A road trip is one of the best ways you can connect with your loved ones or with friends. If you plan well, you’re bound to have a good time. When planning your road trip, it’s important that you plan what food to bring along or where to stop and eat. Planning for your road trip food is essential because by doing so, you’ll avoid blowing your budget on eating expensive fast food or gas station snacks. Here are some of the ways you can eat quality food on your road trip without breaking the bank.
Bring packed food
If you’d like to eat affordably on your road trip, you should consider bringing food along. Restaurants all over the world partly base the prices of their dishes on the cost of ingredients and the amount of effort they put into making dishes. By preparing your meals ahead of your trip and packing them in a cooler, you can save time and money while on the road. Ideas include:
- Sandwiches
- Wraps
- Cold pasta dishes
- Grain salads
- Shakes or protein drinks
Buy snacks before the trip
Before embarking on your road trip, you should consider buying the snacks you and your travel companions want while on the road. The prices of snacks tend to be more expensive at convenience stores. By purchasing your preferred snacks at the grocery store before you leave, you’ll avoid paying a higher price. The only time you might want to break this rule is to explore the snacks of a different region if your road trip covers a long distance.
Search for affordable restaurants along your route
In the past, those on road trips would stop at restaurants along the roadway that looked appealing, without knowing the prices. As a result, many would end up spending a lot more money than they anticipated. With the rise of the Internet and apps, several online platforms review restaurants and post menus for everyone to see. Using these platforms, you can search for restaurants along your route that have good food at affordable prices.
Cook your own food
Another way you can eat quality food without overspending is by cooking your food while on the road. There are numerous portable gas burners that are affordable and efficient. If you get yourself one, you can easily buy cheap ingredients and cook them with ease. Other than the fact that cooking your food is cheap, cooking while on the road allows you to eat wherever you want.
Food ideas for the road
Breakfast
It is said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. This is because, without breakfast, one cannot start the day by being productive. If you choose to stay in a motel or hotel on your road trip, you may be lucky enough to have a complimentary breakfast included with your stay. However, if you’re not this lucky, there are several affordable breakfast ideas that can sustain you and your family members, regardless of their age. They include fruits, banana bread, breakfast oat cookies, granola bars or other easily portable bars. If you don’t find any of these ideas appealing, you can also consider croissants or muffins.
Lunch
Traveling on the road can be quite tiring. To rejuvenate yourself, it’s advisable that you stop and have a nice lunch. If you don’t have time or money to stop at a restaurant, you can bring some items along and have a picnic at a rest area. Pack some sandwiches or wraps, chips, and fruit and you’ll have a great meal on the go.
Dinner
To cap off a long day on the road, your best bet is to head to a local restaurant to sample any new and interesting foods. But if you’re on a budget and have the equipment or a kitchen at your accommodation, cooking is the way to go. If you’re bringing food to eat on the road, rice, pre-cooked chicken, pasta salad and burritos are solid choices.
Snack ideas
Snacks are just as important as all other meals. Therefore, when on a road trip, you should load up the car with some tasty items that will travel well and please everyone. Some great road trip snack ideas include popcorn, protein bars, carrots, grapes, and beef jerky. And we won’t blame you if you sneak some gummy bears in there!
