Safe Travel Guide for Food Allergies, Gluten free and Dietary Restrictions
Travelling with dietary restrictions is already a lot. Travelling with more than one feels like a different sport entirely. Wherever you’re at, you’re in the right place. Sit down, grab a cuppa let me help you sort your next trip.
From a fellow restricted traveler
I’m Jo, a traveler from Auckland who got tired of the “pre-trip knot” in my stomach. I learned the hard way in Japan that “Gluten-Free” often means a menu full of dairy, and “Dairy-Free” often includes wheat flour. I’ve found that when typical advice fails you, you need better tools, a process and advice so you can enjoy the destination. (Read more of my story here)
Planning a trip with dietary restrictions involves more moving parts than your average “Gluten Free” or “Allergy Guide” implies. Yes it takes more planning, but whether you’re looking at your first trip or your 50th start with your why. Why are you travelling? Sometimes we can control the destination, sometimes we need to make the best of it.
Once the destination is sorted make sure to sort a few basics before you go, most of the time my planning is more thorough but sometimes life gets in the way or plans change;
- Start with an “Easy Win”: Use the Essentials Travel Pack to plan a safe anchor for your trip for example Barcelona, Roma, Tokyo, Melbourne or NYC. Travelling is hard even without dietary restrictions.
- Check the Local Labeling Laws: Spend a minute or two reviewing the allergen labelling laws for your destination in your Essentials Travel Pack or via a quick google search, so you know what to expect.
- Book Food First Accommodation: Book accommodation with a kitchenette or fridge and a free cancellation policy until you’ve found safe dining options.
- Download your Voice: If language is a barrier generate your Free Allergy Card and print it or save to your phone.
- Pack your “Emergency Kit”: Include two safe, dehydrated meals, a packaged snack or two, a pack of wet wipes and any medication.
Below you’ll find three pathways to help you make the most of your trip, so regardless of your experience level you’ll learn something new.
I Need Reassurance
You want to travel, you’re just not sure how to eat safely. Start here with safe travel planning.
I Need Confidence
You travel, but you’ve been burnt before, let’s level up your travel skills so you can eat safely.
I Want Freedom
You know the basics, you want less time researching, more time going further and not missing out.
I Need Reassurance
You want to travel. You want to learn how to eat safely and how to explain what you need when you get there. Start here with safe travel planning.
Your Foundation for Safe Travel
- Complete Travel Planning Guide – The full walk-through, itinerary building, advocacy, flights, packing, and staying organised on the go. Free.
- The ultimate food allergy & intolerance travel survival kit – What to pack, what to carry, and how to set yourself up before you leave home
- Flying with food allergies: Understanding special meals – We explain special meals, the codes, what to do if your meal doesn’t arrive, and how to advocate for yourself.
- How to Eat Safely at the Airport with Dietary Restrictions – Learn how to research your terminal, find naturally safe options, and why backup snacks are your ultimate travel insurance.
Get your safety net in place
- Generate a free allergy card – Essential when you don’t speak the local language. Print it, show it, point at it for clear communication in the local language.
- Learn how to use your translation app – Another essential for communicating in a foreign language. Let me help you pick one and show you how to use it.
- Allergy cards vs translation apps: what to use and when – Learn which tool to use and when, so you don’t get stuck at the table.
Destination-Specific Safety Essentials
Essentials Travel Pack – The trip foundation you didn’t realise you needed. You could research this or we can give you a food safety ratings, the hidden risks, safe foods choices, key phrases, and a personalised allergy card for your destination, built around your exact restrictions in minutes.
Start with a friendly destination
You don’t have to fly halfway across the world to find a safe meal. Sometimes the best way to build confidence is a mini adventure to a city with high awareness and great labeling laws. Here are a few “easy-mode” spots I recommend to get your feet wet:
- Africa & Middle East: Ideal for those avoiding dairy or soy. Many staples are naturally clean and have more transparent ingredients, making them excellent ‘bridge’ destinations for the cautious traveler.
- Americas: Vancouver, New York City or Buenos Aires: These hubs excel at catering to complex diets, whether you’re dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free, or vegan, these cities have menu standards that take the guesswork out of ordering.
- Asia & Oceania: Queenstown, or Melbourne: Strict Australia/NZ labeling standards and a high density of allergen aware venues make these the ultimate low-stress environments.
- Europe: Spain (specifically Barcelona) or Italy: Don’t let the bread and pasta fool you; these cultures have incredible coeliac and other top allergen awareness.
It’s a lot to take in, but once you have a Foundation (the guide) and your Safety Net (the card) sorted the world starts feeling much smaller and much more accessible.
I Need Confidence
You travel, you manage, but you know it can be easier. Let’s level up your travel skills so you can eat safely, communicate and explore without missing out on the food. Everything in the reassurance section applies here too, but read on for what goes deeper.
