My Upcoming Trip to Norway

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 7:43 pm

Hi Everyone,

As you may have read on other threads here, I have a trip to Norway planned in less than 2 months. As the time approaches, and my MC is still quite unpredictable, my anxiety level is increasing. Over the past 9 months, I have done so much work to treat my MC, and am afraid of losing the progress with a giant flare on my trip, which then will carry on when back home.

At the present time I am eating a very simple diet, consisting of almost exclusively home cooked meals from scratch. I was doing really well with the various beans, but lately my reaction to them seems to be changing. So for the time being, I'm placing them on hold. I'm not eating any breads of any kind, and no cold cuts. I've also stopped eating rice and grains. I cook my fruits, such as apples, pears and berries. I eat no sugar to speak of, except for a tiny bit of maple sugar in an occasional cup of pure cocoa.

The only snacks I can think of bringing for the 16 hour travel are figs, Kettle brand potato chips, nut butter and olives. I have tried Lara Bars, but don't seem to tolerate them well. I suppose I will prepare some chicken breast, potatoes and veggies to bring along, but am worried about how they will keep.

Gloria - you suggested I cook all my own meals while in Norway. Unfortunately, that won't be possible, as I'll be moving around quite a bit. I'm bringing along my fiance, his sister and daughter, with the intent of showing them them "my home country". Rather than a relaxing vacation, there will be a lot of sight seeing, etc., so I cannot avoid eating out. Also, 6 days of the trip will be on a ship from Bergen to Kirkenes, so I will have to eat all my meals on the boat. I'm communicating with them about my special needs, and so far they have been very responsive.

Had I known how long it would take to get my MC somewhat "under control" I would not have planned this trip for this point in time. However, it's far to late to back out, so I have to make a go of it and pray that it will all turn out OK. I tend to be a bit of a worrier, so perhaps my fears are somewhat overblown. Hopefully, by June 14 (departure date), my MC will be more stable, and I will feel confident that I have made all the proper preparations.

Any tips or advice will be greatly appreciated - actually, just knowing that you're all here to offer support is a great psychological help in itself. Being able to speak about my anxieties to someone who actually can relate is totally amazing. A huge thank you to all of you for being here!!!!!

Love,
Kari

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 8:32 pm

Kari,

Yes, you are having a different trip than I thought. I presumed you would be staying with relatives, but you will definitely be on the go. That's much trickier.

I don't tolerate Lara bars, either. I'm not sure if it's the fiber, the nuts, or the fruit, but I stay away from them.

Can you tolerate ham? Boar's Head sells two slices of ham in a plastic package. I brought some for my trip to Hawaii. If you could transport several packages to Norway, you could take them on some trips away from home base.

Your MRT reactive lists seem to have some high-histamine foods. Have you tried taking Histame before eating some of these to see if you tolerate them? I only used it once when I tried chocolate, but it did make a difference. Fish is high in histamines and fish is served a lot in Norway, as you know. If you can tolerate tuna, you could bring packaged tuna on the plane trip.

I was in transit for 12 hours to and from Hawaii and my food didn't spoil. I froze my meat prior to going home and didn't have any problems with it. The airlines let you bring ice packs on board now. I didn't realize that for my trip to Hawaii, so I bought frozen Brussel sprouts and put the bag in my lunch carryon.

I think the trip to and from Norway will be the easiest to plan. It's the travelling while you're in Norway that will be more difficult. That's the reason I've put so much thought into our new van. Road trips can be tricky because you don't know what your food choices will be. If you can get a cooler that you can plug into the car, you'll be able to bring food items on the trips. Also, I would check for restaurants that serve the meats you can eat. You may be able to bring your own meal and ask the restaurant to heat your meal for you. They don't mind as long as others in the party are purchasing meals. Some restaurants don't have microwaves,

believe it or not.

It sounds like you are eating Paleo. I'm not a Paleo person and I depend on corn, rice and quinoa for a lot of my calories. The nice thing about flours is that once they are cooked in baked products, they last for a while without spoiling. That makes them great for trips. Perhaps the Paleo people can give some suggestions for you.

I'll be interested in the cruise portion. I've been avoiding cruises because I didn't think they'd be able to accomodate my needs.

You have two months - I'm sure we'll figure this out.

Gloria

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 9:27 pm

some of the celiac forums have information about good and bad restaurants in lots of cities.

