How To Travel As A Picky Eater And Not Starve

One of the best parts of travel is to experience a new culture by trying unique and different food . The only problem – that’s kind of hard to do if you’re a picky eater (like me). 

I was (and still am) a very picky eater. I like to think I’ve improved over the years mostly thanks to travel (although my partner also likes to take credit). Being picky for me stems from dietary restrictions to not like the texture or the look of certain foods. And I’ll admit, my preferences don’t always make sense. 

So, here are my tips for how I travel as a picky eater and don’t starve on vacation! Who knows, you may even end up expanding your palette and discovering something new you didn’t know you liked!

Psst! This blog post contains affiliate links in it which sends me a bit of extra money if you use them… at no extra cost to you!

I’m A Picky Eater… Here’s Why…

As I briefly mentioned before, I am a picky eater for a few reasons. First, I do follow a few religious dietary restrictions, I’m Kosher. This means I won’t eat any pig products (yup, that means no bacon or ham for me!) and I also won’t eat meat and diary together… I know! Oh a lot of seafood isn’t kosher either (no lobster, clams, muscles, or shrimp!).  

Then, on top of these, I decided to make it a tad harder for myself by being even fussier with what I eat. Certain foods I just won’t eat because of their texture (mushrooms I’m looking at you!) while other things I just don’t like how they look (some meat products freak me out).

To make my life even more difficult, I even don’t like certain spices or herbs. These are quite a bit harder to avoid because they’re not always listed on the ingredients lists… that list includes cinnamon (gasp… I know!) ginger, and cilantro… to name a few.

P.S.A. Please Don’t Let Food Get In Your Way Of Travelling

If you’re a picky eater, even pickier than me, I cannot stress enough that you shouldn’t let food get in your way of travelling. Of course eating is a big part of travelling, I won’t deny that. I mean, we all need to eat, several times a day in fact!

But at the end of the day, you’re in control of where you go and what you’re eating (unless you’re on an organized tour, but I have tips for that too!). I’ll be the first to admit that travel as a picky eater can be incredibly frustrating at times when you can’t find something to eat. But  that frustration and fear isn’t worth missing out on an entire experience. 

In fact, I find that over the years as I travel more, I’ve become much less of a picky eater. Of course I still travel with dietary restrictions, but I’ve opened up so much in terms of my pickiness.

I used to not go any where near fish, now I love it, and it’s all because I had no other options when I went to Barbados! Even something as simple as onions, which I used to gag at the prospect of, is now something I add to all my meals after trying red onions in Edinburgh!

How Do You Travel With A Picky Eater?

Maybe you aren’t the picky eater but you’re travelling with someone who is (maybe a child or even an adult!).

These tips might help you too because you can make some of these suggestions while on the road to make your life just a bit easier while travelling!

Tips For How To Travel As A Picky Eater

This is not a post for how to become less picky, but just some tips for picky eaters to make travelling easier. I will admit that over time, I have become less picky and I think it’s mainly through necessity of not wanting to starve – just another perk of travelling for me!

1. Eating Tips For Travel: Getting Over Mental Blocks

This may sound like a silly eating tip for picky eaters, but your mind can be your biggest barrier. When you have the right mindset, a world of possibilities can open up to you. Mentally preparing yourself for what food to expect in a specific destination, and that you may have to try a new type of food, is really a game changer.  

This is exactly how I first started eating fish. When I booked my trip to Barbados, I knew that I was going to have some issues – I didn’t eat any seafood due to my dietary restrictions and I hated fish… I tolerated some white fish, but I really tried to avoid it for the most part.   

Well, unfortunately for me, the main protein in Barbados is, you guessed it… fish! I did not want to miss out on this opportunity to visit Barbados, but I also couldn’t not eat for a week. So, I had to mentally prepare myself that I was going to have to at least try to eat fish.

Being open and ready to eat fish was my biggest asset. Knowing that I was going to be eating fish for a really week helped, it became a goal to try and find a fish that I liked. I would always ask the waiter for the catch of the day so that it’s was fresh and less fishy-tasting. I would also ask if they recommended any that had a more mild flavour as I wasn’t a big fish eater.

After a week of pretty much only eating fish, and I was actually able to add fish to my repertoire. Fish is now on my weekly meal at home! 

I did the same thing for sushi in Vancouver. Even though sushi isn’t exactly from Vancouver or Canada, they are known to have some of the best. So I told myself before leaving that I would try it at least once. Sushi still kind of grosses me out (eating raw fish, the texture of the fish in your mouth.. not the best), but I’m proud to say that I’m able eat it if it’s placed in front of me!

