Making Gluten-Free Travel Feel Possible: An Interview with Ellen Nestorick of Gluten-Free Vacations

For travelers with celiac disease or other dietary restrictions, planning a vacation can involve a lot more than choosing a destination and booking a hotel. Questions about cross-contact, staff training, safe meals, and what will actually be available once you arrive can turn an exciting trip into a stressful undertaking.

That’s exactly the problem Ellen Nestorick, founder of Gluten-Free Vacations, is working to solve.

In this edition of Equal Eats Equalizers, Kyle Dine sits down with Ellen to talk about why she created Gluten-Free Vacations, what she has learned from visiting dozens of resorts firsthand, and how specialized travel planning can help people with celiac disease and other dietary needs travel with greater confidence.

From Personal Experience to Gluten-Free Travel Expert

Ellen started Gluten-Free Vacations in 2021 after seeing firsthand how differently resorts approach dietary restrictions.

While working in the travel industry and visiting resorts, she noticed that some properties went far beyond simply saying they could accommodate gluten-free guests. They understood cross-contact, offered a meaningful variety of gluten-free foods, and had staff who knew how to support guests with celiac disease.

Others looked much better online than they did in person.

That distinction is why Ellen places such a strong emphasis on firsthand research. Over the past several years, she estimates she has visited more than 70 resorts across Mexico and the Caribbean - often spending her trips meeting with staff, examining food options, asking about training, and evaluating how dietary requests are actually handled.

As Ellen explains in the interview, it isn’t enough for a resort website to advertise “gluten-free options.” The real question is whether a traveler can safely enjoy a varied, enjoyable vacation experience rather than eating the same basic meal every day.

Why This Work Is Personal

Ellen’s interest in gluten-free living began with her own health experience. She stopped eating gluten in 2019 while making dietary changes after being diagnosed with pulmonary sarcoidosis. She describes the change as transformational for her personally and has remained strictly gluten-free ever since.

That experience also helped her understand how intimidating travel can feel when food is no longer something you can take for granted.

Today, Ellen says roughly 90% of her clients have celiac disease. That makes issues such as cross-contact and staff knowledge especially important when she evaluates destinations and recommends properties.

What Makes a Resort Stand Out?

Some of Ellen’s favorite properties have a feature that can make an enormous difference: a dedicated culinary or food concierge.

Rather than explaining dietary requirements from scratch at every meal, guests can have a specific person they can contact — sometimes directly through WhatsApp — to discuss meals, make requests, and resolve questions during their stay.

Variety matters, too.

Ellen looks for properties where gluten-free travelers can enjoy many of the foods other vacationers take for granted: pancakes, waffles, pizza, burgers, pasta, specialty dishes, and more. The goal isn’t simply to find something technically safe to eat. It’s to allow travelers to participate in the vacation experience without constantly feeling restricted.

For resorts looking to improve, Ellen points to staff training, knowledgeable dedicated contacts, and stronger systems for handling dietary restrictions as some of the biggest opportunities.

Taking the Stress Out of Planning

Gluten-Free Vacations begins with the same question any good travel advisor might ask: What kind of trip do you actually want?

Some travelers want to explore Europe. Others want an easy Caribbean escape. Families may have different priorities from couples, and a newly diagnosed traveler may need more reassurance than someone who has traveled gluten-free for years.

Ellen and her team match those preferences with destinations they believe can accommodate the traveler’s dietary needs, then help manage as much of the trip as the client wants — including resorts or cruises, airfare, transportation, insurance, excursions, and customized itineraries.

Before departure, clients also receive destination-specific gluten-free information and an Equal Eats translation card to take with them.

For European trips, the support can extend beyond accommodations to lists of gluten-free-friendly restaurants close to the places travelers actually plan to visit. Ellen’s philosophy is that food planning should support the vacation rather than dictate the entire itinerary.

Ellen’s Advice for Gluten-Free Travelers

One of Ellen’s biggest pieces of advice is surprisingly simple: think carefully about when you travel.

Peak holiday periods can mean full resorts, stretched staff, higher prices, and reduced service — all of which can matter even more when you rely on staff to handle dietary restrictions carefully.

She also recommends hearing from people with firsthand experience. Travel advisors, gluten-free communities, reviews, and resources such as Find Me Gluten Free can provide context that a resort’s own marketing materials may not.

For particularly nervous travelers — including parents of children with celiac disease — Ellen may recommend starting with a property that has a dedicated culinary concierge, bringing backup gluten-free foods, or even choosing accommodations near a grocery store. Sometimes knowing there is a backup option nearby is enough to make a trip feel manageable.

Building Confidence, One Trip at a Time

Perhaps the most encouraging part of Ellen’s work is seeing what happens after that first successful vacation.

Some clients begin cautiously with destinations such as Aruba or Disney. Once they see that travel can work, their confidence grows. A future trip might be Europe — and, eventually, somewhere that once felt much more intimidating, such as Japan.

Gluten-Free Vacations has expanded along with those travelers. What began with Ellen specializing in Mexico and the Caribbean now includes team members focused on Europe, Australia, Japan, cruises, Disney, and other destinations.

The bigger goal is simple: a dietary restriction shouldn’t mean giving up on seeing the world.

As Ellen’s own travels — and the experiences of her clients — demonstrate, the right preparation, knowledgeable support, and trustworthy information can help transform travel from something intimidating into something to look forward to.

Watch the full Equal Eats Equalizers interview with Ellen Nestorick of Gluten-Free Vacations to hear the complete conversation, including more of her travel tips, resort insights, and advice for building confidence as a gluten-free traveler.