Hope everyone had a fantastic Memorial Day weekend! It’s officially the start of the summer travel season, so I thought it would be appropriate to share the list of my favorite travel food, including the food I recently took with me on my trip to Asia.
A lot of the items below you can find at Healthy Home Market, Earth Fare and/or Whole Foods. I’ve provided links to where you can find these items on the internet too, which is my preferred method to buy things so I am not always hunting around for the items I love at multiple stores.
Please note – this list assumes I won’t have a kitchen while traveling and won’t be cooking. If I were going to stay somewhere with a kitchen, this list would include more cooking essentials and I definitely wouldn’t be using so many ziplocs!
Travel Food To Pack Before You Go
Non-Perishable Goods:
- Green Vibrance – Single Serving Packs - Insurance for being away from my juicer
- Vitamineral Greens – Travel Size - One of the best superfoods powders on the market. I alternate between Green Vibrance and this powder.
- Chia Seeds Packs - Perfect to top oatmeal, yogurt, or drink in coconut water for sustained energy.
- Almond Butter Packs - I like to eat this directly with one banana, apple, stuffed into a date, or on top of Suzie’s Thin Crisps
- Suzie’s Thin Crisps - This is my travel cracker of choice – doesn’t crumble and has a nice crunch. They are made of easily digestible spelt flour and flax seed.
- Navitas Naturals Power Snack - Amazing superfoods snack that I highly recommend with no refined or added sugars. All the flavors are delicious, especially the Cacao Goji. I took these on my scuba diving trip every day because they wouldn’t melt and were perfect for instant energy.
- Country Choice Quick Oats - I made pre-made ziploc packs of organic oatmeal and ate them almost every morning in Borneo. It’s the perfect breakfast when your options are limited.
- Cinnamon – For the oatmeal.
- Dates - I love snacking on dates, but these are also one of the ingredients I have to use in my oatmeal. I add one chopped date to oatmeal before I add hot water. The date slowly dissolves into the oats, naturally sweetening it, once the water is added. I prefer this method of sweetener over other liquid or crystal versions, because dates have antioxidants and fiber.
- Prunes - I know I’m not 70 years old, but I love prunes. They are chewy, sweet, fill you up and keep you regular on vacation (I know a lot of people who mention this problem all the time!)
- Figs - My candy of choice. I could eat one stuffed with a walnut every single day!
- Raw Walnuts - For figs, other homemade packs of trail mix, and to top off oatmeal.
- Himalayan Raisins - Toppings for oatmeal (my husband loves these) and for trail mix.
- Raw Almonds - For snacking or for trail mix.
- Goji Berries - For trail mix or just to eat by the handful. I seriously have a goji problem!
- Golden Berries - Just to eat….these are nature’s little sour patch kid, aren’t loaded with sugar and have 5 grams of fiber per ounce.
- Numi Teas – Assorted Variety - My favorite teas at the moment and I always take my own organic tea wherever I go. (You know this, if you’ve ever dined with me before!)
- Yogi Teas – Assorted Variety - I love the decaf green and ginger versions.
- Cranberry Tea - Reducing water retention is always easy by drinking this tea – especially after consuming over salted food while traveling.
- Seintenbacher Alligator Gummies - My junk gummy candy of choice. It’s Non-GMO, Vegan and I LOVE Alligators.
- MacroBar - My husband’s favorite bar at the moment, try the Granola with Coconut.
- Mary’s Gone Sticks & Twigs - Pure addiction. I’d rather eats these than any other salty chip on the market.
- Sprouted Wheat Pretzels - The only organic pretzel on the market made with the ingredients sprouted wheat and good for you olive oil.
- Go Raw – Coconut Cookies - Crunchy cookies that don’t crumble and contain no added or refined sugars.
- Go Raw – Carrot Cookies - My favorite flavor of Go Raw.
- Eden Farms – All Mixed Up Trail Mixes and Nuts - Small packets that easily go in carry on bags.
- Green and Black’s Organic White Chocolate - The best white chocolate on the market.
- Panda Licorice - Chewy just like a twizzler, but sweetened with molasses.
