Where in the world is more Grace friendly?
Have your allergies ever held you back from living the way you want to, and traveling to new places?
Grace Gibson is allergic (anaphylactic) to peanuts, tree nuts, dairy and she is gluten intolerant. She suffers from eczema as well but, as you can see from that map, it has not stopped her from travelling and living in different countries.
Grace is English and American. She was born in Notting Hill, London and moved to Hong Kong when she was just five months old. She stayed there until she was 11 and then moved with her Mother to San Francisco. She discovered a dream of being a ballet dancer and, becoming professional for two years after graduating high school. Through that time something always calling to her to talk about her allergies, be an advocate, and come back to London (where she started). She went to study at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and during her time there she met her partner, George, who was from London (kismet). Upon graduating, it was time for her to make her dreams a reality again. She moved back to England, got a job and started her very own allergy instagram - @gracefriendly. Providing Grace friendly recipes, facts, reviews and more. She is such a lovely person to talk to and has a kind spirit.
She has lived and traveled to many places, and she has an attitude of nothing can stop me - not even allergies. I wanted her to tell her story to help others that might be worried about traveling, starting a new job, moving somewhere new, or just going to down to your local restaurant. Take a seat and enjoy the Grace’s story.
GRACE’S STORY
I have been incredibly fortunate to travel to wonderful places in my life. The one thing that has always kept me company are my allergies (they brought their friends, epic-pens, along for the ride too). My allergies are something I deal with but it doesn’t stop me from living the life I want and that includes travelling.
My senior year of high school, was a little different than many imagine a typical seniors to look like. I was in San Francisco, after moving there from Hong Kong when I was 11. I decided I wasn’t going to apply to University like most of the kids in my class, and instead I was going to pursue professional ballet. Which is where my story begins…
I stood in my ballet studio with the rest of the pre-professional program. Our ballet teacher just told us that we would be spending 10 days, in Moscow, dancing at the world renowned Bolshoi ballet company. We would have the opportunity to dance with the actual Bolshoi students, take classes from their instructors, and spend time in the legendary Bolshoi theatre. A dream come true for any aspiring ballet dancer. Now, I had to figure out how I would do it, with my allergies.
We trained hard, even harder than ever, leading up to this trip. All of us, including my instructor, wanted to make a great impression when we arrived in Moscow. We put in long, long hours, juggling school, family obligations and a semblance of a social life. There was only one thing on our minds, Russia!
Gearing up to the trip, my allergies were the last thing on my mind. My entire life I have been anaphylactic to peanuts, tree nuts, and dairy. I am strongly gluten intolerant and have chronic eczema. It is something that is a part of me, but it isn’t the first thing I think of when I want to do something. Leading up to the trip, people asked the standard questions - what will you eat? What will you do? How will you be safe? - If I am completely honest, I didn’t care if I ate bananas for those 10 days as long as I was there. As long as I was dancing at the Bolshoi.
Despite this dreamlike state I was in, I still took every precaution; having anaphylaxis doesn’t stop me but it does take a little extra hustle to keep me safe. Luckily, my ballet teacher was Russian. My mother and I asked her to write me out a translation card, that included the severity of my allergies & details of cross-contamination risks. She was also going to be there if I had any issues or felt worried. When that was settled, I packed my pointe shoes, leotards and right next to them, my 4 epipens. I was ready to go!
Day one at the Bolshoi, I went to the cafeteria for lunch, translation card in hand. I walked up to a lady (who had a Miss Trunchbull vibe going on), and handed her my card. She took a look, nodded, went into the kitchen and I sat down to wait. A little while later she came back out, and put a plate down in front of me. The plate had a greyish meat on it, the colour of boiled meat (boiling means no risk of cross-contamination on the grill) “phew” I thought, I thanked her and tucked in. Turns out, it was cow’s tongue and tasted pretty disgusting, but I didn’t care - it was food and it was safe. I had an amazing trip, and my allergies didn’t get in the way at all!
I graduated and spent two years pursuing dance after that professionally but something always made me think I could do something else. I wasn’t the best dancer, I put in twice as much work as everyone else to be at their level, I knew there was something more for me. It always came back to advocating for allergies.
I credit my allergies for the best life changing, mind blowing experiences I have ever had. They are with me through all the highs and lows (my allergies often exaggerate my low points, for fear of a reaction), but everybody experiences these moments, that are personal to them. I have had anxiety, stress, and fear moments and, allergies do make life more difficult but, managing them has come with a lot of great moments that I wouldn’t want to be taken away. I have learned about more cultures than most people, because I have to know what my allergens are called in different languages and what different countries use to cook with.