As i have quite a few intolerances, i have changed the wording on the 'chef cards' so it focusses on the two main intolerances (gluten and soy)
just as it is hard work for us to plan menus with multiple intolerances i imagine it is not easy for a stranger, to avoid confusion and taking the safest road to a safe meal, suggest that you pick a menu item that suits your eating plan the closest and then asking them to cook it with just small amount of the olive oil (i think that is your best oil?).
If you are worried about vegetables ask for them 'on the side' so that way you can ensure your protein is low risk of contimination

Joe has set up these up to print them to a template that he can print them on actual card sheets. He has printed the cards with my wording for me.
I will send you my revised wording that you can get translate so it has both northwegian and english on it.

take with you in your main luggage a day pack esky/cooler bag and some small ice bricks that you can refreeze. generally the hotels will have a small freezer that you can refreeze these each night.
If you can tolerate eggs, organise a room service breakfast with boiled eggs . refrigerate them as soon as the tray arrives. You can still go to the eatery with the family for the breakfast and then as you check out of the hotel put them in the esky bag and that will give you a protein for lunch.
another suggestion if you are able to go to a shop and get eggs boil them up in kettle! (i did this one night in france)

as i type this - do you think there is a protein powder that you would be able to tolerate? i have heard Linda and Rich discuss some. if there is one that you can tolerate then that may help with the transit and the day trips.

Mags · Post by **Mags** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 11:29 pm

Kari--

I use a GF, SF, DF, protein powder that has pea, cranberry, hemp, alfalfa, and brown rice protein. I saw that you are not eating rice right now, but I wonder if it would bother you in powder form?

Anyway, if you are interested, you can order it online at genuinehealth.com or use the store locator on the website. It might be convenient to have to supplement your meals as you travel, as you could get one of those shaker cups and mix it with whatever "milk" you tolerate.

Mags

Joefnh · Post by **Joefnh** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 3:52 am

Kari your trip sounds great but challenging given that you will not be able to prepare your own meals. If it would help i can send you the Microsoft word template file I used for Gabes chef cards. I used some readily available prepunched business card stock available at just about any office supply store. I used Gabes wording and made her a few dozen cards.

Joe

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 6:46 am

Gabes wrote:If you can tolerate eggs, organise a room service breakfast with boiled eggs . refrigerate them as soon as the tray arrives. You can still go to the eatery with the family for the breakfast and then as you check out of the hotel put them in the esky bag and that will give you a protein for lunch.
another suggestion if you are able to go to a shop and get eggs boil them up in kettle! (i did this one night in france)

Kari tested positive to eggs on the MRT test: http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=13156

Not being able to eat eggs makes breakfast and travelling more difficult. My substitute is pancakes, waffles, cereal and muffins, but she's not eating grains, either. We'll need to think of other ideas...

Gloria

sarkin · Post by **sarkin** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 8:22 am

Kari,

I'll bet you be able to eat potatoes on the boat, even if your other choices are limited.

I know "leftovers for breakfast" aren't your favorite, but I think warm potatoes with nut butter could be tasty. I had a potato mushed with my own almond milk last night, and it was very satisfying.

I'm so glad you started this thread. We are traveling to Paris for a week in June, and I have not started organizing my thoughts. We would like to take our 13yo niece out for a special meal - I'm going to have to do a lot more than "avoid croissants" to make this work. I think Gloria is right, that planning food for the flight will be the (relatively) easy part. I have also used Gloria's trick of bringing frozen food to keep other food cool longer. Other than on the plane, frozen water bottles are helpful, too.

I'm sorry to hear that beans are no longer the reliable food they had been - I know how much you enjoy them. I used a protein powder that was only hemp, in a form that was less gritty and more dissolvable. I have a high tolerance for that flavor - my husband, not so much. But it is grain/bean/dairy free, and might help you 'punch up' the nutrition value of limited choices. (Of course, you'd need to be able to tolerate hemp, which probably isn't high on your list of foods to test!)

I also wondered whether Histame might be useful to you. I hope to figure out this week whether it's helping, and which foods I should use it with.

Best of luck for maximum healing before your trip, and yummy safe foods on your travels,

Sara

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 3:40 pm

Thanks everyone for all your helpful advise. I hadn't thought of the fact that I'm eating Paleo right now, as I've been so totally focused on eating only whole foods in an effort to heal as much as possible these last couple of months before travelling. I honestly don't know if I'm OK with grains and legumes, but because I've been a bit "unstable" lately, I decided to take them out of my diet for now. Basically, anything that I'm even slightly suspicious of, is being placed on the back burner.

Gloria - I'm very suspicious of histamine - so am not currently eating seafood, but I sure would like to eat it while in Norway. I'm curious about taking histame before a meal, so I will look into that. Unfortunately, I don't seem to do well with ham, even if certified GF, etc., but the two-pack sounds like a very convenient product. I've been reading some of your posts about outfitting your new car for MC safe travel, with great interest. I believe my several future vacations will be road trips to see more of this beautiful country we live in - should be a lot easier than overseas trips:).

