Road trips can be real tiring but really rewarding at the end sometimes. Without being prepared for a road trip, you’re setting yourself to an exhausting and costly trip where you’ll need to be making stops to get what you need and the thing is you will probably end up making a stop or two. Saving yourself time except those needy bathroom trips is ideal. Another thing is I believe saving money instead of stopping at a rest stop with a food court to get food is better for road trips. I mean you’ll still have to spend on gas, possibly tolls, and your destination fees. So why bother stopping to a rest stop or food place to fill your cravings and hunger when you can shop for your snacks ahead of time?

Here are snacks/foods that I suggest will be great to take for traveling in road trips, to keep you full or energized:

1. Peanut butter sandwiches with banana

I love peanut butter and banana together.. in fact, I think it’s my favorite simple sandwich to make! If you’re not allergic to peanut butter, grab whole grain bread, slather some peanut butter on, chop up some banana pieces and lay them on! Real simple. To me, one makes me feel full already but you can pack up to how many you believe are good. Not only is it delicious and simple to make, the potassium in bananas can promote healthy and strong bones and is packed with vitamins. For a slightly healthier option too (because it has more minerals, vitamins, and fiber), try Almond Butter instead.

2. Trail Mix

Since I was younger and my parents took me on their road trips, this was something we always had on us. I mean trail mix is supposedly known to give you energy (hence why it’s called “trail” mix — might even take this up as a snack in hiking trails) and who doesn’t enjoy a delicious combination of nuts, dried fruits, chocolate and granola? Sometimes there’s pretzels, raisins, crunchy cheese sticks, and/or Doritos-like chips in there.

3. Fruit by the Foot, Fruit Roll-Ups, and Fruit Gushers

My favorite childhood fruit gummy snacks ever! They aren’t just fun to play with but are really delicious candies. They’re all made from the same Betty Crocker company so they all have an almost similar taste. The Fruit by the Foot are long pieces of fruit snacks made into looking like a tape, the Fruit Roll-Ups are fruit snacks rolled up and stuck on between a sheet of clear plastic, and the Fruit Gushers are little, hexagonal shaped fruit snacks with a burst of juice when chewed on.

4. Cheese crackers

Cheez-Its or Goldfish cheese crackers are yummy. They are also packed with cheesy flavor!

5. Soft pretzels

No, not the chips form, although you can opt for those too, but I find soft pretzels that are heated are better. They can be full of flavor of butter at times or they can be sprinkled with cinnamon or just plain; these will fill you up. Bring a dip of non-perishable cheese for plain flavored soft pretzels and it tastes even more better. You can even make these too as homemade with recipes out there if you want!

6. Veggie chips with guacamole dip

Such a yummy and healthy snack combination! My friend introduced me to these together and I’ve been hooked. Veggie chips are really good, in my opinion, and it’s even tastier with a dip of guacamole. You can simply make guacamole if you can’t find the store brand ones but I do suggest to try putting the dip in a cooler while you’re traveling because it’ll be fresher that way.

7. Dried mangoes

My favorite fruit ever!! You can honestly pick up any dried fruits you prefer but I always loved dried mangoes and it might be because of how I grew up eating these. I prefer the Philippines brands ones than others (after all I am a Filipino lol). They are full of all-natural fruit flavor and I don’t know why I just love the consistency of them compared to other dried fruits!

8. Cheese sticks

I guess you can say anything cheesy is worth taking on a road trip. These cheese sticks, an elementary school favorite, are fun to play with by stripping strings off of it and fun to consume. It makes snack eating on a trip way more fun.

9. Cold cut sub sandwiches

Who doesn’t love sub sandwiches? You can go to a local deli to order your own beforehand, Wegmann’s has a great selection to also make your own sub, Wawa has a wide variety of hoagies (just another name for subs), or you can go the route of Subway stores. You can even simply make these at home or on the road if you have the cuts of meats and ingredients available. They are ultra filling for hours even by just eating a whole sub. My go to meats? Prosciutto, salami, turkey, or smoked ham. My add ons? Lettuce, onions, tomatoes, and/or ranch dressing. If you don’t prefer ranch, there is always mayonnaise and I just discovered Dijon mustard is sometimes also exceptional to use.

10. Pita bread with hummus (or carrots or celery)

I love hummus! You can make them yourself, go to a Mediterranean food shop, or pick up the Sabra Hummus in grocery stores. If you’re not feeling the pita bread, carrots or celeries are great alternatives.

11. Donuts!!

Just like in my featured picture, I am not kidding you that donuts are great to take on a road trip. They might not give you the needed energy but combining donuts with a cup of jo (which is most likely a reason to make a stop for because you should always have long drives with energy!) is great. I honestly love myself some donuts (I even prefer it over some cookies and cupcakes and cakes) and trust me on it, you’ll be craving them at one point or another. I always find myself doing so on any traveling trips.

12. Packed fresh fruits

What’s one of the healthiest things you can eat and get a lot of nutrients from? Fruits of course!! Make sure they are cut up and place them in Tupperware and in the coolers to keep them freshhh. My favorites are grapes, strawberries, pineapples, and mangoes.

13. Cold-pressed juice

You can skip on the coffee and go for these instead. They will give you lots of energy. Also the good thing is you can place this right into your cooler and take them out without making a stop. They are packed with nutrients because they consist of vegetables and fruits mixed together. Not to mention, they can be really naturally tasty. An important tip to keep in mind is not to keep these drinks for more than 5 days but entirely depends on the acidity.

I hope this list will give you great ideas to bring snacks and meals for your next road trip. Of course, don’t forget to bring a couple of water bottles with you to help you digest and cleanse yourself through the trip. Even stopping for smoothies or making them ahead of a road trip (just don’t keep them out for a long time) can be a good option too and can be your snack and drink at the same time!

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