Solo Travel Adventures: Safe Travel for Women, Preparing for a Trip, Overcoming Fear, Travel Tips
Equipping Women over 50 to Safely Travel in Confidence
Is fear holding you back from traveling because you don’t have anyone to go with? Are you concerned about being a woman traveling alone? Not sure how to prepare for a solo trip? Do family and friends think you are crazy for even considering solo travel in this day and age?
In this podcast, you will become equipped to travel safely by yourself. You’ll learn things like tactical travel tips and how to prepare for a trip, and how to overcome the fear so you can discover the transformation that travel can bring. My mission is to see more women over 50, empty-nesters, discover how travel can empower them. If you want to enjoy your next travel adventure solo, then start your journey here.
Hi Sister Travelers, I’m Cheryl, solo travel advocate and coach. I spent nearly 20 years putting my family/children first and felt guilty about even considering solo travel at the time. After my divorce and transitioning to an empty nest, I began to rediscover my passion for travel, built confidence in myself, and started to explore again. I have experienced life-changing adventures through travel and I want the same for you.
If you are ready to find freedom through travel and build your confidence while safely navigating new places, then this podcast is for you!
Pack your bags, grab your plane tickets and check one more time for that passport. It’s time to explore the world!
Email: adventuresredheadrambler@gmail.com
Solo Travel Adventures: Safe Travel for Women, Preparing for a Trip, Overcoming Fear, Travel Tips
Empowering Tips for Allergen-Free Journeys
Traveling with food allergies doesn't have to be a daunting experience. Join me, Cheryl Esch, as I share my personal journey and practical strategies for navigating the world with a host of dietary restrictions. Whether you're allergic to peanuts, soy, gluten, or dairy, learn how to conquer your fears and prepare for safe and enjoyable adventures. I'll guide you through the essential steps, from packing your own food to researching restaurants in advance, ensuring that your next trip is free from anxiety and full of excitement. If you've ever hesitated to explore new destinations due to dietary concerns, this episode promises to arm you with the tools you need to travel with confidence.
Ensuring your health and well-being while on the road is equally important, especially when battling allergies. Discover my tried and tested routine for boosting the immune system with the power of vitamin C, garlic, oil of oregano, and zinc, particularly during air travel. Learn why carrying allergy medications like Benadryl or Zyrtec can be a game-changer in managing unexpected reactions. Through careful planning and execution of these strategies, you can overcome food-related challenges and embrace your travel adventures wholeheartedly. Share these insights with friends or family who might benefit, and embark on your next journey with newfound assurance and preparation.
Instagram @solotraveladventures50
Facebook community: Solo Travel for Women Over 50
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Send me a message or share your solo travel story with me.
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Do you have a favorite recipe that you make all the time or a favorite restaurant, and when you go there, you order the same thing every time? Maybe it's that comfort food that you need, or maybe it's because you suffer from allergies or food intolerances, so these meals are safe to you. If that is not you, maybe you know somebody that does suffer from, maybe gluten intolerance or they have other food allergies, so going out to eat is a challenge for them. Well, in today's episode, I'm going to discuss how, despite having these food intolerances or allergies, that you can travel and still enjoy your time traveling. Welcome to Solo Travel Adventures.
Speaker 1:I'm Cheryl Esch, your allergic to everything, host here on the podcast. So I'm bringing this up because there are many people that maybe hesitate about traveling, maybe outside of their country or city because they may have they're not sure what they're going to eat when they get there, right, because they're going into uncharted territory. You know you go to another country, you're not really sure what kind of restaurants or what kind of food to expect, and then what do you do when you have a very limited food palette that you're able to eat? Well, if I shared with you all of my allergies, you would wonder what do I have to eat? But I'm going to just share a few of my big ones with you and give you an idea of how much of a struggle this can be. But I have had these allergies and have learned to adapt to these for over 25 years now, and in the last several years it has gotten a lot easier, mainly because of there are alternatives to many things that I cannot eat. Well, some of the big ones that I can't eat are peanuts, which are rather life-threatening to me, as to most people that can't eat peanuts.
Speaker 1:Eggs and cheese. Cheese is a mold, so I'm allergic to molds as well. Most of these are food allergies. I do have some environmental, but I'm going to stick with foods right now. Soy oh, that's in like in everything. And sesame I am intolerant. I have a lactose intolerant to dairy. And then eggs I don't know if I mentioned eggs are also high on my chart. And now I've noticed sunflower lecithin is really I'm really sensitive. I get those migraines, like you know, the ones that you can't open your eyes. You feel like you're going to throw up. And also I have discovered I'm also just sensitive, maybe intolerant to gluten these days, or wheat specifically, so that's kind of a newer one, and so I've had to learn to navigate that one. It's not life threatening, but definitely I feel better when I don't have gluten or wheat.
