Unless you reside in sunny Florida or southern California, I'm guessing most of you reading this right now dream of a break from this unforgiving winter! How does a 5-night, all-inclusive vacation on Mexico's Riviera Maya sound? What if I told you that you'd also enjoy gourmet gluten free meals -- and have the opportunity to interact, learn from, and dine with Dr. Alsessio Fasano, one of the world's foremost experts on Celiac Disease? You'd want to jump on the next plane, right?! Well, even though you'll have to wait until October to actually take the trip, you can reserve one of the coveted spots now. Take a look at the information below, and give Lesley a call for more details if you're interested. (As you probably recall from my mentioning her before, Lesley is a travel agent who specializes in gluten free travel opportunities. She has worked with Dr. Fasano to put together this amazing getaway at an amazing resort.) The price can't be beat, and with each booking, a donation will be made to Dr. Fasano's Center for Celiac Research. So you'll be funding a great cause, getting some much-needed R&R, and learning the latest about living with... Read more →
February 2015
What type of gluten free traveler are you? Are you the type that likes to dine out when on vacation -- or do you prefer to get a place with a kitchen and do your own cooking? I know people have strong opinions on this…and certainly, there are those of you who prefer to stay safe by handling most of your own food preparation when on vacation. I, on the other hand, enjoy the thrill of finding new gluten-free friendly spots each time we travel. While it does take a bit of time to do the research to find the best and safest restaurants (I always start by reading reviews on sites like our own GlutenFreeTravelSite), I cook all the time at home and like to leave the cooking to someone else while on vacation. With that said, there are certainly times when we've traveled somewhere where there just wasn't anyplace safe for gluten free folks to eat…and also times we've traveled to a place where any restaurant was hard to find. That was the case this past weekend when our family took a ski trip to Timberline in Davis, West Virginia. Our sons' Boy Scout Troop had planned a... Read more →
Many of you may have followed us over the years and remember that each January we announce the winner of our "World's Most Celiac-Friendly Destination" contest. Started in 2008, the year we launched GlutenFreeTravelSite, it was a way for us to showcase locations where gluten-free friendly restaurants were plentiful and awareness and training of restauranteurs was strong. Each year, the winning location was picked based on how many user-submitted gluten free dining reviews had been submitted to GlutenFreeTravelSite for that location over the previous year. Past winners included New York (2008), Florida (2009), the Washington DC Metro area (2010), California (2011), Pennsylvania (2012), and a reprise by California (2013). When sitting down to evaluate this past year's (2014) reviews last month, I realized something significant. Gluten free awareness and restaurants that can safely prepare gluten free meals has transcended any particular location. Throughout the United States and many parts of the world, gluten free is now a household term. While there are still some restaurants clearly hopping on the gluten free "bandwagon" simply to leverage what they see as a "trend," there are plenty of restaurants that have properly educated themselves and trained their staff on the nuances of preparing... Read more →