The Anatomy of a Healthy Road Trip

Ever since we moved to Ohio from Arizona six years ago, road tripping has been a part of our summers.  We typically take one trip to Michigan to visit my family and one visit to the East Coast to visit Tim’s family.  We pack up the family truckster and take it to the road.  Over the years we’ve learned how to create a healthy road trip without too much stress. Okay, getting everything ready and everyone out the door can be stressful, but we manage to get it done.  Usually a minimum of 30 minutes later than planned.

Eating on the road can be a total disaster without planning ahead.  Have you ever tried to grab a snack at a gas station?  Ugh.  Or what about trying to grab a quick lunch when you’re on a stretch of highway with two restaurant to choose from:  McDonald’s or Taco Bell.  Double ugh.  No thanks.

The key to keeping your road trip healthy is planning ahead and bringing your own food.  I don’t bring gourmet meals, but having fresh vegetables and fruit when traveling can make the trip so much healthier.  Typically we bring enough food for lunch and snacks.  We find the healthiest option we can for dinner and breakfast is a hotel continental breakfast where I can usually find healthy enough choices.  If our options were more limited, I’d find a way to bring those foods, too.

Here’s a look at our stash for our latest road trip.

Front Row

1. avocados

2. apples

3.  Strawberry Shortcake Energy Bites (I can’t stop making these! They are so good.  A couple people have asked where to find freeze dried strawberries. If you can’t find them at your grocery store, they sell them at Target!  I doubled the recipe and, for the sake of time, pressed the mixture into a 9X13 dish and cut them into squares.)

4.  Larabars (the kids will eat these for breakfast if there aren’t good options)

5. peanut butter and jelly sandwiches

6.  bananas

Back Row

7.  water bottles

8.  popcorn

9.  Horizon Organic Sandwich Crackers

10.  watermelon

11. grapes

12.  red peppers

13.  cucumbers

13.  carrots

14.  salad

I rarely buy crackers, so these sandwich crackers are a special treat for the kids.  I call the organic crackers “healthy junk food.”  I don’t typically use all this plastic for storage, but glass containers aren’t very practical for a road trip, so I compromise for my two long road trips a year.  I also brought a big jug of water so we can fill up our water bottles without having to buy pricey bottles of water at the store.  That’s more of a frugal tip than a healthy tip, but I thought I’d throw it out there.

Since our road trips are mostly in the summer, we find a nice rest area with picnic tables to have our lunch.

This is actually the most live post I’ve ever done.  I snapped these photos with my iPhone just a little while ago and I’m writing this post from the car.  How cool is modern technology? Clearly the boys in my life didn’t want to be photographed, but at least you have a visual.

Our rest area stops also give us a chance to walk around, stretch our legs, and get some fresh air, all of which contribute to a healthier road trip.

Once you’ve got your car time covered with healthy food, you can focus on the rest of the trip.  I know I probably won’t exercise as much on this trip as when I’m home, but I packed my workout gear so I’m ready to get a few sweat sessions in.  Once again, the key is planning!  Plan for it and it’s much more likely to happen.

Don’t think that you have to forget about healthy living when you’re on the road.  Plan ahead, bring your own food, and don’t stress! Now I’m off to find a way to kill, oh, another four hours. You’ve gotta love road tripping!