This change has completely destroyed my will to travel. Or, rather, makes me regret not having traveled when I had the chance to enjoy one of the best parts of it: the food. And not just the food itself, though that is a big draw -- more important is the logistics of not having to cook all your food yourself, needing specific products from specific brands (and if you can't find them you're shit out of luck), etc. Travel for me is only possible in places where I have a kitchen (so, AirBnB), and the supplies required to meal prep. I'll spend a not insignificant amount of time in my new locale cooking and cleaning dishes, like I constantly do at home. No wandering around town checking out a restaurant. No airport food. No meeting new friends and them spontaneously treating me to dinner.
So, so many lost experiences. When I get in this mood and remember what life was like just a year ago before all these food allergies hit, when I was still planning on traveling the world "once Covid blew over," it makes me so, so sad. I can't believe I lost my chance just because I chose to work right out of college (worse, an internship that didn't end up hiring me).
Point being:
For whatever critique of travel this post might offer, just...if you can, travel. I never, ever thought that I would lose the ability to be somewhere and just...eat, without thinking. To try new food without fear of literally dying. I never knew that could happen to someone. I never knew the simple joy of eating somewhere I'd never been before could be taken away, that I would be trapped to the same tiny list of ingredients (ever-shrinking, I might add), the same depressingly small number of combinations formed by them, and by extension the physical entrapment, the loneliness, the sense of not being part of the group because I can't share in the meal.
God I hate it.
If you can, just fucking travel. Do it while you still can.
Then right before he retired he got something called IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). While not life threatening, it reduced his quality of life significantly as well as sending him into depression. While he is a lot better both physically and mentally now. I would say he is 90%+ recovered in both aspects. But the damage is done, and he is now almost a homebody watching movies and Youtube all day because he fears not being close to the bathroom for extended periods (specifically, a comfortable home bathroom, not a public toilet). His lifelong golf hobby is effectively gone too.
Needless to say, I was raised to be frugal, which I always resisted. But after seeing what happened to my dad (and as a result, mom too), that resistance has turned into a fuck no. I certainly don't advocate splurging above your means, but I do advocate living life to the fullest, even if that means spending substantial money.
Other than going back to visit family in Korea a few times, my mom has never ventured outside the US northeast. My wife and I have made it a point to take her on a plane trip once a year since my dad can't, and she has been absolutely thrilled.
Bought my dad his dream car (a V8 BMW 5-series) because he still can't break out of his frugal mindset despite being financially well-off. Got yelled at for not being frugal and spending money when I gave it to him, but in spite of that he absolutely loves driving it.