Lessons Learned from Life on the Road

As I have already mentioned, the past week has been Matthew’s first ever weeklong high school band tour. There was some serious planning, preparation, and coordination with the band teacher that needed to happen, but we managed to come up with a workable food plan that would allow Matthew to eat while on this grand adventure. The weather was amenable which meant that his food in the ice chest that traveled in the bottom of the bus stayed nice and cool the whole time. That was a definite plus. He made it home in one piece and was not starving to death which was another plus. Bao makes fantastic travel food (something we already knew) and muffins were another winner for Matthew in terms of ease while on the go. There were a few speed bumps, but Matthew chalks those up to lessons learned. Perhaps the biggest lesson learned was not to forget the charger for your cool battery-operated heated lunch box or you will only get two hot meals while on the go instead of a dozen. Serious lesson learned there. Another lesson was never to leave your food on the bus because you have no idea where it will be going or when it will be back. Other than that, Matthew managed his food well. And he had some fun. 

Kevin was in the vicinity the entire time as the emergency food back up plan, but Matthew never felt like he needed to call. Hopefully the few rough patches will make the next tour run a little smoother. Because we all know there will be another tour. And that Matthew will most definitely want to go. As he gets older, we know he will be eating away from home more and more. One of my big goals as a food allergy mom is to teach my kids how to safely feed themselves when they are away from home. Another of my goals is to help them have as normal a life as possible despite their food limitations. Being able to feed himself for this past week has been a huge step towards achieving both of those goals. It was not stress free, that’s for certain, but he succeeded and has gained confidence in his ability to travel without us.

Now if only we could help him deal with the travel insomnia…