All-inclusive holidays & PKU: Can it work?

The post- holiday blues are hitting hard after returning from a two week break to Calaegos in Mallorca with my family. This was our first holiday abroad in three years, so the circumstances of my PKU diet have changed quite a lot since then - I have moved from the Cooler to Bettermilk and my diet in general is much more relaxed now. Nevertheless a few old worries reared their heads again; the transportation of my supplement on a plane, getting through customs with this on both ends and also, when I finally did arrive, the Spanish food.

We stayed at an all- inclusive hotel, Roc Las Rocas, which was absolutely wonderful. Whilst there, I realised that some people with PKU or parents of children with PKU may be put off staying at an all-inclusive hotel because of their diets, but actually after experiencing this a few times now, I would argue that with some planning there is no reason why you can't enjoy a holiday like this too!

Prior to our holiday we took a packet of my Bettermilk into the travel agents to get their advice on how was best to tackle travelling with it. They told us it would be fine to be stored in the hold of the plane, but they also recommended that I get a copy of my prescription just in case of any issues. I got in contact with Healthnet who very kindly provided a letter signed by the pharmacist. As well as this, I also took another letter from my dietitian. I probably didn't need both, but I have always thought it is better to be over prepared than under prepared. As it happened, I didn't need either of the letters because there were no issues at all with getting through customs (a massive relief)! I will also mention here that when packing my supplement into our suitcases we divided them up amongst all four rather than just piling them into one case, so that in the unlikely event of a lost or damaged suitcase I still had some supplement left! If you are travelling with a few people I would always suggest dividing up your essential bits this way.

Although I do follow a fairly relaxed diet now where I don't weigh my food, I feel confident that if this wasn't the case I would have still been able to easily manage my PKU diet on this holiday. I feel sure that weighing out food at meal times wouldn't have been an awkward process as everything was served in a buffet style, making it convenient to take as little or as much as you liked. I know that I probably would have taken bits of food along with an extra plate back to my table where I would have weighed them. It did get rather busy in the restaurant, so I doubt I would've attempted to weigh out food at the counter.

Despite me not keeping track of my protein allowance at the moment, I do prefer to stick to veggie options when possible so, of course I was super happy to discover the hotel's salad bar which was open everyday at all meal times. I definitely made the most of this as I had salad for lunch every single day! The hotel also offered a variety of fruit throughout each day, not just at meal times but at snack times too. At lunch and dinner I always found there to be several vegetarian options out which included a range of cooked vegetables and sliced potatoes or chips. Again, I feel sure that if I was still on a strict PKU diet I wouldn't have to solidly rely on my low- protein foods for meals as there was plenty of choice. However, if you do need to take low- protein food with you, don't forget there is always the option of speaking to the hotel chefs beforehand. I would like to mention here that my hotel also had a toaster (at breakfast) and a microwave which were available to use. Please keep in mind though, that hotel facilities and food choices could differ depending on where you holiday and which hotel you choose. I think the fact that our hotel was very child- orientated probably influenced how varied the meal times were.

I also found the hotel facilities to be extremely useful when it came to taking my supplement. At breakfast times I found it easiest to take my shaker, with my Bettermilk powder already in, straight to the restaurant to fill up with water from the drinks machine. Later, we bought some bottled water so that I could have my supplement in the privacy of our room if I liked.

I had a really fantastic holiday in Mallorca and overall I was really pleased with the food on offer at the hotel. However I would always suggest doing a bit of research before your holiday, whether you are heading to Mallorca too or somewhere completely different. If you were unsure of all-inclusive holidays and PKU being a good mixture before reading this, then I hope that I have convinced you otherwise or at least filled you with enough confidence to give it a go yourself!