, but I also felt better knowing what I had was starch-free versus trying to decipher ingredients in a foreign language. Some examples of the basics: herbs and spices (I brought powdered garlic, Greek seasoning, and taco seasoning). I also packed coconut aminos, salt, and olive oil (even though I could have easily found this locally) – mainly so I wouldn’t have to over-buy at my destination.

• CONTAINERS. Bring some to pack your food and to store leftovers! I filled these containers with my spices and treats in my checked-in luggage, but you could also stuff them with clean socks or charging chords for your devices.

• JETLAG CARE. For the long flight, I packed a few LMNT Electrolyte salt packs and I made sure to drink a lot of water. Upon arrival, I used some dark chocolate to keep me awake until local bedtime. This is super anecdotal, but I had no jetlag symptoms for either flight on this trip – maybe you can try electrolyte packs and chocolate too, and see if it helps you also?

Overall, it was a great success. I kept meals super simple but buying fresh produce and proteins still allowed me to experience local foods. I’m so grateful that eating this way has me not only enjoying my diet but also allows me to freely adventure with my family.

Sample Meals

Flight/Picnic Lunch Ideas: My go-to is often a smorgasboard-idea of some of the following:

• boiled eggs (make sure to bring a little packet of salt if you may not have access to it in-flight).
• cucumber slices, snack tomatoes, pepper slices
• olives
• little cubes of cheese
• berries
• a baked treat

Dinner Ideas: I try to keep travel meals super simple with very few ingredients. Here are some ideas for the main course:

Protein:

• Sautéed chicken with Greek seasoning
• Ground beef taco meat
• Seafood or fish with fresh lemon and herbs
• Steak – even better if you have access to a BBQ!
• Meatballs or meat patties with fresh herbs – easy to make a batch and store extras in the fridge for another meal!

Sides:

• Sautéed red cabbage
• Sautéed radishes
• Salad greens (I love the ease of prewashed spring leaf-type bags with arugula, etc. but fresh from the market would be the ultimate!)
• Steamed broccoli (oven roasted or steamed)
• Fresh, raw tomato, cucumber, pepper either as a side or in a salad.
• Avocado

Dessert: Because in my opinion, this is not to be forgotten! I mean, this website is full of dessert ideas, but I’m only going to list one thing because it’s my favorite.

• In-season, fresh local fruit. If you’re lucky it’s strawberry season 🙂