Healthy Travel Snacks

I have some exciting news! I'm heading off on a little trip to explore the west coast of America in a few weeks! It seems to be the season for travel at the moment. If you live in the northern hemisphere it is the time to travel and take advantage of summer, if you are in the southern hemisphere it is time for some international travel to escape the winter chill. I thought I would share my tips for eating healthy while in transit (on the plane, in the car). I have also included some travel appropriate healthy snack ideas. Whether it be a long trip or a short trip I have you covered.

My first tip is probably the most obvious and harped on about travel tip around. That is, drink lots of water. Staying hydrated will keep your digestive system happy, your skin feeling moisturised, and help you to feel energised on arrival. Planes in particular can be very dehydrating.

Find snacks that aren't messy to eat. There is nothing worse than getting to the end of your journey and finding a stain on your top. Also choosing non-messy snacks means a cleaner car/boat/plane/ train seat.

If travelling internationally remember to not bring your left over food into your destination country. I learnt this the hard way, think forgotten half eaten muffin and a Mexican customs dog.

Remember when packing foods that are in liquid form (salad dressing, yoghurt) to make sure that they fit within the liquid restrictions if you are flying (normally 100mL). To avoid paying for water bring an empty drink bottle and will it up once you are through security.

Choose snacks that are small in size, don't require a ton of preparation and aren't smelly (there is nothing worse than sitting next to someone who is snacking on a can of tuna).

When packing up your travel goodies make sure that any containers that could leak and cause a mess are in a zip lock bag, just to be safe. 

Here are my travel snack ideas:

Vegetables

• Pre cut carrot sticks
• Cherry tomatoes
• Pre cut capsicum
• Snow peas
• Sugar snap peas

To jazz up these vegetable snacks think of packing a dip to go with them (Tzatziki or hummus would be delicious).

Fruit

• Some times you can get pre cut fruit in take away cups from the grocery store.
• Fruits that come in a punnet like strawberries, blueberries and blackberries.
• Fruits that don't require cutting like apples, bananas, mandarins and grapes.

One thing to remember is that you only need 2 serves of fruit a day so don't go too crazy (to find out what 2 serves of fruit looks like click here).

Grains and Nuts

• Raw or dry roasted nuts
•  Muesli bar (low in sugar and saturated fats if possible)
• Popped corn flavoured by herbs and spices instead of butter and salt 
• Multigrain crackers with peanut butter

Dairy

• Reduced fat cheese and crackers
• Yoghurt (add fresh fruit and oats)

These foods need to be kept cold so consider packing them in an insulated bag with an ice pack or a frozen drink bottle.

I hope you have found these tips useful. Would you be interested in seeing a part 2 Nutrition Insight travel tips on healthy (but still enjoyable) eating on holiday?

What are your favourite healthy travel snacks? 

Have a healthy weekend,
Bridge

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