5 Quick and Easy Snacks For Busy Travelers

These are the best snacks for backpackers and busy travelers!

Photo courtesy kptto.org under creative commons licensing.

In my previous post, I talked about 5 foods I always have in my pack, no matter what. Of course, that’s not all the food I take with me! Depending on my destination, activities, or modes of transportation, I also might take the following:

1.) Homemade trail mix 

I’m fussy and don’t like a lot of the usual ingredients. Banana chips are gross! I did a honey roasted cashew, dried cherry, and Smarties mix for my road trip to Vermont. It’s not meant to be very healthy, but rather satisfying and filling, resulting in fewer snacks on the road. Plus if you are stuck in an airport or are forced to miss a meal, some trail mix can really keep you going.

Photo courtesy theblackpeppercorn.com under creative commons licensing.

2.) Savory mix. 

Can’t really call it trail mix, because this is even less healthy! But it works out to be cheaper per serving than chips or nuts, especially on the airplane. $3 for a small can of Pringles? No thanks! And it’s nice to have some variety from sweet trail mix. Bits & Bites, spicy nuts, and hickory sticks are all welcome! When I lived in England, I worked as a bartender and took the expired and damaged packages of savory chips, nuts, and bar mix with me. Tossed together in a big Ziploc bag, it was pretty good and it served as my snack for over a week as I was backpacking through France. Did I mention I was broke and traveled on $35 a day?

3.) Just add-water-pancake mix. 

I’ll even pre-measure it out in Ziploc bags and figure out how much water to pour in my mug to mix appropriately. Great for camping, hostels, and house rentals, equally great for breakfast or dinner. No maple syrup? You can used melted butter with sugar and cinnamon spice mix, or melted jam, butter, and a touch of whiskey or peanut butter or Nutella thinned down with cream, or stewed berries. During a bare-budget camping road trip through the Maritimes a few years ago, we started each day with a variation of this: whole wheat pancakes with roasted bananas. It was quick, easy, and easy to clean. It was also healthy, hearty, and a great way to start the day. It was also, unfortunately, served one or two days too many, as my husband is now sick of banana pancakes all these years later.

4.) A jar of Nutella and peanut butter.

Back before anyone cared about liquids in carry-on, these tubs came with me through Africa. Perfect with bread and bananas! I really don’t need to say anymore. Before this, I took peanut butter and my mom’s homemade jam with me to England. A great combination no matter where you are!

My ultimate airline treat - a new notebook, a new magazine, and some peanut M&Ms!

5.) Airplane snacks

Granola bars, fruit leather, heck – even chocolate bars like Snickers. These are hugely overpriced in airports and on the plane and nothing makes a delay worse than being hungry and grouchy. I try to go for a healthy version of a usual treat (fruit leather vs. gummies) and include nuts and seeds for protein staying power. I had crunchy peanut butter granola bars with me in Africa and they were a huge help as I adjusted to local cuisine. And when I traveled through France, I had a large bag of mini-chocolate bars a friend gave me – it helped sooth my soul and stomach as I walked past all those pastry shops.

My travel budget is always smaller than I'd like, and I’d rather take a few minutes to organize my food supplies than pay a huge markup on basic items when I’m starting my trip. A dollar saved is a dollar spent on something more exciting later on down the road!

Part 1: Five Simple Travel Spice Mixes
Part 3: Five Easy To Make Travel Nibbles.
Part 4: Five Easy, Delectable Travel Meals.
Part 5: Five Tips to Survive Travel Kitchens.

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