Who doesn’t love a good road trip? We’re all itching for travel these days but most of us are avoiding air-travel and staying safe in the states. If you’re setting out on any adventures this holiday season, we want to make your trips as easy, carefree and as healthy as possible. One of the biggest stressors when you’re traveling is how to eat healthy and feel amazing! Here are 5 of my best tips to ensure you feel great during your travels.
1 — Prepare and plan ahead with healthy food.
Bring a day cooler that could easily be filled up with healthy snacks. Not only do you save money but you’ll have the ease of not having to figure out what to eat or what to grab from a gas station. Choose a variety of snacks to keep you entertained.
Here are some of my favorite road trip snacks:
- String Cheese or Babybel Cheese (portable and easy to carry)
- Hummus with carrots, cucumbers, and celery (use the travel sizes to make them more portable)
- Tortillas filled with bananas and peanut butter (definitely a kid favorite!)
- Realm smoothies (super easy for travel, just add water with the packet to your shaker bottle and you have a nutritious meal! My favorite is the Berry Fresh Smoothie)
- Pre-Made sandwiches, wraps, or quesadillas (make them ahead of time and put in the cooler)
- Other fun items to bring: Apples, Crackers, Pretzels, Popcorn, Trail mix or nuts, Beef jerky, Hard Boiled eggs, Roasted Chickpeas
2 —Bring plenty of fluids!
This includes plenty of water! I usually bring a large half gallon insulated water bottle filled with ice & water. The ice normally stays for a few days and I make a habit to drink the water during the trip.
Purchasing water bottles can end up costing a ton. Their also inconvenient, wasteful, and it’s often hard to find places that allow for refills. In addition to water, bring drinks you look forward to in the cooler — like a smoothie, juice, vegetable juice, an electrolyte drink, etc.
Pro-Tip — You can freeze these beforehand and use them in place of ice in your cooler!
3 — Take breaks!
Especially on long drives — taking a 30min break to get out and walk around can help you keep your energy levels up! Or stop for eating snacks/food — so you can enjoy it more instead of juggling in the car.
If you have pets - this is the perfect time for them to relieve themselves and get some of that cooped up energy out! You can also experience more culture and observe different towns when you take a break.
Rushing to the next stop is never fun and definitely not enjoyable. Finding time to allow you to walk around and break helps keep you stimulated.
My advice — I plan my routes and adventures with several stopping points or view points to see along the way. It encourages me to get out of the car and also explore different areas too. These stops could be as long as a couple hours or as short as 5 minutes!
4 —Get plenty of sleep the night before and throughout your trip!
Being cranky from lack of sleep makes traveling much less fun! Bring a sleep mask and earplugs when you travel — new places have new sounds and surroundings and those items will help you sleep.
Plan extra hours for each adventure you’re going to do. Be looser with your schedule in case things end up taking longer than they do (they sometimes, if not always do!).
You want to give yourself enough time to adventure and explore different areas and adequately rest in between. Filling up your day with adventures will leave you tired and exhausted the next day. Do all the things but reasonably - plan and allow for time to appreciate your trip!
5 — Take it all in and enjoy every moment of your trip.
You’ve been waiting for this trip and you might have even planned for this for months! Sometimes when I’m headed to new places I load up my agenda with way too many stops! Now I realize that this might be the first time I’ve gone to a place but it doesn’t have to be my last.
I love taking pictures for memories. I also love to unplug for a little bit and connect with things around me. This truly lets me be present, appreciate the time traveling and always love the journey.
About Hannah Heredia, MS, RDN, CNSC
Hannah is nutrition support Registered Dietitian Nutritionist from Arizona. She works to provide parenteral nutrition (IV nutrition) to patients with gastrointestinal disorders (like Crohn’s disease, Ulcerative Colitis, pancreatitis, short bowel syndrome, and more) and she owns Evoke Your Adventure which provides hiking guides, meal plans & training plans.
She loves hiking, cooking, smoothies, cold brew, and crime shows. She’s a cat person, believer in world kindness, #HAES (healthy at every size) supporter, part of the cactus lover’s club, and a huge chips & salsa connoisseur. Follow her adventures on Instagram at @hikesandhealth or at evokeyouradventure.com where she hopes to encourage everyone to get outdoors & explore and also spread love, be kind, & be yourself.