Since Moscow, I have always traveled with an allergy translation card. I print out copies quite a few (they can go “missing" and I also take a picture to have on my phone). There are times where I have handed the card to a waiter to show the chef, it never comes back out of the kitchen. You may need to get creative with where the translation is coming from. In my experience, the card is received better when it is written by someone of the native tongue rather than google translate.
When I was planning a trip to Greece with my best friend, I didn’t know anyone who spoke greek. My mom had an idea to go to the Greek embassy in San Francisco. We stood in line, and when it was our turn, I asked the lady if she could translate my allergens. I guess this was not what the embassy is used for, as she wasn’t very happy (nor were others in the line) but as I see it, if you have severe allergies, you have to advocate for yourself in any way you can.
I went to the Philippines a few years ago. We stayed at a remote scuba diving resort, very secluded. Prior to going, I had talked to the hotel staff extensively, making sure that anyone who worked at the resort knew about my allergies - from the kitchen to the dive boat. When I got there I reiterated my allergies at every meal, or anywhere where they could be an issue. In a small resort, I was pretty much telling the same people, but I had to check, and make sure they knew every time (the same way I would check the ingredients of a food I eat everyday), you have to do, what you have to do.
I say that my allergies don’t hold me back, and that is true for the most part, but there are some things I just don’t partake in. I will never feel fully comfortable experiencing the cuisine of certain cultures, but I am okay with that. I have been able to go and experience more than anoyone would expect me too, with my allergies. I probably won’t ever eat street food or immerse myself in the wonders of a night market and there are places I worry about going but I can say for sure, I would never let my allergies be the main reason for me not doing or going somewhere!
There have been moments where I felt as though I haven’t advocated the best for myself. I remember in Greece, my best friend yelled at a waiter because they brought me the same meal 3 times, insisting it didn’t have dairy, when there was clearly cheese on it. I should have been the one to make the fuss.
I can also make life threatening mistakes. Although I can read French pretty much fluently, a few summers ago, in France, I read the allergy labelling wrong on a pot of hummus. The labelling in France is different than what it is in England, and on one of the packets the ingredients were safe but it said ‘may contain nuts,’ so we put it back. Then we grabbed another, read it, there was nothing in bold, and no allergens listed at the bottom of the list - so we took it. At the house we started eating the hummus and after 2 bites I realised something was wrong. I went to read the ingredients again and my heart sank. Buried in the ingredients list were the words ‘fromage frais,’ or ‘cream cheese’ as we know it. We were 45 minutes away from the nearest hospital, I knew I would have to use the epipen immediately. I wasn’t even in full anaphylaxis at that point but it would have been too risky to wait and see when we were so far from the hospital. When we got to the hospital the staff was incredibly friendly, and they already had my information because I had a dairy reaction there 21 years prior, when my mum gave me the wrong milky tea. I was able to go home a few hours later, as they said I used the epipen quick enough that my reaction didn’t escalate and no further medication was needed.
People are really afraid to travel, and I understand why, but in all honesty, my worst experiences have been in the United States where I have lived a lot of my life. I have found waiters to be rude, and hospital staff to passive, most of the time not believing I am having a reaction. At 12, my anxiety was quite bad and sometimes I would think I was having a reaction (sometimes that would cause somewhat of a physical reaction too). This happened at least twice and I went to the hospital each time; because I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, or what caused it, they wouldn’t take me seriously, they didn’t believe I was having an attack, although there were clear hives, and I was experiencing shortness of breath.
At the end of the day, mistakes do happen but they can happen in your hometown or abroad. You might as well see the world.
So, where is more Grace friendly you ask? Anywhere! I just have to prepare, speak up, and possibly eat some cows tongue!
If there is anything that resonated with you in this post or on the blog please leave a comment, like the page and/or share with somebody else. Thank you for reading!
Please reach out to Grace and let her know what you think!
Grace
Instagram @gracefriendly
Allergy UK - Translation cards (they have suspended due the pandemic, but once we are travelling check them out.
The Allergy Table - Travel blog post
Allergy girl eats - Travel section
There are also many instagram profiles of people with allergies travelling - search allergy traveller or
@miss_allergic_reactor @allergictraveller for more resources.