- 2 Mom’s in the Raw Nut Bars – My favorite “treat” bars on the market.
- Seasalt – For topping an impromtu avocado and tomato salad.
- Cayenne Pepper - For Habit # 1
Less Perishable Goods:
- Lemons – For Habit #1, and to squeeze on avocado, tomato salad.
- Avocados – I took 3 with me on our hike to Mt. Fuji. I love eating one with a sprinkle of sea salt and a slice of tomato.
- Tomatoes – For the avocados.
- Oranges – Juicy fruits are great hydrators for long plane trips.
- Apples – Because they pack well.
- Bananas – To combine with almond butter.
- Harmless Harvest Raw Coconut Water – I keep mine cold by filling up a zip lock with ice after security.
- Ezekiel Sprouted Bread & Tortillas – If I take these, I will pack a cooler to keep them fresh until I arrive at my destination.
- Manna Bread – Delicious hearty bread. The banana walnut is my favorite.
- Pre-cut veggies – carrots, celery, peppers, zucchini, squash, peapods, etc. – Because I love veggies and I sometimes get bored on the plane and need to munch.
READER FEEDBACK: What are your favorite travel snacks? I’m always looking for new ideas!
If you have any questions, I am happy to help. Just ask away either here or on Facebook.
Happy Shopping!
Food Babe
P.S. Remember these pictures? This stash lasted us the entire 3 weeks we were in Asia and we ate almost everything. Talk about good planning.
So the oatmeal keeps after being cooked (I’m assuming with water only) without being refrigerated?
No… the oatmeal is raw and I cook it with a cup of hot water (because you can find that really anywhere!)… I usually just ask for a cup or use a mug in my hotel room. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Thanks, this is a great list! We are heading overseas this summer and I plan to pack lots of snacks as well. I’ll definitely be referring t your list over the next few weeks. Thanks for making it easy to print too!
You are welcome Amber… Where are you headed?
Berlin, Prague, and Munich! Very excited!
Thanks so much for doing this. I appreciate your efforts and can’t wait to try some of these.
You are welcome Powel!
Thank you so much for posting this. Between you and Lisa over at “100 days of Real Food” I’ve been really trying to eat better. This weekend we went camping with friends who definitely don’t share your food philosophy and I’m feeling really crummy and trying to get back on track. We’ll be camping with them again several times this summer and I was a little discouraged at the thought of eating so much junk food. Then “TA-DA” your wonderful post. Thank you so much, now I can look forward to camping with wonderful friends again, while still eating healthy.
Wow… Camping sounds fun… I’ve haven’t been true camping in quite sometime… but I love the thought of bringing food and sitting by a camp fire! Also – Tru Roots Lentils and Quinoa cooks super quick, if you bring a pot…. Let me know how it goes!
Love all of these options! I don’t pack a ton when I travel, but lately pack a few emergency items since it’s more and more challenging with my gluten allergy!
I love making my “chia cereal” with chia seeds, goji, coconut, cacao nibs, nuts + seeds that I can mix up with some nut milk and fruit in the morning wherever I am! I also like to have larabars/Vega bars and some tea handy! I’m off for a work trip tomorrow so I better pick up some supplies!
Also – I always hunt down a fruit stand for bananas and medjool dates – my favourite snacks on the go!!
I really need to make this famous chia cereal this weekend to take it with me to the beach! Every time I hear about it, my mouth starts watering!
Do you have this recipe? the chia cereal?
Thanks for your efforts in posting this! I will definitely make a list of these and try to keep my kitchen stocked for my kids this summer!
A stocked kitchen is always a life saver!… a lot of this food is definitely kid friendly…I heard they even make a green vibrance for kids, if you are interested in that…
Great post Food Babe!! You know I’m a big fan of Navitas’ cacao snacks as well. They’re the bomb!!
Talk to you soon!
Max
Yes – the bomb is right! If you come across any other travel snacks you like, let me know… Always looking for new things to try!
I love your travel tips. I always take away so much information.
Hi Holly… thanks!
