I'm Going to Italy!

Studying abroad is something I honestly never thought I would do in college, in part because of the many, many challenges that come with traveling when you have food allergies.

Eating out is difficult enough, but adding a language barrier and a whole new culture makes everything infinitely more complicated. Even though traveling is something that I am eager to do, I was very much letting anxiety surrounding my food allergies hold me back.

After much debate and lots and LOTS of research, I applied to study abroad this summer at the Santa Reparata International School of Art (SRISA) in Florence, Italy! I will be studying in their Summer A semester for 4 weeks taking a 3 credit course, and I am very, very excited.

My family and I leave on Tuesday for a week in Rome (seeing the Italian Open of course) and then they’ll drop me off in Florence for school and I’ll take the rest on my own!

Although I didn't anticipate it, I'm really happy to have my family there especially in the beginning, as it will be a bit of a safety net for ordering at my first Italian restaurants, scoping out the grocery stores, and getting a feel for how I will manage my food in general. I am grateful for having this sort of training wheel in the beginning, as it will be much less daunting than diving into completely uncharted waters all on my own.

Little Mother's Day shoutout to my mom here, as she has been unbelievably incredible in helping me research, calling restaurants to make reservations, speaking with a food allergy travel agent, and overall going above and beyond to help me enjoy my time abroad to the fullest without letting my food allergies get in the way.

The apartments in which SRISA houses students do come equipped with a full kitchen, so I will have the ability to make my own food and not have to rely entirely on eating out. With that being said, I do want to fully experience the culture while I am there - and food is a HUGE part of that.

I’m excited to be taking this leap despite inevitable nerves that accompany an adventure this big, as the opportunity to gallivant around Italy as a 20 year old college student is truly unmatched.

I’m also excited to have this space to document my time there! I’m hoping to be able to share restaurant reviews, general tips and tricks I learn, meals I grocery shop for and prepare on my own, and (fingers crossed) a safe gelato win.

I know this will be an wonderful period of growth for me, and I can’t wait to share it all here.

I did order food allergy chef cards from Equal Eats which I plan to write a post about once I try them over there and see how it goes! These cards essentially list out all of my food allergies in English on the front and in Italian on the back, and notify restaurants of the severity of my allergies and need to prevent cross contamination. I've heard good reviews, so looking forward to using them!

Some of my other favorite resources!

https://abroadwithallergies.com/allergy-friendly-restaurants-florence-italy/

https://emsnutfreeeats.com/allergy-friendly-restaurant-guide-rome/

https://www.spokin.com/italy-nut-allergy-friendly-gluten-free-travel-itinerary (Spokin is always a go-to!)

https://missallergicreactor.com/traveling-to-italy-with-food-allergies-in-2018/ (I joined Allie's webinar just this week and found it reassuring to hear her advice and experiences. I actually booked a private coaching session with her! If I was going at a later date I definitely would have looked into her new Allergy Travel Academy.)

If by chance anyone has been to Rome, Florence, or any of the excursion sights - Chianti, Siena, Venice, and Cinque Terre/Portovenere, I would absolutely love to hear about your experiences!

In the meantime, I’ll get back to my Duolingo lesson and currently overflowing suitcase.

Ciao!!! :))