Healthy Travel Snacks & Eating Well On Vacation (Plus 2 Recipes For Your Next Trip)

By Lori Zabka

Vacations do not have to spell D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R when it comes to our family’s health and wellness goals.  Winter, spring, summer, or fall, a road trip (or flight) can be a time to learn how to be a “savvy snacker” instead of a “junk food junkie.” As a nutrition coach, I tell my clients not to stress out about sticking to a wellness/clean eating plan while on vacation because with a little prep, staying on track and finding healthy travel snacks is easier than you might think.

Here are my 4 tips for traveling & eating well:  

1. Stay hydrated
2. Keep blood sugar balanced
3. Stay regular
4. HAVE FUN

How do we do all of this? 

1. Stay Hydrated

Staying hydrated is so crucial when traveling. It will keep energy up, keep your electrolytes balanced and so much more! Keep water or coconut water on hand and avoid soft drinks and sugary juices.  Coconut water is a great travel option because it is flavorful, a good balancer of electrolytes, and a great help for the stress that travel puts on our bodies.  

2. Keep Blood Sugar Balanced

When snacking while you travel (or daily), be sure to combine healthy fats, fiber, and protein along with carbs to create the best healthy travel snacks.  Doing so will help keep you balanced and you won’t spend hours in the car or on a plane mindlessly eating bags of chips and cookies.  Also, try to eat at the same times of day that you do at home. While this won’t be 100% possible, keeping things normalized while traveling will help keep your body healthy and happy on the road.  For example, if you usually eat breakfast at 7am, don’t skip breakfast and hold out for the hotel brunch at 10:30 every day. Have a small snack around 7am to keep your blood sugar balanced, and then enjoy a bit of that buffet later.  

Examples of a great balanced combos (contains fat, fiber, protein, and carbohydrate):  

• Nut butter with an apple 
• Grass-fed beef jerky and some red grapes. 

3. Stay Regular

It is hard to stay “regular” when traveling so I recommend keeping in mind the combination of protein, fat, fiber and carbohydrates. Here are my favorite pack-and-go travel options that will help you snack smart on the road and in the air and have some form of fiber to keep you regular:

• Fiber rich popcorn like Boom Chicka Pop pairs well with sea salt nuts or a Kind Bar.
• Nut butters and dried or fresh fruits like apples, bananas or grapes. Some nut butters, like Justin’s even contain flax seeds, which can help keep you regular when traveling. 
• Instead of mindless nibbling on chips, try crackers like RW Garcia’s 3-Seed Kale Crackers that actually contain nutrients — and a good deal of fiber!  Pair them with some hummus, if you take a cooler along in the car.  
• Seaweed snacks like Gimme Organic are surprisingly flavorful and loaded with vitamins and minerals. Plus, they’re kind of fun to eat on the road!  Also, kale chips from Rhythm Superfoods are fantastic! If you can’t have your kale salad in the car, just pack these along — So yummy, and nutrient-dense. 
• Pair these with another all-star travel snack: jerky! Jerky is a must for me:  beef, buffalo, venison, turkey, even salmon jerky from brands like: The New Primal, and Epic offer very clean sources of protein which are perfect for a road trip or flight. 
• I love dried chickpeas like The Good Bean or dried edamame from Seapoint Farms and they come in so many delicious flavor combination. Chickpeas are full of antioxidants, fiber, healthy fats and a good amount of protein. They are a very balanced, crunchy, and fun snack. Bonus: chickpeas are a complete snack on their own, with a great combination of protein, carbohydrate, fat, and fiber.  Remember, it’s harder to stay “regular” when traveling, so making sure you consume enough fiber is important!
• Bars are a great option and so convenient, but be careful of the ingredients and sugar content.  My top 4 bar choices are: RXBar, Square Bar, Kind Bar, and Primal Kitchen. For kids who might want a very sugary granola type bar, be sure to choose a bar with less than 12 grams of sugar, and at least 5 grams of protein. 
• Sometimes travel is tough on the tummy, and ginger is a great digestive aid. It helps soothe troubled tummies and relieves motion sickness. We snack on Gin-Gins in the car and just a few do the trick!  
• Most likely, consumption of dark, leafy greens and other veggies goes WAY down during travel.  No worries — just pack along a greens powder like Life’s Abundance, or Nanogreens. Stir or shake into your water, and your daily greens won’t miss a beat! 
• Lastly, these are my go-to protein balls. My clients LOVE these, they take about 4 minutes to make, and travel so well,they don’t even have to stay cold.

Protein Balls Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cashew, almond, or peanut butter
• 1/2 cup oats, can use GF
• 4 scoops protein powder (I’ve used: vanilla protein powder, vanilla bone
• broth protein powder, or chocolate protein powder
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 3 tablespoons almond milk, or coconut milk
• 1 tbsp cocoa
• Sea salt

Directions:

Mix all together and shape into balls.

4. Have Fun

Wherever you are headed, with a little preparation, you can be a savvy snacker and keep those wellness goals going strong. But don’t deprive yourself or forget to indulge here and there! 

Bonus Recipe for a balanced, kid-friendly meal while traveling:

If you will be staying in a AirBnb with a kitchen while on vacation, I have the perfect meal-in-one.  This high protein pasta salad ticks all boxes, is fast and easy to assemble, and will keep in that mini-fridge for days.  You might even find some of these veggies at a local farmer’s market near your rental.

LIFE BY LORI’S Z’S VACAY PASTA:

Ingredients:

• 1 pound chickpea or lentil pasta, cooked al dente (I use BANZA pasta)
• 2 cucumbers, seeded, quartered lengthwise, and sliced
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill, plus extra for garnish
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 3/4 pound goat feta cheese, crumbled—try to find local
• Fresh greens as the base for the salad
• Protein of choice:  rotisserie chicken, grilled or roasted chicken, leftover steak from dining out, whatever is easy and on-hand!

Directions:

Combine pasta, cucumber, green onions, and tomatoes in a large bowl.

Place dill, vinegar, and mustard in a blender and blend until smooth…or mix by hand.  With the motor running, (or while stirring quickly), add olive oil and blend until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Pour vinaigrette over the pasta mixture and stir well to combine. 

Gently fold in the feta cheese. Top with chicken (about 4 ounces per person).  Garnish with additional dill and serve over fresh greens. This dressing is to die for!

Safe travels and happy snacking!

Lori is a doubly certified Nutrition coach and a decade-long Certified Personal Trainer & Women’s Fitness Specialist through the National Academy of Sports Medicine.  She’s also the co-host of The Coming Unglued Podcast which takes a holistic approach to giving women the tools needed to reach their fullest potential.  

More importantly, she’s a proud wife and mom whose full-time passion is helping other busy women live their healthiest lives.  Visit her on the web at: http://www.lifebyloriz.com; on FB @lifebyloriz; and Instagram: @life_by_loriz

Here are some more snack ideas for eating well when traveling with kids!