Speaker 1:So I will have to admit I'm very jealous of my foodies out there who, um, obviously foodies love to travel and love to go places where they can try new cuisine, and for me that's a scary prospect because I don't know what's in that food and I have some sensitivities to a lot of things. For example, I didn't add cayenne pepper, so you know I go to places where they have a lot of things. For example, I didn't add cayenne pepper, so you know I go to places where they have a lot of spicy food. I know that there's going to be some type of hot pepper that I might respond to, so I hesitate with that. And my son tells me oh, mom, you just don't. Don't even go to Japan, because there's soy sauce everywhere and I can't do soy sauce. But I beg to differ and I still plan to go to Japan.
Speaker 1:But there are some strategies that you can do to help you feel more confident about going or traveling with some of these limitations. If this is you, and if it's not you, I can guarantee that you know somebody you know, know somebody that has maybe a gluten intolerance that seems to be a rather big one these days or some other food sensitivity in their lives. So pass this episode on to them if that is them, because these are also just good strategies, not just for international travel. It could be obviously for local travel, road trips, even for your day-to-day. I'm going to share some things that could help you navigate that here.
Speaker 1:So the first thing I would recommend is obviously pack your own food, pack as much food as you are able. So this might actually require you to check a bag. I know we're all about carry-ons and not having to check a bag, but you know there are some limitations to foods and liquids that can be packed and you know, in your, in your backpack or in your suitcase. So a lot of times that's a lot safer in a checked bag. You also want to check to see, through security, what limitations you have. Obviously, liquids are very limited, as we all know. So if you have to bring any kind of liquid, put that in your checked bag or find ways. For example, maybe there's a way you could bring something that's in powdered form.
Speaker 1:I like to bring lots of snacks in my carry-on because you know whether I'm at the airport. I do not. I try not to. I should say I try not to buy anything food-wise at the airport. I might get a pack of gum, but I just don't know. Again, there's a lot of seed oil, which is another thing that I've become rather sensitive to, and a lot of restaurants use seed oil. So I'm very limited on what I can eat out, and there are a few of my favorite restaurants that I know do not use seed oil, and there are some meals that I prepare or buy out that I know are safe for me. So pack your own food and if you are doing a road trip, even easier to pack your own food. Right. When we take a road trip, whether it's solo or with my family, take a big cooler and we pack as much food as possible.
Speaker 1:I have this great recipe. I just want to quickly share it. It is one of my go-tos for any kind of road trip. For myself is that it's so easy to make. I get some chicken, I shred up the chicken, it's a chicken salad, but not with mayo, because I can't do mayo, because mayo has eggs in it and it's got some, probably some, dairy. Anyways, it's shredded chicken, sliced celery, green onions, parsley and chickpeas and then I mix it with. I use olive oil and a vinegar I recommend maybe a red wine vinegar or maybe a white balsamic vinegar and then I add salt, pepper, coriander and maybe some curry and I mix it up and I take some almond flour crackers with me so that I can kind of use it like a dip and it will last me like two, three meals and I love it. It's inexpensive, easy and great to carry with you in your cooler.
Speaker 1:So maybe you can come up with a meal like that to take with you on any kind of road trips with you. Obviously, you can't carry that through TSA. But that brings me to my second point and second strategy that you can use if you are traveling internationally. Besides taking, you know, easy snack foods like nuts and berries and dried fruits and apples, oranges, things like that, you could also take these pre-packaged things maybe it's turkey jerky things that are sealed are less likely to flag through TSA, by the way. So I think of those little one use packages of, like almond butter or peanut butter are a nice way to also pack some protein with you and not be worried about flagging security. So point number two is you want to rent a place with a kitchen, an Airbnb someplace that has a kitchen? Then make sure that place that you're renting has a local market nearby, because you're going to want to go ahead and buy your food once you get there and utilize that kitchen to cook some meals.
Speaker 1:Now, granted, you're traveling, you still probably want to eat out on occasion. So when you look at a restaurant this is strategy number three If you can view the menu online beforehand and just see if you can get a sense if there's anything that you could eat that is offered at the restaurant. Now, some places you have a small town or there's more local restaurants, they don't have a website, potentially, so they will often display their menu on the window or maybe outside the door. I just recommend that you take a look at the menu before you go in and get seated and just check to see what is on the menu. Now, I have some go-tos that I know are always safe for me. It's just a salad, right. A salad is usually a rather safe bet for me if I'm going to a restaurant, and maybe with other people and I deem that there's nothing really safe for me to eat, then I will just order a salad, and that's always been my safe go-to.
Speaker 1:Now you can also use some apps, and there are some apps that are really great in helping you detect restaurants, for example. One example is called Seed Oil Scout. It's an app that will tell you about restaurants that use seed oil. So seed oil is becoming kind of more people becoming more sensitive to it or more aware of its negative benefits, maybe on the body. So if you're not aware of what seed oils do, that's a whole nother. You can dive into that rabbit hole yourself. But if you know that seed oils bother you, get yourself that app called Seed Oil Scout. It is very widely used in the US and Australia. I think it's widely used in the US because, unfortunately, our country allows a lot of that crap in our food, and so this app helps you detect that.