Understand what you’re reading and when to switch
- Allergy cards vs translation apps: what to use and when – How to use both together for maximum safety regardless of the dining scenario or questions you have.
- How to read gluten and dairy ingredients in 9 European languages – EU labelling laws, the exact words to scan for, and summary tables to screenshot.
- Iceland with a nut allergy – Why specific always beats general, why an allergy card is essential and how to read Icelandic labels
Go deeper by destination
- Destination guide: Japan – gluten-free and dairy-free – Ingredient-based labelling, soy sauce reality, convenience store cheat sheet, and what ‘wheat-free’ actually means there.
- Destination guide: Spain – gluten-free – Naturally safe delicious food choices plus the FACEMOVIL app, accreditation window signs, and cross-contamination reality.
- Destination guide: Adelaide – gluten-free and dairy free – Strict Australia / New Zealand labelling standards plus a diverse and delicious food scene in a walkable city
Sharpen your communication
- Improve your advocacy skills – Learning how to advocate for yourself is a total game-changer, and just like any skill, it gets easier with practice.
- Understand how much of a language you really need – You probably don’t need as much as you might think, especially with the tools we have available
- Build an Anki deck for safe travel and dining – Use our Travel Phrase Guide with Anki flashcards to actually retain the words that matter before you land.
Travel smarter, not more expensive
- You Don’t Need a Luxury Budget to Eat Safely with Dietary Restrictions – Stop paying the “allergy tax.” Learn how to find naturally safe local spots, use lunch specials, and manage your budget without compromising safety.
- Why Australia and New Zealand’s Food Labelling Laws Are Some of the Strictest in the World – A practical guide to help you travel smarter not harder across Australia and New Zealand
Use the tools that replace hours of research
- Essentials Travel Pack – Hidden risks, how to order, key phrases, essential websites and your allergy card, for your destination and restrictions.
- Dining Guide – Find safe options by city or suburb and build your restaurant shortlist.
- Meal Suitability Assistant – Photograph a packaged ingredient list and get a suitability check for your restrictions.
- Menu Suitability Assistant – Decode a restaurant menu on the spot customised to your restrictions.
Here the Essentials Travel Pack takes you deeper, covering how to order without stress, and the local phrases and vocabulary that matter most for your restrictions. Pair it with the Dining Guide, our other tools or your favourites for the full picture.
I Want Freedom
You know the basics. You’re not scared, you’re just done spending hours researching every meal before you leave the hotel. You want to eat where the locals eat, navigate a menu on the spot, and not miss out because you were worried about what to eat. Review the confidence section but read on so you can go further and still eat well.
Go off the beaten path
- How to Travel Off the Beaten Path with Dietary Restrictions – Most dietary restriction travel advice assumes you’re staying in big cities. This is the guide for everywhere else, ski villages, beach towns and remote villages with real examples from planning a twenty-five day snowboarding route through Tohoku and Hokkaido.
- Japan ski resorts: gluten-free and dairy-free in Nagano and Niigata – How to navigate ski resorts where there are no allergen menus. What works, what doesn’t, and how to eat well using our phrase guides and local ingredient knowledge to build your own safe meals.
- Destination guide: Zanzibar — gluten-free – No dedicated GF scene, no labelled menus, and still very manageable with the right approach.
Navigate anywhere, not just the places with a guide
- Custom Itinerary tool – Compare destinations for both activities and food options. Works for spontaneous travellers who want to know what’s possible before they commit.
- How Religious Food Culture Can Work For (and Against) Your Dietary Restrictions – Learn how local faiths shape everyday ingredients so you can find naturally safe meals in environments without “allergy-friendly” labels.
- Why Japan Handles Food Allergies Differently, A Traveller’s Guide – Japan’s food allergy system works differently to the West, and once you understand why, travelling with restrictions gets a lot easier.
Sharpen your communication
- Allergy cards vs translation apps: what to use and when – How to use both together for maximum safety regardless of the dining scenario or questions you have.
- Travel Phrase Guide – Move beyond standard cards with custom phrases that let you ask about ingredients, cross-contamination, and local cooking methods on the fly.
- Build an Anki deck for safe travel and dining – Commit your safety vocabulary to memory so you can navigate a local market or a rural roadside stall without needing to reach for your phone.
Go Further – active support while you’re on the ground
Find dining options wherever you’ve ended up. Check what’s in your food with the Meal Suitability Assistant. Decode a menu on the spot. Generate travel phrases for the specific situation in front of you. Build a custom itinerary that balances food and activities so you’re not compromising one for the other.
The Essentials Travel Pack prepares you before you land while our full, premium membership works while you’re there.
