Bon voyage! Travel fearlessly.

As winter break just ended and with President's Week around the corner, I was reminded of precautions to take when you go to another country.
1. Be prepared for non-English speakers
Oftentimes vendors and servers don't understand what "nuts," "sesame," or other things mean. Make sure you know how to say what your allergy is in whatever languages you might be encountering on your trip. When I went to Budapest and Prague last year, I carried around a notecard with my allergies listed in English, Hungarian and Czech. Although for the most part they understood the words in English, many locals did not know what "sesame was," hence the card came in handy.
2. Before the flight
It's also a good idea to inform your airline in advance of your allergy so they can prepare a special allergy-free meal just for you. Even vegetarians and gluten-free people can do this! They will have your seat number and will know what foods are okay to give you.
3. Back-up fuel
You should bring your own snacks just in case the food around you is unreliable at times. In Europe, most desserts and snacks have nuts in them, so I thrived off of Fiber One bars, Craisins, cheese sticks, and easy mac n' cheese.
It's important to be careful if you're not familiar with the local cuisine because you never know what hidden ingredients there may be!
Happy travels :)