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Hi Friends!
I like to think of myself as the ninja of traveling. As an IT consultant who traveled weekly for many years, I have a few tricks up my sleeve from my time on the road. In fact, if I hadn’t stopped consulting and traveling I probably would’ve started a travel blog to share all my hacks, people watching and more!
A few weeks ago, I planned a vacation to L.A. I was all packed, ready to go, even got myself to the airport and terminal when I finally admitted to myself I was in too much pain from the car accident to be traveling anywhere but to my own couch. My attempted travel got me thinking how effortless it is for me to stick to my healthy eating habits when I travel. So today I’m sharing with you Healthy Travel Foods You Should Have In Your Suitcase.
Healthy snacks
Granola bars, trail mix and dried fruit are guaranteed to always be in my suitcase. With so many unhealthy things within reach at airports, it can be real easy for me to slip. When I have my own personal haul with me in tow, I’m much less likely to buy something unhealthy. They make great fillers for packing things snug too! When I was getting ready for my last trip, I swung by CVS to pick up a few snacks I love and few new ones too. That way I have something new to look forward to trying on the trip. Here’s what I got.
- CVS Gold Emblem Abound Hearty Harvest Probiotic Trail Mix – awesome blend of sweet apricots dipped in yogurt mixed with dried cranberries, sweet raisins with crunchy pumpkin seeds and almonds YUM!
- CVS Gold Emblem Banana Crisps
- CVS Blueberry Lemon Almond Crunch – this is like almond granola minus the oats & so much better because blueberries and lemons well, those flavors just belong together
- CVS Gold Emblem Pomegranate & Cranberry Snack Bars – delicious mix of oats, almonds, cranberries, blueberries, pomegranate, hemp & sea salt
- CVS Gold Emblem Abound Goji Berry Blend Trail Mix
- CVS Gold Emblem Fuji Apple & Blueberry Clusters – I love the crunch of these
Protein
I like to carry a lot of protein with me when I travel to keep me full and sane. When I have the right amount protein in my diet, it keeps my blood sugar stable so I crave less sugar. It took me a long time to figure that one out, but once I did it made the world of difference in controlling my food cravings. I bring things like protein powders, single serve tuna packs and nut butter as well as raw nuts and seeds. They’re all great options to get protein and a dose of healthy fat. Since I’m never sure what I’ll feel like eating, I bring a variety to chose from. Here’s what I packed along with my CVS snacks.
- Vega protein powder
- Single serve tuna packs
- Egg whites
- Chia & hemp seeds to top yogurt or salads with for my seed cycling
- NuttZo to go packs because I can’t live a day without nut butter
Fresh Fruits & Veggies
A lot of people think they can’t bring food through airport security, but that only applies to liquids. As long as the food is not a liquid, you can bring it with you into the terminal. I carry fresh fruits & veggies in my suitcase as a reminder to eat them while on vacation. For some reason I never think to eat them when I’m on the road, but if pack them I know I have to eat them or they’ll go bad. Sort of eating out of guilt but hey, whatever works! A wide variety of single serve produce packs are available everywhere now which makes it so much easier to pack produce for travel. Here’s a few things I bring.
- Single serve apples & blueberries
- Oranges, strawberries, cherries, melon
- Single serve carrots, celery & edamame
- Cucumber & broccoli
A Fresh Meal
I picked up a handy dandy lunchbox at CVS to pack a fresh meal for my trip. While airports do have a ton of healthy options when it comes to food, I still like to pack a meal from home for my outgoing flight because I know I’m going to be eating out a lot while I’m gone. Security had no issue with my food or my lunchbox. This lunchbox is awesome! I can’t tell you how long I’ve been looking for one with dividers like this that isn’t a million pieces (similar one here and the real one you can find here). It has 5 sections, comes with built-in utensils and even includes an ice pack.
I packed my lunchbox with kale, tuna & mustard, carrots and cherries. When I travel, I like to eat a lot of fiber at the beginning of my trip to keep my digestion happy. I’m usually off my routine and eating unfamiliar food for a couple days which messes up my body. Doing this, keeps things as “normal” as possible if you know what I mean. Not to mention airport food is ridiculously expensive. I’d rather save my money for the actual vacation and not spend it all at the airport.
Homemade Snacks
To compliment my CVS snack-age, I stashed a few orphan snacks from the freezer in my carry-on that desperately needed to be eaten. With all my cooking and baking, I sort of forget what I have in there. From time to time, I purge things and prepping for a trip is the perfect time to inspect what I have on hand that I should eat. It would really be a crime to waste grain free oatmeal raisin cookies and super seed bites.
I like to have a bunch of snacks with me, homemade & store bought and a variety of them too. I’m more likely to stay on the healthy train when I have a variety to pick from otherwise I get bored eating the same thing over and over. Snacks also tame the hangry monster in me. You just never know when it’s going to strike!
