While preparing for our long trip and analyzing my stress triggers, I thought carefully about how we’d deal with meals on the road. Eating out was an occasional option, but since we’d be on the road for several days I considered the budget, the time it would take for each restaurant stop, and our overall health and energy levels from too much fast food.
We decided to bring most of our food, limiting restaurants to one meal a day. So the night before we left I did a big shopping trip, stocking up on easy-to-eat snacks, drinks, and sandwich-making supplies. Then we packed a box for paper goods, snacks and non-perishable foods, and a cooler for drinks and stay-cool foods.
In the cooler, reusable ice packs worked well because we were able to refreeze them each night we stopped (we mostly stayed with family or friends along the way). But we also bagged up ice from hotel ice machines or gas stations. (Just be sure to double bag with good quality ziptop bags so you don’t end up with a soggy mess!)
Some foods that traveled well for us included:
- Bread or rolls
- Lunchmeat, cheese, individual packets of condiments
- Peanut (or alternative nut) butter, jam
- String cheese
- Beef jerky
- Pre-cut/washed veggies such as celery, baby carrots, cucumbers
- Easy to eat fruits like apples, bananas, grapes
- Hummus
- Bean dip and chips
- Individual cups of fruit or applesauce
- Trail mix
- Yogurt tubes
- Packaged cookies or crackers
- Fruit snacks
How do you handle food on a road trip?
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