Why Our Camper is Our Saving Grace

(And Our “Flipped Kitchen” System)

There is nothing more terrifying than knowing your best friend and life partner is hundreds of miles away from home, working a hard blue-collar job at night alone, with very little help nearby.

He would be curled up under his work truck in pain from a flare-up, all because he was malnourished and ate the “wrong thing” just to hold himself over.

That was our old life for years!

And that is why our camper is our saving grace.

Going full-time wasn’t a scary leap; it was the only logical step. It got Dan out of that job and brought him home.

His “commute” is now just a few feet to a kitchen that is 100% safe. We have been able to finally experiment, find safe food options, and heal.

Because our camper is our “safe house,” we’re building our systems from the ground up. The first and most important one—the one that makes it all possible—is our “Flipped Kitchen.”

System 1: The “Flipped Kitchen”

To truly prevent the cross-contact and fume reactions we talked about in our last post, we had to “flip” our kitchen.

In most homes, the person with the allergy gets one ‘special’ pan. In our camper, our entire kitchen—every pot, pan, utensil, and surface—is a dedicated AG and HI safe zone.

It’s actually me who has a single, separate pan for my own food, and our son has his own air fryer. This is the only way to make the entire space truly safe.

What We’re Still Figuring Out

The truth is, we don’t have the other parts perfected. We’re still very much in a “testing” phase.

We don’t have a “Master Safe List” written in stone. Our ‘system’ is one of constant, careful research. We’ve spent hours digging into resources (AI research included!) to find possible safe options just to expand his diet beyond the few things we knew were okay. Every new food is a careful experiment.

The same goes for travel days. We’re still figuring out safe, “panic-free” meals for those long hauls. We have plans to test some new options, and we’ll be sure to share what works (and what doesn’t) right here on the blog.

This new life isn’t about “roughing it” or compromise. It’s about finally having a safe place to land. It’s about having a kitchen that heals. It’s not perfect, but it’s ours. Thanks for reading.