Courtesy of bbc.co.uk

With the countdown started and just days to go, it’s all come down to those last minute checks and the final packing for our holidays.  I am the queen of lists when it comes to going on holiday, especially when travelling with M and G and this year was no exception, though I have to confess that four pages of lists is a whole new record! The clothes were quickly sorted and I got to my main challenge: the suitcase of M-friendly foods and all his medicines.

My biggest concern was ensuring we have enough safe snacks with us for at least a few days as I’m not certain about what will be easily available once we get to the “House of the Mouse”.  I don’t want to over-cater as I have no intention of bringing a suitcase of food back home with us, but I did need to be reassured that M would have enough to eat.  I spoke to our lovely GOSH dietitian to seek her advice about the availability of free-from foods in the USA and she advised consulting the UK Coeliac Society website as a starting point as to where we might be able to buy them.

I also did some on-line research and discovered that an option I hadn’t even considered might be a great place to start – an on-line grocery shop.  This is still a fairly new phenomenon in North America as I know from our Canadian family and friends, but I found that I could arrange for a food order to be delivered directly to our hotel on the day of our arrival,  which would instantly reduce the need for Mike and me to find a supermarket straight away.  I investigated a couple of options and settled on the Garden Grocer delivery service. This is not affiliated to one particular supermarket chain and for a little extra cost, they will visit more than one shop to find everything you need.

The website is not as slick as the ones I’m used to using at home – I am a big advocate of on-line grocery shopping as it saves so much time – but I have been able to find most things I think we’ll need whilst away.  There was a much better selection of M-friendly cookies and cereal bars than in the UK and at a much better price too.  As I’ve said before,  it’s hard to be both frugal and allergy-friendly in the UK.  Shop done and delivery slot booked, all I can do now is sit back and wait with my fingers tightly crossed.