Thanks for these suggestions! Are you not a fan of Larabars? Just curious…
Haha, funny you ask… Larabars are kinda mushy to me, I’d rather stuff a fresh date with almond butter, than eat something mushed up together in a package… I know they are minimally processed, but they are still not organic. If I want something like that, I like the power snack that is full of super foods and completely raw. Tonight I think I am going to make bars for the beach that have dried apricots and coconut in them… can’t wait!
This blog post comes at such a perfect time! My DS & I will be traveling by train this summer, and we are both allergic to wheat. I’m also allergic to corn & dairy and just to make it more interesting I’m a vegetarian too! LOL So finding food on the go is always challenging. I don’t travel often but the information you shared is so helpful! Thanks so much! I feel a little less stressed out about our upcoming 17 hour trip.
Wow on the train, eh? I wonder what type of food they have. You have to post a picture on my Facebook Wall… I’ve never traveled on a train and now I want to!
Goji berries, I have only found them in their dried state. Is there someplace to get them fresh? Is that how you eat them or do you eat the dried?
Hi! Let me say first…. I LOVE YOUR BLOG! I have been on a journey to changing my life. I have become obsessively aware of what I put into my body. I am only 22, but before I started this journey felt like I was 50, even when I was 17 I used to wake up groggy, with aches, pains, headaches! Excuse my language, but WTF? I’m a kid, why is this happening?
My parents raised us on all the processed crap that the rest of America has been eating for years. I love my parents and they absolutely did their best, I know that, and we were very poor when I was younger so I forgive them for not having the knowledge and time to give me a healthy start. Needless to say I stuggled in the past 2 years with my self esteem because I knew I was overweight. I was so angry at my parents for a while, in a addition, I have ALWAYS had stomach problems, I grew up thinking that “that’s the way it is, your stomach hurts right after you eat”… I begged my parents for help, but they didn’t think to change my food, they just gave me Pepto Bismol (which never helped). Now I’m older and happier, healthier, and feel good. I get very upset and disgusted when I see how my family eats sometimes though. I have kind of gotten my father on board with changing because he developed diabetes and extremely high cholesterol. I know it’s not “genetics”… and if it were, then you can still control it. He has changed a lot and lost 100 lbs, but my mother still drinks soda everyday, NO WATER, it freaks me out. And my sister, she’s trying to lose weight and stuffs herself with processed diet bars, shakes, and frozen dinners. No wonder she complains about being hungry.
ANYWAY, I’m rambling and I apologize, I just have absolutely no body who understands this! Now to my relevant comments… I am traveling to Israel for a month as an assistant excavator on at an archaeological site. Very exciting, and I’m also interested to see how they eat there. I thank you for your travel ideas because I know there are a lot of healthy options that I can take along as well as scope out while I’m there and will be taking your advice!
Again, sorry for rambling, but I have been reading your blog for a while but never piped up to comment. What inspired me to comment was the fact that my sister just sat down next to me with a Special K Bar and I couldn’t help but imagine all the mutating ingredients in that stupid “meal replacement bar”. Why should you need a “replacement” for you meals? Are we that addicted to sugar and refined ingredients that we need to “replace” what could be an amazing healthy meal with a bar shaped object? Mother nature doesn’t grow stuff into bar shapes…
Hi Laura! I’m just chiming in because I feel the same way as you on many things and I wanted to say I feel your pain! And your joy at trying to eat better. I’m 24.
My parents didn’t feed us too much processed food (my mom has definitely always been into organic & against processing and dyes), but nonetheless I’ve had lots of digestion issues and have often felt overweight (was always chubby as a kid!).
Recently got some advice from a family friend of my mom’s who is also a holistic doctor – and her advice has changed my eating habits as well as that of my parents! We are all getting healthier because of it. =) Basically she suggested I try going gluten free and dairy free for a month, and also to start drinking the raw green smoothies every morning. My parents got me a Vitamix right away, and got one for themselves too. We also started researching the Alkaline diet and trying to follow that as much as possible, per her advice. Now I subscribe to Food Babe so I can be reminded of everything at least as often as she posts. =)
Anyway, I’d always had digestion issues, and it was a real problem! Always feeling groggy, sick, tired, and especially after I ate, it was like misery! Dinner and a movie always turned into me feeling awful during the movie… and I always felt bad because I always complained to my boyfriend about my stomach hurting. Anyway from cutting out dairy most of that misery is gone! I didn’t realize it could be the food I was eating either. Now the daily smoothies also really help with digestion, and I really try to do that in the morning.
