Several weeks ago I shared about our annual road trip through a few southern states visiting family and friends. Fourteen days of travel– over sixty hours in the van, staying in four different homes, and reconnecting with many loved ones.

While on the road, my husband and I reflected that one of the best things we did to help our children (and ourselves) to stay sane and pleasant to be around was prioritizing healthy food (as much as we could).

If you missed the WHY behind choosing real food over choosing to mostly indulge in junk food on a trip, check out these reasons why I really believe that this is some of the best travel advice to give.

Before we get to the fun of lists and food ideas,  here are three things to note…

1. It’s NO FUSS. The prep before the trip and before any given meal or snack was minimal.

2. It’s KID FRIENDLY. I don’t want to have to twist my kids’ arms to get them to eat what I packed. Especially when they’re bombarded with junk food options. I purposely chose healthy options that they enjoy.

3. It’s LESS MONEY. Travel can be expensive. And while we did, of course, still spend some money on food and restaurants while we were gone, we spent considerably less than we would have if we had not packed some of our own food.

The Nuts & Bolts: What We Packed and What We Ate…

Space is limited in a van with five people headed out on a road trip, so I limited myself to one box of dry foods and one cooler of refrigerated foods.

I did a small amount of prep beforehand, mainly baking bread and bagels (which are a road trip tradition for us), but everything could easily be simply purchased ahead of time too.

There were also a couple of stops at a produce stands or a grocery store to replenish our fresh fruit stash and buy tortilla chips and other various items during the trip.

Dry Foods:

• bagels
• 2 loaves of sandwich bread
• veggie straws
• sunflower seeds
• dark chocolate pumpkin seeds
• bananas
• apples
• oranges
• gum
• (organic) lollipops
• peanut butter
• fruit and vegetable pouches
• hot tea
• honey

• cookbook
• scissors
• bread knife
• cutting board
• 5 plastic plates

Refrigerated Foods:

• yogurt
• salsa
• strawberry jam
• vanilla pudding cups (adapted this recipe for 5-minute pudding cups)
• Babybel cheese
• salami
• iced tea

pudding cups made a sweet and delicious treat when the drive started seeming
L O N G !

From a box and a cooler to many meals and snacks…

Packing these foods meant not needing to stop for fast food in the car, being able to bring along our own snacks and lunches on our outings, and giving us the option of healthy starts to the day and afternoon snacks when we were all spent and tired.

Breakfasts:

• bagels
• fresh fruit
• yogurt with jam

Lunches:

• salami, cheese, fruit, veggie straws
• peanut butter and jam sandwiches, fruit, veggie straws
• cheese, chips and salsa, fruit

a very refreshing lunch during a hot day walking around a state park!

Snacks:

• fresh fruit
• fruit & veg pouches
• sunflower seeds
• dark chocolate pumpkin seeds
• lollipops
• pudding cups
• yogurt and jam

All our food for a day at SeaWorld, which fit into a small cooler bag and snack bag under the stroller. We were able to completely avoid purchasing any food at the park. And it turns out that cold grapes are the perfect treat when walking around on hot pavement all day!

As I already said, we were so thankful for the convenience of the food we brought, as well as how good it made us feel. I was even more thankful for these preparations when we found out I was pregnant the day before our trip!

Does your family like to bring some food along on road trips? What are some of your favorite food to pack?

For more ideas on picnic and travel food, check out the Summer Picnic series page.

For more travel tips, check out the On-the-Road series page.