I’m increasingly convinced that a little vacation meal planning can make it possible to travel almost anywhere in the world for business or pleasure with plenty to eat (and no stress about it!). Granted, this will be easier to do in the states, but you can certainly do it.

Now you can enjoy luxury vacations even in the most luxurious resorts (especially there) and get kosher food. It just takes a little research and planning, and believe me, it’s worth it.

Choose your vacation spot

As one of the kosher traveling experts I interviewed told me, “Dream about where you’re going and then find out where the Jews are.”

Return to the dream phase. Want:

-an island vacation

-a private getaway where you won’t meet anyone you meet

-a luxury cruise, vacation at a resort

-a vacation to see the world on a budget

-See other cultures, including ours?

Dream where you want to go and answer some questions like: Am I interested in meeting new people?

-Do I want to see museums and culture or just sit on a beach?

-How long can I go?

-How important is eating to you?

-How long do I want to be on a plane?

-Do I want to be able to eat in restaurants?

If you find it difficult to make a decision about where to go, try this tool: Handy Dandy Decision Making Tool

Stays in luxury hotels, cruise ships and resorts

If you stay at an isolated resort and spend almost all of your time there, you can:

A. Do some research to see where the Jews are and if there are any kosher restaurants nearby using http://www.chabad.org or kosherdelight.com.

b. order food with royalpalate.com, have it delivered to your hotel, making sure to ask for a fridge in your room.

cons Call the hotel and ask for the food service manager. By now, most people who work in food services have heard of kosher food. Chances are, you can arrange to have kosher meals delivered to your room, at any large resort. (The best place for this is Disney World.)

d. If you’re not staying in a Jewish area, just bring a pot and when you arrive, go to a grocery store for your favorite foods. Kosher the oven and microwave in your hotel and kitchen.

Private Beach Holidays

I know a frum family that spends a lot of time in the Caribbean, Antigua, Barbados, Tobago, the Cayman Islands. They want a really private, cozy vacation and they don’t want to see anyone they know.

What they do is look for private beaches so that swimming is not a problem.

They then book a villa that MUST have a kitchen, stove, refrigerator aka kitchenette.

Since finding a grocery store nearby is often rare, they bring EVERYTHING they can and spare 1-2 suitcases to do so.

Tuna, jam, cereal, pretzels, pasta, bread mixes, etc. 1 or 2 pots and pans. It happens that they eat very simply on these holidays.

If you want a more elaborate meal, you can do the same. Go to nearby restaurants and order lots of takeout. freeze them. Before you leave, wrap them frozen and put them in a suitcase. Check the suitcase on the plane. You may need to check with customs officials to make sure you can bring the meat into the country. If you don’t want to take this with you on the plane, you can pack it in dry ice and send it through the post office.

The benefits of these models is that you don’t need to try to find a grocery store once you’re there. You may want to find a market that sells fruits and vegetables, but that’s most likely not going to be a problem.

You’ll find that this research phase of holiday meal planning isn’t too strenuous. It is definitely worth doing meal planning beforehand so that you can enjoy a relaxing stay.

International travel with little Jewry
International travel is a bit more difficult to plan. This is what I recommend you do.

1. Get a list of what you can buy in the country you are going to. Call Star-K and search the Internet for items you can buy anywhere in the world. Here are a few:

bottled water; unflavored mineral water; beer; draft beer in a business bar; roasted peanuts in shell; dried beans, split peas, and all other dried vegetables and canned fruits produced in the USA with no additives other than sugar. Be aware that canned cherries may contain carmine, an insect extract used for coloring. Don’t buy canned cherries (they can also be found in fruit cocktails) without reliable supervision. Additionally, canned plums may contain a coloring derived from the skin of the grape.

In addition, most dried fruits can be consumed; exceptions include plums with added oil, pineapples, pears, raisins, and apples. You can buy canned pineapples made in Thailand or the Philippines. You can also buy frozen vegetables that do not contain oils or other additives.

You can buy and eat any whole kosher fish. However, if the fishmonger’s employee cuts the fish with a non-kosher knife, the cutting area may become non-kosher. To avoid this problem, bring your own knife to the store.

Ask your rabbi as I am not one!

2. Next do a search in the country you are staying in, again chabad.org and kosherdelight.com are great sites.

3. Find the Jews in the country you are traveling to. Prepare enough to make sure the community knows you’re coming. Many communities have lists with an approved section for food with manufacturer and there is a section not and maybe.

Email people ahead of time to talk about the food. For example, in Lisbon there is a woman who cooks food for Jewish travelers. In Copenhagen you can eat her yogurt. All these insider secrets come from talking to the residents of the city/country you are traveling to.

I imagine if you are touring a country with little Jewry, you want to see, do, meet people and learn about the culture. Like I said, find the Jews, contact them, make sure they know you’re coming, find out what you can and can’t eat, and bring non-perishable food.

You can go anywhere! Part of the fun is doing the research beforehand just so you can use it when you get there.

business travelers

If you’re traveling with your company or on business and need to be able to “blend in” at company dinners and award ceremonies, here’s what you can do.

Instead of asking your company to provide kosher (because mix-ups can often happen), call the hotel directly and ask for the catering services manager. Tell them you need kosher meals.

I know of a frum woman who was being honored at a company dinner and what she had the hotel do was use a normal china plate with a beautifully folded napkin on top of the plate. On top of the napkin was a plastic plate with his actual dinner. It was very discreet, no one noticed that she was eating a different meal. This was in Cancun.

You can do it too!