Food for Travel

One of the biggest challenges on our last trip and this trip to Honduras is packing food.

We do have access to breakfast at our hotel every morning and dinners will normally be in the hotel or a restaurant nearby, but we’re basically on our own for lunch + snacks for an entire week. Since we’ll be out at the orphanage all day every day, we won’t have access to food stands or grocery stores during the day.  We pretty much just pack a huge suitcase full of food and bring it with us.

What kinds of things do you take for a trip like this?

Well, the biggest thing for us had to be convenience, ease of making/eating, and things that wouldn’t melt or go bad.

These are just the items Nick and I bought for this week:

bars

  • Mountain Mix Mojo bars
  • Quaker True Delight bars
  • Cascadian Farms chocolate chip granola bars
  • Kashi Blackberry bars
  • 2 kinds of Odwalla bars (I finally found them!)

bars

  • Honey Roasted Peanut Mojo bars
  • Chocolate Almond Fudge and Blueberry Crisp Clif bars
  • Coconut Cream (yay! finally found those too), Key Lime Pie, and Apple Pie LARA Bars – my mom also bought some pb cookie, cashew cookie, and cherry pie ones that are coming with my dad

pbj

  • Natural no-stir needed peanut butter
  • Squeeze bottle of grape jelly
  • single packets of almond + peanut butter

nuts

  • 100 – cal packs of almond, almonsds + walnuts, cocoa roasted almonds
  • single serve packets of mixed dried fruit

trailmix

  • single serving trail mix
  • gum

pita

  • pita breads
  • whole wheat tortillas – both to make pb & j wraps or tuna/chicken/salmon sandwiches

tuna

  • tuna pouches
  • salmon pouches

condiments

  • mayo
  • light mayo
  • mustard
  • honey

gatorade

  • single serve gatorade mix-ins
  • large container of powdered gatorade

We also have to have other things on hand that aren’t food but are necessary:

travel

  • wet wipes
  • flushable wipes
  • face wipes
  • shout wipes
  • Aleve
  • Purel
  • travel shampoo
  • travel face wash
  • pepto bismol + imodium

Nick’s parents and my dad also bought other food items, like:

  • premade tuna salad lunch packs
  • pb + cheese crackers
  • more bars
  • fruit cups
  • applesauce
  • plastic silverware
  • juice

and I don’t know what else  :) It’s funny to see just a suitcase filled with food, but you do what you gotta’ do!

I hate having to rely on so many packaged foods, especially since we usually don’t eat them very much, but I am glad we were able to find relatively healthy packaged food to take.

Breakfast should be good and a hot meal to start out each day. I’m just going to try to do my best at breakfast every day to make sure I have a filling and lasting meal, have a good amount of snacks/wraps with me during the day, and then make sure I have a good meal to end the day. AND make sure we’re all hydrated because it is hot there and we’ll be working outside the majority of the time.

How do you approach travel eating/planning? Any tips and tricks that work for you?


15 comments

  1. those look great! i also highly recommend some green pills (green vibrance makes a good one but TJ’s has a cheaper option) in case you can’t get some fresh veggies in….i also take probiotics when i’m abroad…

  2. looks awesome. the blackberry graham bars sound AMAZING!

  3. Now that’s some food packing!! I usually just bring a few snacks, and let the rest go unplanned. Probably a bit different while going to Honduras though.

  4. that is one awesome stash of food! i wish i had been that prepared when i was camping in key west!!!

  5. Wow that’s a lot of food!! I love everything you bought!! I usually eat out on trips so I’m no help suggesting travel eats! Sorry!

    Rebecca
    http://roseyrebecca.wordpress.com/

  6. looks like you have some great food packed, I usualy bring lots of bars

  7. Wow, I am super impressed with your selection of travel foods! I usually brings lots of bars with me!

    I’m glad you finally found Odwalla bars.

    Hope you are having a fun trip!

  8. That must be tough! It looks like you guys your basis covered with food! I tell my clients to pack dried fruit, nuts, PB, bars, etc. At least you can alternate between tuna & PB sandwiches for a week!

  9. Looks like a great stash!! I always pack food to take with me because 1. I’m running around all day when I travel (I travel for work, not vacations sadly :( ) and 2. In the Midwest, eating vegetarian can be tricky at times so I’d rather be prepared!

  10. you sure have a great amount of food for your trip :) Love that you are brining nut butters!

  11. It looks like you packed a great spread! I didn’t realize you are going to be working in an orphanage, that’s so great!

  12. Great stash! I usually take bars, apples, pb packets, and if I have a microwave– pre-portioned packets of regular slow-cook oats that I mix cinnamon in so I can soak em overnight and microwave them :) Also bread, and canned tuna/salmon packets.

  13. Wow, you did a great job of planning ahead! You don’t want to use me as an example of what to pack for trips, I usually just pack snacks, and not the healthy kind either!

    Can’t wait to hear about your experience when you’re back.

  14. you are such a good planner!!!!

  15. you are so prepared girl – i am LOVING all those travel eats. when i was in Thailand, i brought a huge stash, but it all went way too fast. have a wonderful vacay – i cannot wait to read a huge recap of all your travels.

    much love to ya!

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