The point of the travel-snack-pack list is to have an emergency menu of nourishment no matter what. If they serve poached pheasant on the plane or you can grab something hot at a lounge before boarding then great but you don’t go on a trip without packing food-heat even if you hope not to have to use it.
Sure you can pack “energy bars” but 1- they aren’t satiating to a hungry traveler (ever try to chew a protein bar *because you’re hungry*? It’s torturous), and 2- most of them are just candy bars with better marketing so if you’re going to pack junk food – there is better junk food. I have narrowed it down…
The essentials of satisfying nourishment are: Nuts, corn, potatoes, meat.
This translates to: Trail mix, Fritos, Pringles, Jerky.
Here’s why…
Trail mix
Trail mix is more tasty than it sounds when you’re on a plane or driving for awhile and it has the fiber and fats to fuel you with M&Ms and dried fruit to make it palatable and not feel like crunching on leaves and pinecones (which you otherwise basically are).
Fritos
Fritos are ounce for ounce more calories than meat – they were rations in WW1 in the trenches – and they’re not processed chemical laden nastiness (their only three ingredients are corn, corn oil, and salt) so utilize them for quick calories with savory satisfying crunch.
-Downside: Corn, I am convinced, is bad for you. So don’t mistake “corn, corn oil, and salt” as being health food ingredients because the salt there is the healthiest in that list I think, and you know it’s not mineral packed good salt – it’s probably micro plastics with a salty edge.
Pringles
The unique curves of a Pringle is nothing like anything else in the processed junk food world. In geometry it’s called a hyperbolic paraboloid (a quadric surface with exactly one axis of symmetry and no center of symmetry with every other plane section being a hyperbola or two crossing lines). In regular speak, it’s a saddle shape.
Pringles feed the junky snack craving without the grease of potato chips and their container is travel ready and crush-proof. They sell mini-me cans on most airlines for like $15. Be a baller and travel with your own $2.99 full ass cylinder.
Jerky
Jerky is meat. Beef or poultry. Meat is meat. Get the good stuff that doesn’t have a bunch of ingredients and you’ll have meat at any time, any place, and never be wanting for food unless you intentionally abstain for an upcoming dinner (but thats the whole point is to make hunger a choice when traveling)
And then you can mix and match, eg – Jerky and Pringles is like a travel steak and fries; Nuts and Fritos will feel like you had a bowl of cereal and a candy bar — these 4 in your travel pack and you’ll never be at the mercy of overpriced nosh when your stomach is digesting itself in desperation.
Honorable Mention:
Cheezits are the star players that didn’t make it on my list. They were originally in the trail mix slot but gearing towards nourishment and not just flavor, I had to swap them cuz cheezits are trash snacks but they sure do satisfy a hunger with that cheezy flava flave.
Other items:
I don’t have issues with fiber but apparently most others do so pick up some fiber to keep with you in your travels. Not powder. You’re not mixing drinks on the go. Get capsules. Psyllium husk or just anything fibery and take them daily to combat nerves just in case your stomach panics and tries to surprise you with airport diarrhea.
Buy a drink in a plastic water bottle if you dont have any at the house today, drink it, and bring the empty in your carry-on and fill it right away on the other side of security. The hope is to never have to use it (cuz ew, airport water – unless you find one of the filtered water filling stations they have at LAX) but you’ll be glad you have it.
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