One Snarky Chica with Issues

Whether you are traveling by car or by plane, it never fails that it is almost impossible to find something to eat that is healthy, or at least semi-healthy. When you arrive at your destination, it is sometimes just as hard to locate healthy alternatives to the usually greasy and calorie laden quick options that seem to be present.  With a little bit of planning ahead of time, you can counteract some of those unhealthy foods and eat somewhat healthy on your trips.

Traveling by plane seems to be the hardest way to eat healthy when you travel. Airports are notorious for only offering unhealthy options for you to eat. However, there are a few large airports that offer up kiosks selling organic fruits, carrots with veggie dip, soy milk and trail mix. But most airports do not offer these options for travelers. Instead you options will usually consist of something along the lines of pizza, burgers, French fries, candy, and potato chips. Breakfast options are even worse at most airports, with pastries and sausage breakfast sandwiches being the most offered items in airports.

While you cannot take any liquids past the security line at the airport, you can take as much non-liquid food as you like. If you are traveling around breakfast time, you can pack yourself fruit, or even dry cereal with a bowl or instant oatmeal. You can then purchase milk or get hot water at a coffee place to finish making your breakfast. For other meal times you can pack your own veggies with 3 ounces or less of dip, a sandwich, granola bars, fruit leather or fruit bars and more. You can even pack food that you can use once you arrive at your end destination. You can easily pack a loaf of bread and peanut butter in your suitcase, as well as oatmeal and soups that can be made using a coffee pot in your hotel room. I even pack my own coffee and tea so that I can drink what I want when I am at the hotel. This way, you will not have to spend money on costly food items and can spend them on souvenirs or trip experiences instead. Also, if you have brought most of your own food, then you reduce your chances of getting sick while traveling, which can ruin a trip.

Eating healthy when traveling by car is substantially easier than by plane. The only restrictions on what you can bring depend upon how much room you have in your car after it is packed up and ready to go. You will definitely want a cooler of some sort for your trip. You may need two coolers depending on the room in your car because you will want one inside the vehicle so that you will not have to stop or pull over if you need to get something out of it. So, if you are cramped for space you might want a small cooler inside the car and a larger one in the trunk. This way you won’t have to stop when you need something, but when you do stop, you can refill the smaller cooler with items from the larger one. The must have item for the cooler is bottled water. Depending on how long my road trips are, I will buy at least one case of bottled water, possibly more. Not only will it keep you healthy, but it will save you a lot of money. For instance, a 20 ounce bottle of water at a gas station averages around $1.30, and a 24-pack of 20 ounce bottles of water at my grocery store is $3.50.

You can also pack your cooler with vegetables, lunch meat, milk, pudding, yogurt, salsa and more. Other items you can pack can be bread, pretzels, cereals, fruits, and more. There is really no limit to what you can bring in your car. You can even go a step further and purchase a mini microwave at a truck stop that plugs into your car. That way you could provide your family with hot meals. You won’t need to worry about keeping your items in you cooler cold, as you can get free ice at any hotel that you stay at. Once you arrive at your destination, all you need to do is find a grocery store or a place like Super Wal-Mart to restock your food and you will be able to continue eating healthy items of your choosing.