Speaker 1:So maybe in Europe, as I was going to say earlier, europe they have different rules, different laws about what can be put in foods, what can be used in restaurants, you know, just like dyes, certain dyes, certain ingredients, are banned in Europe whereas they are allowed in the US. So you may go to Europe and not have any kind of sensitivities. You might even be able to eat their bread, because their bread is not GMO'd like it is in the US. They also don't use as many ingredients like things that are banned, like I said, in the US. So maybe that's why, as I did some research and saw that seed oil scout, it's not real prevalent in Europe, although I'm sure you could find some restaurants that are listed in there, so it helps you find restaurants that do not use seed oil.
Speaker 1:There's also some other apps called find me gluten-free and then gluten-free me. That one's also sort of a um. One of them is also a restaurant that you can look to see if you can find a gluten-free restaurant. That is highly important for those that are really sensitive to gluten because of the cross-contamination that can happen in restaurants. They might offer a few gluten-free meals but know that that is still prepared in the kitchen that probably offers gluten products. So it is probably advantageous, if that is, you know, a high sensitivity to you, that you would find more of a gluten free, full gluten free restaurant, right? So those are some things you can do there.
Speaker 1:There's also another app called Fig F-I-G. It is actually a food scanner app for ingredients. Unfortunately, it is a paid app. You got to pay to use it. It's a one week free, of course you could try it out, but I love the app because you can put in like, say, I list all my allergies, like I mentioned to you, and it will remember those, and when I go to scan a product, maybe in the store, instead of having to read the ingredients which my eyes have gotten so bad I have to use a magnifying glass to read those ingredients. It will scan it the barcode and it will tell you if it has any of those products in it that I can't have. It might even suggest some things that you can. So that's a great app there.
Speaker 1:If you have a lot of allergies like myself and you want to just go grocery shopping and find products that fit those categories for you, there is also a great resource. They are called Wheat List Wanderlust. Now, this is a couple. They are gluten-free and they travel. You can go to their website. They have a monthly newsletter that to their website. They have a wonderful um. They have a monthly newsletter that they putting out, but they also have some uh help guides for if you're traveling to certain places. They have some recommendations of actual restaurants that are gluten free. Um, I think they recently did one for Paris. Um, there's also. I've know they've been to London, they've been to some Europe, some other European cities as well, so you want to check them out. They are also located in the US, on the West Coast. I believe they're in Oregon, possibly, or Washington state, but so they will list stuff out there on the West Coast as well that might be safe restaurants to eat right that are gluten free.
Speaker 1:It can be overwhelming, it can be, you know, just you could be fearful For me. I have to be very careful when I travel because, as you know, I don't want to. I have non-negotiables and so I don't want to give in to those and then feel really lousy the rest of my trip and find myself because I have this horrible migraine I can't move, that I have to stay inside and miss out on my travel. So I never want that when I travel. So I'm very careful when I'm traveling to really not cheat, so to speak, and you know, or being careful what is in my food. Now, how do I prepare beforehand so that my immune system is also ready. You know I do some pre-trip stuff. I'm even very careful about what I eat before I go, you know, at least a week or two before I go. I'm also even a month before I am boosting my immune system with some remedies that I take.
Speaker 1:I take a lot of vitamin C. Garlic also is a great antioxidant and I take this wonderful stuff. It's called oil of oregano. It's a great seasonal allergy kind of support. It's not the essential oil oregano, it is actually called oil of oregano and you put a few drops in some water under your tongue and it has combated sinus infections. It has held back any kind of allergies or colds that I think might be coming on. So I take a lot of that before I go.
Speaker 1:Especially when you travel and you're doing air travel, you know you got a lot of germs floating around. So you want to actually even just for yourself, even if you don't have food allergies. I recommend just boosting your immune system with some of those remedies there. Zinc is also a good, you know, support system, and then I also pack remedies for just in case. Now, the big thing I do pack is, of course, some Benadryl or some allergy meds just in case.
Speaker 1:For example, when I was in Portugal, I did need some allergy seasonal allergy, like maybe a Zyrtec would have been good to keep the runny nose from the seasonal environmental allergies I was suffering from.
Speaker 1:So I take that. I also take some of my vitamins with me so that I can continue keeping myself healthy, so I can enjoy my travels without feeling sick because of what I've eaten, because something I ate is something I'm not allowed to eat. And I know if you do suffer from any kind of not being able to eat certain foods for whatever reason, whether it's an allergy or just an intolerance or even just a sensitivity, that can be, you know, just can be daunting when you're looking to travel and not sure what you're going to eat. Well, trust me, there can be plenty of options. I suggest you use these strategies I mentioned so that you know that you will have some food at some point during your travels. Well, sisters, I hope this has helped any of you and, again, if you know somebody that suffers from this and they are planning to go on a trip, please share this episode with them and share it with your friends, your family, anybody else that you might know that could benefit from having this information and get out there and have those adventures.