My mom had the same experience. She doubted me when I had previously told her I might be lactose intolerant (our family were always farmers!) but when she tried the gluten-free dairy-free month with me, she had the exact same reaction: wow! We both had way more energy and digestion problems were gone-gone-gone. She likes to make her own raw almond milk (unfiltered) with her Vitamix and swears that this helps too.
I know this post is old, I don’t even know if you have the same email, but your words hit home for me and I wanted to say – you’re not the only one who feels this way! Keep doing your best to spread the healthy word to your family. We are all resistant to change at first, and skeptical that anything can help. My dad is tough – but I try to frame things to him this way: “Well, why don’t you try eating this or eliminating this for a month, and just see if you feel better?” It’s hard to argue with that – even if it’s hard to convince some people that the science is totally sound, they think some forms of healthy eating are a trend, always. =)
Keep up the good fight! I hope you are feeling better every day! And might I recommend trying out a holistic doctor (someone with a DO instead of an MD) if you want to further explore and improve your health. They really take your whole body into account. I remember saying to my old MD that I had digestion issues and she told me “are you drinking enough water with your meal?” Funny that as Food Babe pointed out, that’s probably the worst advice…
Wow. What great advice. We’re off to a remote cay in the bahamas later this month and we’re limited in what we can bring, and procure, and so maybe we’ll try to pick up some of these items.
Really nice speaking with you today. You’ve got a pretty good little concept here.
Found out about you from 100 days of real food. Love this post – we live 10 months out of the year in Israel and then the other 2 here in the states travelling all summer to see family. Every time we come back to America we go through about 2 weeks of stomach problems from all the processed stuff in the foods. It is really so much harder to eat healthier here but my husband and I are determined to stick with what we would normally eat in Israel. Thanks so much for everything you do to help make our lives easier while we are sztateside!
Do you have any suggestions for packing the bananas (and tomatoes for that matter)? I’m trying to bring only a carry-on for my next flight and have had bad luck packing bananas in the past. Thanks!
Bubble wrap? or put them in a Box?
There are also hard plastic banana carrying cases, but only for one banana at a time.
Just to let everyone know that if you are traveling to Hawaii bring ONLY the dried things DO NOT try to bring any FRESH fruit or Veggies into Hawaii it will be Taken. You can bring it to est on the plane but need to finish it or throw it away before getting off the plane. Invasives are a big problem on the Islands and we do everything we can to protect our Islands.
Mahalo.
Great tip Nancy – Thank you!
What kind of budget would you say would cover all these items?
How do you get the harmless harvest coconut water through security?
I also like to pack Vigilant Eats – http://www.vigilant-eats.com/products. Super convenient for those early morning flights – just add cold water! Also a fan of Go Hunza Dried Mangos which you can pick up at any Whole Foods!
I use this list before I travel and love it!! Great ideas! Thank you!
Going to Hawaii with 2 young kids for a week, and need to pack lots of food. This is a great list, thanks for sharing!
I am using this list as a guide for packing my boyfriend some food for an upcoming snowboarding trip in NY. It is so hard to eat well (I should say healthy) on vacations, but somehow you do it! He is excited about packing food for the trip. It will be our first attempt.
These travel food ideas are awesome. I’m a management consultant who travels on business every week of the year, typically Monday through Thursday. I also have a diet that focuses on high quality fruits, veggies, and meat that is organic and avoid processed foods. This type of diet is very difficult to maintain with my travel schedule and I’m always seeking juice bars, and local restaurants that are local/organic focused; but not everywhere I go has these types of establishments. Lately I’ve been packing extra “snacks” (Go-Raw brand goodies, raw almonds, etc) but its hard to come up with other items that pack well and are non perishable. Your comprehensive list has a great number of new items that I need to consider packing as well. Thanks for the tips.