2. Travel With Dietary Restrictions: Things Don’t Always Go As Planned

Part of mentally preparing yourself is also important to do if you travel with dietary restrictions. It’s important to realize that you can’t control everything (especially when travelling). Things don’t always go as planned, and, that’s okay. This is only relevant of course, if you’re following any non life threatening dietary restrictions. For me, I follow some Kosher rules, but the same can be said if you’re vegan, vegetarian…etc.  

I do everything in my power to follow my dietary restrictions while travelling, but I also cut myself a bit of slack. First, if you’re travelling somewhere where you don’t speak the language it can be really hard to control.

You can try, but at the end of the day, it’s important to remember that some things are out of your control. It’s better to eat and bend the rules this one time, then to starve. I’m sure I’ve eaten pork broth by accident, or some sort of seafood that I didn’t realize, but I’m still living to tell the tale right!?

Even if you don’t travel with dietary restrictions and it’s just about pickiness, sometimes you just have to roll with it and swallow your pride.

My first time visiting the Belgian coast I ordered fresh cod to try… remember, I’m already not the biggest fish eater… I think at this point I’d eaten fish a total of 5 times in my life! Well the fish was served with all the bones… I wanted to throw up! This was already something I wasn’t that used to eating, and now there are bones in it! Let’s just say, bones in food FREAK ME OUT! 

But I had already ordered it, it was a small local restaurant, there was no way I couldn’t eat it. So I did my best, tried not to think about it too much, and ate as much as I could. This is part of travelling. When you travel as a picky eater, you have to know that you may run into some of these problems every once in a while. Just realize, there will be cases like this, where you may not like what you’re eating, but it won’t kill you.

3. Dietary Travel Tips – Bring A Photo

If you’re travelling with dietary restrictions, at some point you’ll come across trying to figure out the ingredients in something. Whether you’re at the grocery store, in a market, or at a restaurants – it’s going to come up at least once on your trip.

If you speak the language, this can be an easy questions to ask. The problem comes when you’re in a new place where you don’t speak the language.

One of my dietary travel tips that I find has helps me is to print out (or save to my phone) a photo of what I want to avoid.  For example, if I want to avoid any pig products I show a photo of a pig and shake my head. This can also work for allergies, bring a photo of a peanut and nuts to show people that you want to avoid these.

Be weary that it doesn’t always work, but it does help in getting me closer to follow the rules.

4. Travel With Dietary Restrictions – Learn The Local Language

You can’t learn an entire new language in a few weeks, but you definitely can learn a few words. 

If there are certain foods you can’t eat, or have a strong dislike for, learn how to say it in the local language. You can also learn how to say “no”. It’s one step more advanced than using the picture. I would still bring a photo if it’s a more serious restriction just in case you’re saying it wrong – I’ve had first hand experience with that…

I trying to ask if a pastry had cinnamon in it when I was visiting Barcelona where they speak Catalan. I knew that Catalan is similar to French, so I tried saying cannelle, which is how you say cinnamon in French. The woman did not understand me AT ALL! Eventually someone had to intervene by saying cannella, and now she understood… I was shocked that there was that much confusion over one vowel! Come on, an e for an a! But this is what you have to expect.

By the way, in case you were curious, it didn’t have any cinnamon, and it was the best apple pastry I’ve ever had!

5. Be Safe, Pack Back Up Food & Snacks

This is THE BEST travel tips for picky eaters I can give. Pack yourself some high in protein snacks and any travel friendly food. Knowing that I have food that I’m comfortable eating back in the hotel is always a huge life saver!

You can also go to the local grocery store, but they probably won’t have exactly what you’re looking for. Plus, depending on how long your trip is, you don’t always want to spend time going grocery shopping.

First and foremost – always pack granola bars! Pack ones that don’t squish easily (I’d avoid Nutrigrains for that reason) and sticks to ones higher in protein. High in protein bars will be more filling, look for bars like Clif or Lära).

If you’re looking for back up meals, my go-to is oatmeal packets. These are always in my suitcase! They take up no space and all you need is hot water or a microwave, which you can usually get access to. These are key, especially if I’m travelling on an organized tour group because I have less control over my meals.

6. If You’re A Picky Eater – Cook At Home

If you’re a picky eater like myself, it may be worth booking a something like an Airbnb with a full kitchen to give you the ability to cook an entire meal at home (see the rules I follow to book a safe and good Airbnb). Of course, this is vacation and you don’t want to be cooking all the time, but I find it is very rewarding at times. 

Plus, exploring local grocery stores to see what they have is always a lot of fun. You’ll be surprised by all the different products they have. Traveling this way, also doesn’t limit you in terms of trying local delicacies, it’ll just be home made. 

