Darius Lux is a rock star—and is also gluten free. I asked him how he manages to live gluten free while on the road… travelling at all is often difficult enough for coeliacs, but how does he manage, travelling the world?
Find out more about Darius, and listen to some of his preview tracks too. I really enjoyed No Problem.
Do you pack food from home?
Absolutely, there is no other way unless I know exactly what is available wherever I am going (which is rarely). A lot of festivals and venues very kindly have food for musicians to eat, but even if it’s really healthy food it will still usually have a lot of gluten in it – I used to wing it and kinda hope to find gluten-free foods but after a while you just don’t want glutens in your body for any reason and so prepping at home is the best.
How easy is it to find food in different countries?
Thats an interesting question, it depends on a lot of factors. I think that South East Asia can be good because there are areas that don’t particularly make their food from the traditional (Western) glutenous staples such as wheat or white flour. They will often have rice as the main carb at almost all meals, and often brown rice is available. As much as I grew up loving Italian food, in Italy it was tough avoiding glutens because so much of their best cuisine is pasta or bread based, tho I have to say I found the food in italy a lot less allergenic than here in the US. I think once you know what your restrictions are you get good at finding what you need mostly anywhere you go. The Australian outback is a tough one too, especially when you really get out into the desert – tho that might warrant trying some of the ancient Aboriginal cuisine such as bugs! Bugs don’t appear to be glutenous LOL.
What is the easiest country (in your experience, as a visitor) to find gluten free food?
Thailand – hands down. Almost everything is rice-based and incredibly delish – even the noodles are rice based, coupled with a strong tradition of reverence in the food preparation and Vegan tendencies of the culture. India too if you can avoid the famous breads, there are still countless curry dishes that pair well with rice.
Any tips for travelling gluten free?
Simplest is to make sure you have a strong staple on you, I often like to keep trail mix and dried fruit handy, they satisfy appetite well and are relatively light to pack and carry – you have to make peace with the fact that you probably wont find what you’re looking for a lot of the time.
Secondly, when I traveled in countries that have less English speakers in them, I would find somebody at the hotel or airport or wherever and have them write a sign for me in their native language explaining my food allergy – this helped a lot along the road in more remote areas and saved a lot of confusion.
What food do you miss (and eat first on returning home!)
My favorite is a rice-based pizza crust with tapioca cheese and roasted veggies on it – the BEST!
Thanks Darius!
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I’ve written a book summarising what we’ve learnt over 20 years of dealing with the gluten free diet, and it might be just what you’re looking for. It packs the lessons we’ve learned into what I hope is a helpful and straightforward guidebook. It’s available on Amazon, as a paperback or for your Kindle… |
It’s interesting but almost every one I talk to relies on the same staples almost all the time as our go-to foods when we have to pack for safety sake. I’m the same way – I rely on nuts, seeds and fruits, although I prefer the fresh. (I happen to be diabetic also so the dried fruits are a killer on blood sugars).
But some people always state they like to keep a small cooler with some variety in it but I’ve found what happens if there is no freezer available wherever you are going?
Glad you have found what works for you though. Keep up the good work.
Thank you Lucy for posting the interview. Thx also Kathi, seems you have a lot to contend with diabetes also – best of luck in health!