Talking Allergies

"Slow travel" as defined by the website, http://www.slowtrav.com/

'Slow Travel is independent travel where you enjoy a deeper level of experience by staying in one place longer and seeing the things that are close to you. It is an easier, simpler and slower way of traveling.'

The idea is to stay in vacation rentals rather than hotels, remaining in one spot for at least a week at a time. My husband and I have always gravitated towards this type of travelling (not that we've had the chance to travel a lot...yet. Mostly just within Canada so far). Now that we have kids with allergies, we find that it really fits with keeping them the safest and our stress levels lowest, since we can do most or all of our own cooking.
I was looking for some ideas for next year's vacation, and I thought this website might have some helpful info for others travelling "slowly" with allergies.

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1 son allergic to eggs, peanuts, green peas, chick peas, lentils and tomatoes
(avoiding tree nuts and most other legumes too)
1 son allergic to eggs, and has outgrown peanuts
Both with many environmental allergies, asthma and eczema

Twinmom,

This is absolutely my favourite way to travel. Not only is it good for my allergies, but I like to feel more in control of the vacation, ie. not held by a certain schedule and able to take more or less time for each activity as the mood strikes. It is a much more relaxing way to vacation. When our kids are grown up and we are retired, I definitely want to do this. Get a condo in Florida one year, Vancouver the next, Phoenix, wherever .... and just leisurely explore each place fully.

I will check out the website. Thanks!

soccermom

I like this concept--"slow" travel is probably so named by association with the "slow food" movement. (there's a website for that too).

I too like this idea - which I guess we did the last vacation we took, as we rented a cottage...

I love the whole slow foods thing too, and like to see that the allergies are good for some kinds of things - like forcing us to slow down a bit!

K.

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Karen, proud Mom of
- DS1 (12 yrs): allergic to cashews, pistachios, Brazil nuts, potatoes, some legumes, some fish, pumpkin seeds; OAS
- DS2 (1o yrs): ana. to dairy, eggs, peanuts; asthma

I just found out from a friend that in Playa del Carmen, Mayan Riviera, Mexico there is a walmart supercentre. She bought a camera there...and she said it was a grocery store with all the brands we're used to here. I was inspired to think that if there was a vacation rental near there...we would have access to safe food.

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DD age 9 1/2 -peanuts, nuts,
DD age 7 1/2 - milk, eggs, chicken, peanuts, treenuts, cats, dogs,
DS age 2 1/2
Husband- asthma, eggs, treenuts, fish, shellfish environmental
Self - penicillan, eurithromiacin, mild laytex allergy.

In most of the caribbean the food is imported from either the US, Canada or Europe. I was surprised to find President's choice products in Grenada with French and English labels on them -- clearly from Canada.

Many Mexican villas come with a cook. I am told that there are lots in Merida (west of Cancun instead of South like the Mayan riviera). However, my spanish is not great so i stick to English speaking Islands.

My favorite is Jamaica where almost every villa comes with a cook who I can explain my daughter's allergies to once and then relax for the week instead of eating out. Barbados, St Lucia and some Grenadian villas also have cooks. See my posting under the "I'm scared" topic for villa websites.

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9 yr old daughter - no allergies
7 yr old daughter - allergic to peanuts, nuts, sesame, kiwi, soy

Agree, Do not pass through a place, live in it. Live in a community for a longer period of time. Instead of touring an entire country in five days, stay a few weeks in the same town and saunter around. Take time to: visit the local bakery, meet people, experience life outside of the North American way. This can be difficult as most travel infrastructure is simply an extension of our North America culture (Hiltons, All inclusives, etc). It takes a concentrated effort to not be tourists.

Great thoughts!

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Enjoying florida with environmental allergies