For example, in Belgium we made croquettes that we picked up from the local market. Or we made Tortilla in Barcelona because they sell pre-made ones at the grocery store where all you have to do is refry it. It’s fun to learn a new way of cooking and bring those skills back home to your kitchen.

If you’re prepared, pack Tupperware with you to be able to pack away leftovers for lunch the next day on the go. This way you also don’t have to worry about finding a place for lunch the next day! We lived off of sandwiches that we made at home for the next day (you also save a lot of money this way). 

7. Travel With Dietary Restrictions: Finding Alternatives To Local Delicacies

Travel with dietary restrictions has become a lot easier these days due to new alternative ways to make food. It’s never fun travelling somewhere and not being able to try the local delicacy. But, we’re lucky to be living in a time where there are so many ways to make something. 

For example, interested in trying Haggis in Scotland but you’re vegetarian? Or the thought of it being encased in an animal’s stomach doesn’t agree with your stomach? Don’t worry, a lot of restaurants will offer a vegetarian option! Or, wanted to try Paella in Spain but don’t eat seafood? Not a problem! They have all different kinds, like one with chicken.  

There isn’t always an easy answer though, so be prepared. Like in Austria I wanted to try sausage but I couldn’t find a beef or vegetarian version anywhere (we even tried going to the Jewish District). We ended up finding one in Budapest, that worked just fine for me though! 

Sometimes it takes a bit of research to find a restaurant that has the answer, and you might have to go a bit further to look for it. But, there’s usually is a solution.

8. Be Up Front About Your Dietary Restrictions When Travelling

If you’re travelling on an organized tour, with a friend, or you get invited for a homemade meal, don’t try to hide your pickiness or any dietary restrictions you have. There’s nothing worse than surprising someone with this information once it’s too late to do anything about it. Be up front about it, tell them about your dietary restrictions, you’ll be amazed at how accommodating people are. 

One time we were invited over for homemade raclette by our Airbnb hosts in the South of France. Keep in mind I don’t eat meat and cheese together, and this meal is all about meat, cheese, and potatoes. It’s not even just any meat, it’s ham. So that’s a double negative for me. 

I immediately let them know that I won’t be able to enjoy the full meal but I would be more than happy to come over. This way, I wasn’t trying to pretend I was eating the meat, or worse, actually eating the meat.  

Depending on how picky you are, you may not be able to give them your entire no-eat list. So I did run into some issues when it came to dessert: homemade apple pie… with cinnamon. This was an instance where I eating cinnamon wouldn’t kill me so I mustered up the courage and ate it.

9. Restaurant Eating Tips For Travel: Order A Variety Of Options

If you’re travelling in a group, try to coordinate with them when you eat out. What I mean by that, is don’t order the same meal. Order two different dishes that you’re both comfortable eating.

This way, if you don’t like one, you have a second option to try. I do this all the time with my partner who will legitimately eat anything. It works really well because he’ll be happy with either meal, but sometimes mine doesn’t work out for me. 

If you aren’t comfortable sharing food, or you’re travelling solo, you can always order a few appetizers. It’s a smaller amount of food, so there’s less risk if you don’t like it. 

This is also really nice even if you like everything you ordered, now you get to try two or more dishes instead of being limited to just one!

10. Don’t Feel Ashamed To Seek Out Comfort Food

At least once on every trip we end up at McDonalds and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. There’s already so much stress when travelling that there’s no point in making it harder for yourself. 

It’s one meal where I don’t have to worry about what I’m eating, it’s a totally stress free (and quick) meal. It doesn’t even have to be McDonalds, it can simply be an American style restaurant. You especially don’t have to find local food and try something new for every meal.  

We’ve even found the the BEST pasta chain in Europe, Vapiano, where you get full control over what you order. We LOVE IT! Wherever we are, if there’s a Vapiano that’s where you’ll find us! It’s so easy, so comfortable, and who cares if it isn’t local!

I’m Still Picky, But Travel Has Helped!

I can’t tell express enough how much travel has taken me out of my shell as a picky eater. I have expanded my menu immensely, although there are a few things that I will never warm up to (mushroom, cinnamon, and coriander, I’m looking at you!). 

But I used to not even eat onions! I wouldn’t be able to go near them, especially if they were raw. I found they had such a strong taste that overtook everything. Can you imagine travelling with someone who wouldn’t go near an onion!?

Over the years travelling I’ve opened up to fish, and meat and sometimes it was all because I didn’t want to starve. 

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Last update on 2024-05-05 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API