Hi welcome back if you're new here I'm Michelle the irritable vegan I'm here to
share my vegan low fodmap journey and hopefully take some of the BS out of IBS
now allegedly here in the northern hemisphere it's still summer and
although my little corner of the world didn't quite get the memo this year I
know many of you are gonna be suffering with seasonal issues and flare ups
today's video we're going to get you in the holiday mood by discussing some of
the things that IBS sufferers face when traveling and I'll be giving you some
hints and tips to get the most out of the holiday season let's get into it
Où est la toilette la plus proche s'il vous plaît? [Terrible French Accent]
¿Dónde está el baño más cercano por favor? [Terrible Spanish Accent]
Wo ist bitte die nächste toilette [Terrible German Accent] please forgive me
so travel and holidays with IBS is a huge topic to tackle so I'm probably gonna break this down into
a couple of videos today's video we're gonna concentrate on the things that you
can do to help yourself before you even leave home so the number one most
important thing for travels and holidays with IBS is preparation and planning
putting in the research and the time upfront is guaranteed to help you reduce
your anxiety get you really excited for your upcoming trip and make things go a
whole lot smoother before you even consider booking do your research and
you can be as thorough with this as you like but some of my tips include asking
for recommendations online in groups specific to your needs so for example
IBS support groups low fodmap groups allergy aware groups for real
recommendations from people who understand the types of challenges and
issues that you're likely to face when traveling something you may not have
thought of but it's definitely worth going over in the planning stages is
considering a different type of holiday than the one that you're used to so if like
me you love being outdoors being in nature and cosying around the campfire
in an evening but the idea of going camping with the
shared toilet facilities fills you with dread then why not try glamping instead
usually these types of places have yurts or shepherd huts and they usually have
their own private facilities so you get all the benefits of the camping
experience being outdoors in nature but without the stress of having to share
the toilet or your partner's idea of the perfect holiday might be a road trip
through Europe but rather than spend your time planning every rest stop and
service station from here to Timbuktu why not try to see if you can compromise
by hiring and driving a motor home rather than a car so that keeps you both
happy and you take your facilities with you wherever you go or if you're into
island-hopping and exploring different places rather than hopping on and off
aeroplanes and small boats have you ever considered cruising where you're never
more than a few decks away from your own 5-star private facilities if you do have
a rough idea of where it is you want to travel to then contacting some groups
local to that area such as local vegan groups allergy groups things like that
so you're getting direct information from people who have experience of eating out
and shopping in the area that you'll be visiting once you've narrowed down the
area that you'd like to stay in then either make use of a travel agent or do
it direct yourself if you feel confident enough contact some of the senior
management or senior catering staff at a couple of the resorts that you
considering this will give you a really good idea of which ones you feel seem
confident and competent to cater for your specific needs and if you do decide
to go with a hotel or resort is it possible to request a room closest to
the areas where you'll be spending most of your time so if you know that you're
much more likely to spend your days by the pool rather than at the beach are
there any rooms close by so you don't have to do a mad dash
should the need arise also if you're the type of person who knows that you
need to visit the toilet as soon as you finished eating are there any rooms
available around the restaurant or the catering facilities likewise if you
choose a hotel that's high-rise or is laid out over many floors is it possible
to request a room closest to reception so you don't have too far to travel all
that been said if I can only give you one recommendation for my preferred
holiday type when traveling with IBS it's got to be self catering for me it's
the ultimate way to reduce my overall anxiety and the risk of flare-ups now I
know that some people don't consider self catering to be a true holiday
because of the effort that's involved in preparing your own meals all I can say
to that is that I'd much rather be in the kitchen creating delicious tummy
friendly meals then on the toilet leaving my food up to chance using the
same type of research techniques that we've already discussed I have no doubt
that wherever you're going you're gonna come across at least a couple of
restaurants cafes bars and even takeaways that are happy to cater to
your specific needs so that you don't have to spend all of your time cooking
and when you are staying in self catering facilities you've also got many more
options for taking with you your favorite foods and essentials so you've
got them with you no matter what it's really not unheard of for me to take our
slow cooker along with us on our travels and I really really enjoy discovering
exciting new ingredients and flavours at local supermarkets markets and
specialist stores I think you'd be really surprised by the amount of specialist
allergy friendly foods you're going to be able to find something everybody
should do whether you're going catered or self catering is to learn some
essential words and phrases in the local language so it's pretty fair to assume
that we're all going to need to know how to ask where is the nearest toilet please
Où est la toilette la plus proche s'il vous plaît? [Terrible French Accent]
¿Dónde está el baño más cercano por favor? [Terrible Spanish Accent]
Wo ist bitte die nächste toilette [Terrible German Accent]
please forgive me but also knowing some written and spoken words specific to
your needs can be a massive help when reading menus and labels and trying to
communicate your request to locals and restaurant staff really simple phrases
such as vegan gluten or dairy free or allergic and also the words for specific
trigger foods such as onions garlic wheat and soy if you're not confident
speaking the language then you can always try using Google Translate
Dov'è la toilette più vicina per favore? [Authentic Italian voice via Google translate]
or before you travel print out a wallet size card that you can carry with you
and show to shopkeepers or servers as you move around throughout the day I
know that the vegan society produces an app and a booklet specifically for this
and I remember years ago when I first started my vegan journey seeing a
downloadable printout of various different languages that explained the
dietary needs of a vegan so I'm pretty sure that some of the other associations
such as allergy associations IBS and chronic disease associations perhaps
also produce something along the similar lines if like me you're somebody that
