Military Travel Mama

As a family who love to travel, we also like to ensure our children stay healthy ‘on the road’.  It’s far too easy to fall into the trap of fast food when you are on the go.

Whether we are on a road trip, or taking to the skies, we always pack snacks for the kids.  We like to keep these snacks as healthy as possible, because who wants a kid on a sugar high strapped into a seat for numerous hours on end.  Not me.  That’s not to say that we don’t give them a little treat too, it’s important to keep a healthy balance.  Snacks on the go also help alleviate boredom, so I always include snacks that take time to eat.  Here are some of our favorite snacks for the kids:

Savory Snacks: We all know that purchasing individual packets of items such as pretzels and goldfish are convenient, but they are also expensive, so we have re-usable cloth bags with drawstrings so that we can purchase these items in bulk but take just a handful of each with us.  We also love cheese sticks and popcorn on-the-go.

Fresh Fruit and Vegetables: Fresh produce is not only healthy, but a great travel snack.  You don’t want to take anything that can be squished easily such as peaches and plums, and be careful packing items such as grapes due to choking hazards.  We normally take fruit such as bananas, apples, blueberries, and clementines, and we always pack carrots.  For smaller items such as blueberries, we place them into small Ziploc containers to keep them separated.

Dried fruit and nuts: You can either take this as a trail mix, or keep items in individual Ziploc containers.  Our kids love raisins, cranberries, cashews and yogurt covered dried fruit.  They also love fruit straps or bars.  Just beware of the sugar content on most brands and opt for those that have the least amount of sugar.  Again, we don’t need a sugar high in the back of the car or on a plane.

Other snacks: Applesauce Crushers (from Trader Joe’s) are fantastic,  they do not need to be refrigerated unless opened, but let’s face it, kids are going to finish these off well before they need to be.  As a special treat (and a long-lasting one), we always take along the kids favorite lollipops (the organic Trader Joe’s variety pack).

Beverages: We love our Sigg water bottles, not only are they re-usable, but they keep water cold.  However, kids generally do not want to drink water all day, so we like to mix it up a little and carry flavored water sachets in the kids’ lunch bags.

Foods to avoid:

There is nothing worse when you are traveling than messy foods, especially with young children.  I avoid taking anything that requires a spoon (unless it’s baby food of course, but then you are doing the feeding).  I also avoid items such as muffins and cake, the crumbs from these make an awful mess.

Plane travel:

We tend to stick to the savory snacks for plane travel such as pretzels, goldfish, raisins and fruit bars.  This is also a time that we tend to pay extra for the individual packets of these items, it makes getting through security so much easier if items are pre-packaged.  We also carry the kids Sigg water bottles on-board to alleviate spilling from the small plastic cups supplied on aircraft.  Chewy candy or lollipops are a must-have for helping children pop their ears during take-off and landing.  Check with your airline for any restrictions on food before flying.  Also be sure to check the TSA website for information on traveling with food and traveling with children.  Some destinations (particularly overseas travel) will require you to dispose of food in bins in the terminal before going through customs.

Extra tips:

Ensure you have a change of clothes, wipes, hand sanitizer and a small trash bag when you travel.

About the writer: Tonya Staab is a travel loving mother of 3 children, a military spouse and owner of Create-Celebrate-Explore – a site that aims to inspire parents to craft, cook, celebrate life and travel with their children. You can also find her on twitter @Tonyastaab!