Water Bottle
My carry-on always has a self filtering water bottle that I can easily fill up after getting through security. Many larger airports offer water stations some even filtered. They’re convenient and a huge money saver! It’s important to stay really well hydrated on flights as the compression dehydrates you. Then when I get to my destination I have my bottle with me ready to go everywhere with me so I can stay plenty hydrated during my trip. I carry a water bottle with me everywhere at home so it feels just like home!
There you have it! Now you know my secret to traveling with healthy food and sticking to healthy eating habits. I think now that I told you my secrets, you should tell me yours!
But first my friends CVS are graciously offering one of my readers the chance to win an assortment of their Gold Emblem Abound snacks. Enter below for a chance to win these delicious snacks! Giveaway is open through this Saturday.
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What are some of your favorite travel hacks?
Lots of Health, Food & Love,
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Disclosure: While I partnered with CVS to bring you this post, all opinions stated here are my own.
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String cheese also travels pretty well, and I bring oatmeal packets and as for a short hot water at sbux! then a little sweetner, cinnamon, et voila!
Yes! That’s another good one. I’ve done that one too then toss in a fresh berries and nut butter to top it off.
Perfect timing since we’re going on vacation next week 🙂 My mind seems to go blank in terms of food packing for every trip we go on. I like that lunchbox!
Well one thing’s for sure. You need to bring all that fudge.
I love the CVS snacks, we buy them all the time!
I never knew they had so many good ones there.
I’m with you on packing tons of healthy snacks like this. However, most recently, I ate nearly all of my snacks and ran out of them all by the time I had to fly back home (with no chance to go buy or prep more). That meant airport food for breakfast and snacks that day. My poor wallet. Always be prepared!!! 🙂
Oh no! Well that’s happened to me before too. Overtime I’ve gotten in the habit of over packing snacks because you just never know when snack attack will happen.
Awesome suggestions here, I learned a few new things! I usually travel a lot for work, and pack my oat muffins, a big bag of 50/50 quick oats and oatbran (cooks quickly in hot water), protein powder, and quest bars. Also, a big bag of chopped veggies for the way there. I did NOT know about this tuna however, and that is definitely something I’m going to be on to!!
The tuna packs are very convenient. I can’t tell you how happy it makes me that you pack muffins. 🙂
All their snacks look amazing! I need to stop in for my next trip! Great suggestions!
You should! They have a ton more. I was impressed.
I always love to see what other people pack for travel snacks. Thanks for including the part on protein; that is what I usually have the hardest time packing. I love the idea of packing single serving size portions of protein powder!
Protein is often forgotten about. I learned the hard way I needed to have plenty of it with me to keep me from crashing.
I always pack a jar of peanut butter in my suitcase & bring dry cereal, Quest bars, breakfast cookies and peanut butter filled pretzels in my carryon. I LOVE the idea of the tuna pack! I’m going on vacation next month & will add this to my travel list.
The tuna packs are life saviors. You will love traveling with them. I wish the airports sold them instead of candy and junk.
I always try to bring powdered peanut butter or individual packages of nut butter as well as an apple with me when I travel. Mixed nuts and low sodium beef jerky are staples too.
I’ve never brought powdered PB, that’s a good idea!
Great snacks! I always have snack bars (Vega or Quest), protein powder, apples and oatmeal 🙂
Yes to Vega! I haven’t had their bars in forever. What’s your favorite flavor? I need some inspiration.
My system always gets so out of whack when I travel. I think packing more healthy home snacks would probably help. I was once on a trip with so many delays, I think it was over 24 hours of sleeping in airports and eating whatever I could, and definitly not enought water.
I would have loved if I had done even a few of these ideas…could have made the delays much more tolerable.
Ugh that sounds awful. I’ve been delayed, but never had something like that happen to me. It always seems too when things are stressful too you just want to eat junk. It helps to have snacks on hand to refrain from eating the unhealthy stuff. Glad you found the tips helpful Ruth and I hope that never happens to you again!
Who knew that CVS had so many great ravel snacks? I can tell you that I am a huge fan of CVS- it’s a few steps away from my house and I’m in there all of the time, but for my thyroid meds, kid stuff and cosmetics, I never venture down the food isle.
I had never explored the food isle until after I attended an event with CVS a few months ago where I learned about all they are offering now. It’s pretty cool! P.S. Happy to see you got your other package. 🙂
Great recommendations! I always have to have water with me. Fruits are a must and some type of protein bar.
Water is a must!
Love how tasty AND healthy these suggestions are!!
I always take premixed trail mix but find that the chocolate melts…can’t wait to try the CVS blueberry lemon trail mix instad!
Haha! Very true about the chocolate melting in the summer.
love these snack ideas! i travel weekly for work and have found myself in a jam way too many times not being prepared with snacks.