Sara - would appreciate any feed-back on how you do with the histame. That's so exciting about your upcoming Paris trip!!! Gabes spent some time in France a while back, and she covered her experience here somewhere - so you may want to look that up. Unfortunately, hemp does not agree with me, but I think the idea of a protein powder is a great one, so I will explore that further (thanks Gabes, Mags and Sara). I've been so inspired by all the people here experimenting with almond milk, and that's next on my list of endeavors. I simply loooong for milk, and being able to have mashed potatoes again sounds awesome.

Gabes - your suggestion about "how to manage while eating out" is exactly what I have learned over the last few months - ask for the plainest possible tolerated menu item, and then ask them not to use any spicing or sauce in the preparation - basically, what it comes down to for me is a plain piece of meat with plain avocado and steamed, plain, tolerated veggie, and if they have baked potatoes available, that's a bonus

. However, I'm hardly ever eating out - it just doesn't seem worth it, but I do go occasionally to please my fiance

.

Joe/Gabes - I will PM you my email address, so you can send me the file - thanks so much.

Love,
Kari

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 3:51 pm

Kari
as eggs are not your friend, maybe while having dinner ask for and extra serve of chicken to be lighty steamed for you, take it back to the hotel, refrigerate it and that will give you the protein for your lunch the next day.

I have only eaten out twice in the last 4.5 months, one of those was my test run to see how my body would react. Joe and I are braving eating out Thurs night, it is the restaurant that i ate at on the day of my interview last November and the revised chef card worked perfectly.

another hint, I have booked a table for 6pm so the kitchen is not too busy when they are cooking our meals, so it is not a stress for the chef to follow our request.

Post by **tex** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 9:54 pm

Kari,

Your e-mail address is always available in the button at the bottom of all your posts, (the button labeled "email"). Any member can click on that button and send you an e-mail. Not to worry, the button is only visible to members who are logged in - the rest of the world can't see it.

Love,
Tex

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 10:23 pm

Tex wrote:Your e-mail address is always available in the button at the bottom of all your posts, (the button labeled "email"). Any member can click on that button and send you an e-mail.

I had no idea that it was that easy to find and send private emails. I'm still learning things here after nearly 4 years.

Thanks for the tip, Tex.

Gloria

Joefnh · Post by **Joefnh** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 2:37 am

Kari the template files I put together are for the Avery 8869 sheets of punch out business cards. These can be purchased at any office supply store like staples or office depot. If you would like, I can print whatever text you have and mail you the cards.

Joe

harma · Post by **harma** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 7:27 am

to the other great advices you already got I can add, canned fruit and canned fish (both available everywhere, high nutrition value and always ready to eat), these two are my survival food when I can't cook and have to travel, of course together with Banana's.

Also I am sure in Norway gluten free bread will be available, from what I have heard (never been there) all the scandinavian countries are great when it comes to diets as gluten, milk or lactose free.

Have a nice trip!!!

sarkin · Post by **sarkin** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 8:35 am

Kari,

I do think the Histame is helping. I feel as though my experiment is in such early days, I can't tell you for sure about what foods it helps with (and they would surely differ for you in any case). I don't know whether you feel as though you can fit in another research project before your trip, but I'm sure you'd want to figure out its potential for you before you go, not mid-journey. I took it last night, because we ate out. I didn't have that post-meal 'flush' feeling (but I can't tell whether I would have had it without the Histame).

I'll keep an eye on my food/symptom log and get you more info as I figure it out.

I think you might have enjoyed my breakfast yesterday - we had leftover boiled potatoes, and I cut mine in slices and spread a date-raisin spread on them, which was leftover haroset from the Passover seder (an Israeli friend's grandmother's recipe). It was so delicious, I ate a little more than I should have... but you are wiser than that. Slices of potato would be good with nut butter, too.

And thanks for the reminder about Gabes having traveled in France! Gabes, I've just started reading through your posts from that period... you're so resourceful, I feel incredibly lucky to benefit from your trip.

Love,
Sara

Zizzle · Post by **Zizzle** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 10:01 am

Kari,
When I'm low on food options and eating out I HATE having to order plain meats and vegetables. I like things with lots of flavor. So I usually ask for olive oil or bring my own and douce my food (especially potatoes) with olive oil, salt and pepper. I often carry around Old Bay Seasoning and other McCormick salt-free blends so I can season my own food. I make mashed potatoes by reserving some of the cooking water and mashing with olive oil instead of milks or butters.

If you are able to eat nuts have you tried BoraBora bars? They sell them at CVS. I tolerate them better than Lara and Kind bars and they are sooo delicious. I had more than one a day while I was on vacation in Florida. If the nuts and fiber bother you, you can get GF rice-krispy treat style bars. I buy them at Trader Joe's and Whole foods (but that's if you're willing to have some rice). Are you OK with coconut? Lately I've been snacking on coconut macaroons in different flavors. They are highly portable too.

I wish I had more ideas for you! I hope you don't go hungry in Norway...