Emergency Food Items

[hungryCAT]

CAR trips: trail mix, Detour bars, Splenda, water, grapes

PLANE trips: the above, plus a flask of rum (I hate flying!)

[Milagai]

I usually take nothing. Half the fun of traveling for me is the "road food" I call it.

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Oh definitely, the fun of traveling is road food.

BUT for some of us, that does not preclude

loading the commissariat train!

Better have too much than none at all.

I thought I overloaded, but compared to some

posters here I am an amateur!

Milagai

[Terrasanct]

Cash/card is my emergency food item.

Well, that's important, too, but when you live in Montana you make sure you have what you need in the car. Some drives take us past nothing but fields, mountains, and cows. And they don't like sharing.

[johnsmith45678]

Cash/card is my emergency food item.

Well, that's important, too, but when you live in Montana you make sure you have what you need in the car. Some drives take us past nothing but fields, mountains, and cows. And they don't like sharing.

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That's much more hospitable than, say, west Texas, Death Valley, stretches of southern Arizona, and many, many other areas! Still, I can't think of anywhere in the US where food is ever more than maybe 2-3 hours away by car, at most. In such places, it's much more important to ensure that my car has its emergency food items (water (well, for me too), oil, etc.).

[TPO]

Cash/card is my emergency food item.

Well, that's important, too, but when you live in Montana you make sure you have what you need in the car. Some drives take us past nothing but fields, mountains, and cows. And they don't like sharing.

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That's much more hospitable than, say, west Texas, Death Valley, stretches of southern Arizona, and many, many other areas! Still, I can't think of anywhere in the US where food is ever more than maybe 2-3 hours away by car, at most. In such places, it's much more important to ensure that my car has its emergency food items (water (well, for me too), oil, etc.).

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I used to bring sweet treats when I travelled, but I found that one of the pleasures of a long road trip is stopping for gas and being able to pick up a treat. So to some extent, I do enjoy buying things along the way. But when the trip involves long stretches of very rural areas, or the possibility of bad weather or car troubles, it's good to know you won't go hungry.

There are some fast-food restaurants that I really dislike, and convenience store sandwiches aren't going to be better than the tabouli in my cooler.

[Pookie]

I always have a granola bar or two in my purse. I can't count the number of times we have gotten distracted by a museum or art gallery and realise a few hours down the road that we are really hungry!! Once I get to that state of HUNGRY! I am incapable of making a descision or choosing a restaurant. A granola bar gets the blood sugars back to a point where I am rational again.

Plus they last forever and are cheaper than Powerbars. (more money for those museums)

[Rebecca263]

My car ( ) was a clean, well organized haven for me until I recently began a job that entails a LOT of driving. I work in grocery stores, you'd think I could travel WITHOUT food accoutrements, but NO, I've begun to NEED food in the car. It's a mess in the back seat, I tell ya'. I carry a load of flavored waters in 1 liter bottles, packets of raw sugar, apples, and if kiddle is accompanying me, bags of fruit and potato chips of some sort. When we go on real road trips, we carry flavored water, unsweetened drinks, bottled Starbucks Frapuccinos(kiddle is a fan of caffeine and sugar with her milk), packets of raw sugar for me, and, we go completely wonky buying every odd snack imaginable in every shop that we encounter. It's a good part of the charm of a road trip, and the rule is that those foods have a free pass on the junk and nutrition scales.

[BigboyDan]

Here's what I always have in a small container in my pickup truck: a small bottle of tobasco; packets of castup, sweet and sour, salt, pepper; alka seltzer, asprin, ibuprofin; napkins, plastic knives, spoons, and forks; a $20 bill; and a bottle of water.

Edited June 9, 2006 by BigboyDan (log)

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

If I know I'm going to be out all day, I pack cereal bars for my oldest son, granola bars for the middle two, juice pouches, 8oz aseptic containers of soymilk and chocolate milk (Silk and Horizon respectively), pretzels, sugar free gum, root beer barrels, a sunflower seed butter sandwich for my daughter, baby food for my youngest, bottled water and either candy bars or beef jerky.

There's a reason why I carry around a huge diaper bag... also comes in handy to smuggle food that my kids can actually eat into movie theaters.

[evongvisith]

For road trips: flour tortillas (you can get meat or cheese to put in them at stops along the way for a quick roadside snack), packets of condiments, fresh or dried fruit, beef jerky, napkins or paper towels and bottled water. I also carry a Swiss Army knife with can and bottle openers. All I need is a grocery sack to keep everything in, rather than taking up space with a cooler (I have a small car).

On airplanes, I bring water, good chocolate, a small bag of pretzels or crackers, and fruit. And count me in as another who packs a small bottle of hot sauce while traveling. I also dislike the usual non-calorie sweeteners that are everywhere, but now that stevia comes in little packets, I've started carrying them instead of Splenda, which tastes weird to me.

[maggiethecat]

I used to travel like the Blues Brothers: a tank of gas and half a pack of smokes. I got places.

Minus the puffs, I now make sure I have good coffee, water, an apple and some Jolly Ranchers.I can always hit the BK in Kalamazoo for a whiddle break and a Whopper. I save my appetite and food money for my destination.