It took years of trial and error before we realized what worked for our family. Every family is different, but this may help you as well! Living in Texas, we know we have 12 hours to get out of the state to begin our trip. It is the longest days of windshield time and with 3 small children and 2 dogs, leads to our need to get creative on the food front. We started our travel days going as long as possible without stopping but finding fast food that we could drive through or grab quickly to keep going. I always had a huge bag full of snacks in the car for the in between. Road Trips can be fun, but it does require some engineering.
It was challenging because the kids didn't really like the food anywhere we stopped, it was a 50/50 if they were going to eat. If it was hot, we could not leave the dogs in the car so we were rushing to grab food while we kept the AC running in the car. It was a miserable experience. Then came the hours of snacks and chips. No matter how much they ate, they were still hungry and never satisfied. We would go through chips, crackers, goldfish, granola bars, etc. you name it, we had some form of it! I really thought a lot of it was the amount of time we were in the car for the day and chalked it up to a rough day of personalities.
Our first adjustment was to cut the fast food. We started bringing our own food in a cooler and stopping at a park. This was a great break because they could run around and the dogs are able to run around at the park as well. Even with us doing this stop, we found there were ways that we could fine tune our travel experience. I noticed that the packaged foods were leading to the kids continuing to eat all day without ever being satisfied. I felt like we were spending tons of money on these packaged foods and were constantly needing more. When I started looking into the ingredients, I found a lot of answers. These foods weren’t going to work for us anymore.
Turns out there is a ton of data now on how ultra-processed foods interact with young kids and boy once you learn this, there is no going back! Gone are the days of Goldfish thanks to The Food Babe.
I started packing REAL Whole Foods that made sense for my children’s diet. This is when it all changed. Their behavior in the car, their ability to travel for long hours without issues or asking when it was over. They could travel for the day and it became a pleasant experience.
So what do we pack? Usually each kid has a lunch box that will have a sandwich, a fruit and a veggie. We keep additional “snacks” in the car, but they are all fresh foods. The morning that I am leaving, I cut up a cucumber, apples, carrots, and put grapes in a bag. Those are the only options for them. They will go through all of it through the day, but the endless packaged food days are over for us. Since doing this, we noticed they travel much more calm. They are satisfied when it comes to food and it leads to really good behavior on the other side.
Our Sip n Seek water bottle that holds storage on the bottom was perfect for the in between snack. We fill those with fresh fruits and veggies and they fit in their cup holder in the car for then they need them. It is a perfect snack hack! We are officially ready for all future road trips!