despite your condition really enjoys sampling the local food and delicacies
then I recommend you do some research into some local speciality dishes before
you go this way you can identify the ones that have trigger ingredients the
ones that could possibly be modified to suit you and more importantly the ones
that you should really avoid at all costs
now obviously every chef is gonna have their own unique way of preparing these
dishes so you would still need to speak to the restaurant staff when you arrive
but just having a little bit of knowledge of some of the dishes that you
could possibly include and avoid is going to give you that little bit more
confidence of experimenting with you food sticking with the food theme here I
personally never travel without a packed lunch and plenty of snacks not only does
it really help to reduce my pre-travel jitters but it also eliminates the need
to go searching when you're on the road and the chances of me ending up hangry
which is a very real fear for me if you do have the room then I recommend taking
snacks an essentials for the duration of your entire trip that way if the worst
really does come to the worst you've got a little bit of something to fall back
on in an emergency before you're able to do a bit more research and find
something more suitable this obviously depends on where you're going how long
you're there for and how you'll be traveling but personally I'm more than
happy to forego a little bit of packing space because I'd much rather have some
food snacks and essentials with me than an extra pair of designer shoes if you
committed to flying to your destination then hopefully some of these hints will
help the first one is before you travel I would always recommend that you
request an aisle seat this way you're not going to have to worry about
disturbing other passengers if you do need to keep getting up and down to go
to the toilet I'd also recommend that you avoid the airline food at all costs
even if they say that they will cater specifically for your dietary needs I've
heard so many horror stories about people being promised certain types of
meals and getting on board the plane with nothing else to hand and finding
out that there's absolutely nothing that they can eat so if possible I'd always
recommend that you travel with your own food and snacks wherever you can another
non-negotiable for me is making sure that my carry-on bag includes plenty of
space for a mini SOS kit the types of things that include in there would be
any essential medication moist toilet tissue spare underwear things such as a
calming essential oil blend and if you don't want to take the liquid on board
you could possibly put this on a handkerchief before you travel
also those little mini rollerball travel size bottles you can get would be ideal
something like Bach Flower Remedies possibly herbal teas that you could
ask for once the staff come around the plane offering drinks and things such as
anything that I feel I would need to get a comfortable rest or a comfortable
sleep because I'm really not keen on air travel at all
so wherever possible I just like to zone out and either go to sleep or immerse
myself in my own little bubble so I would have things on my phone or on an
iPod such as meditation tracks relaxing music anything that's gonna
calm me down and help me relax wherever possible stretch mobilize and move
around so that you're avoiding that awful heavy tummy feeling that you can
sometimes get when you've been sitting or cramped up for too long I know
personally I do tend to get a lot of pain if I have been sitting for a while
so wherever possible try to stretch out sit up tall breathe deeply in and out to
your chest so you're moving all your diaphragm and your muscles and have a
little walk up and down the cabin and if the worst does come to the worst then a
discreet chat with one of the crew members is likely to result in them
being able to offer you ways and methods of making you feel more comfortable
regardless of how you're travelling before you leave I highly recommend you discuss
your concerns with a doctor and pharmacist it's likely that they're
going to be able to prescribe or recommend short-term medications that
either you've never heard of or you'd not considered using in the past these
things then along with anything else that you usually take such as vitamins
minerals pre or probiotics herbal teas or essential oils can then form part of
your emergency first aid kit I also highly recommend
that you have a waterproof portable version
of this kit that you can carry around with you everyday either to the beach or
on any day trips or excursions as far as your holiday wardrobe goes you need to
be choosing clothes that make you feel physically and mentally comfortable it's
no good filling your suitcase with all the latest trends only to realise that
you've nothing suitable for a flare-up day or you're not happy with the way you
look when you bloated in warmer climates I tend to stick to floaty kaftans
and cover-ups loose linen trousers and very forgiving maxi dresses I also
prefer to look for high-waisted bikinis and I tend to choose swimwear that's got
very flattering side panels or patterns that help give a slimming effect
particularly if I'm feeling bloated so you've done all your research you've
learned your phrases and your bags are packed so you're ready for the off well
not quite because the final tip I've got for you is actually the single most
important tip I can give you and it's potentially a life-saving one and that
is under no circumstances should you ever travel without adequate travel
insurance in my experience it's a non-negotiable for everybody but
particularly for anybody who's suffering with active disease or disorders chronic
long-term health conditions or who rely on daily medication
you absolutely should always declare any pre-existing conditions to your insurer
before you commit to a policy I also highly recommend that you contact any
condition specific groups societies or charities for their personal
recommendations and possibly to benefit from discounts on insurance nothing can
ruin a holiday quicker than an expensive emergency trip to a hospital or clinic
or losing or forgetting vital medications particularly here in the UK
we're so fortunate to be able to access free or drastically cut price services
through the NHS that I think we often overlook or
underestimate the fact that this type of healthcare is not available anywhere
else in the world and because it's something that most of
us here in the UK have never had to deal with we can't even comprehend the types
of extortionate amounts of money that are actually required to access any kind of
health care in many parts of the world so these are my IBS friendly pre travel
tips and if you haven't got a holiday already booked then I really hope that
this video has inspired you to broaden your horizons despite your condition and
given you some confidence to get out there into the big wide world if you
like this video please let me know in the comments below and I'll continue the
series with hints and tips for once you get to your destination wherever you are
in the world wherever you're going and wish you all safe travels thanks so much
for watching and I'll speak to you soon byeee
[French Themed Jazz Music]