Tis the season… to travel lots & see friends and family.
The Christmas & New Year holiday period is a great time of year, but it often comes with more travel than usual. Whether its domestic travel by plane, train or car, or international long-haul flights, it can be tricky to eat well & stay healthy particularly with the lure of festive treats at every turn.
Here are our top tips & favourite snacks for when you travel so you don’t go too crazy on the licorice all sorts.
Carry On Snacks
By loading up on some great snacks that are a mix of healthy, nutritious & delicious, you’ll avoid hitting the candy bars & chips at the servo or buying average airport food on impulse. These are some of our fave snacks to take with us no matter your mode of transport, they’re a great mix of healthy and yummy so you arrive at your destination feeling fighting fit & ready to go (for a long walk to stretch your legs).
Power Balls
Full of nuts, fruit & seeds, our Power Balls are a pocket-sized nutrition bomb. Their contents mean that you get a natural hit of protein to help keep you feeling full for longer, and they’re full of nutrients, vitamins & minerals to help your body keep functioning as well as possible. Fibre is a biggie in these & is super helpful to aid in digestion and keep things moving, pretty important to ensure you avoid a mid-air stomach ache.
Dineamic Power Balls come in a pack of 3 ($9) in a range of flavours. Keep them in your freezer until you want them, then toss them in your bag when you think you might need them.
Muesli Slice
Our Date, Honey, Quinoa & Walnut Muesli slice is a perfect handbag snack thanks to their individual portion size & superfood-heavy ingredients list. This makes the perfect alternative to a slice of cake with your tea or coffee.
On the same line, muesli bars are a great option for quick snacks on the run. Our advice? Check out the ingredients list & keep in natural, it’s also a good idea to go for options that aren’t too high in sugar – when travelling you need to be able to keep your energy up for longer periods of time, so avoiding a sugar crash is key.
Dineamic Muesli Slice comes in individual portions for $3.50.
Nuts
An easy, portable & nutrient-packed snack, nuts are a great source of good fats, fibre & protein. They’re easy to take through airport security (just keep customs in mind at the other end), and last brilliantly without refrigeration.
We suggest pre-portioning nuts into zip lock bags so they stay fresh for longer & you avoid over-eating them. Try raw varieties for the best nutritional value or dry roasted for extra crunch. Be warned that the salted varieties could mean you blow your sodium intake or could leave you feeling super thirsty.
We love the range at The Source Bulk Foods, you can buy the types you like & as much or as little as you want, perfect for creating your own nut mixes.
Two Top Tips
There are a few easy tips to follow both in the lead up & also while travelling that will help you feel fresh on arrival. They’re so easy you might be doing them already!
Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate!
We’ve spoken previously about the benefits of hydrating properly, but when it comes to travelling it’s even more important because of the dehydrating affect that travel can have. Airports & planes are pretty dry environments, and travelling in a car, bus or train in the Aussie summer is always going to be warm.
Hydrating helps in a few ways – it keeps your body functioning well particularly when it comes to digestion, temperature control, and keeping your skin fresh & glowing. It also helps with our physical & cognitive performance which is critical when you’re running to make that connecting flight.
We recommend hydrating well in the lead up to your trip and taking a water bottle with you. If you’re flying internationally, take an empty bottle with you & fill it at the hydration stations that are popping up in airports all over the place.
When it comes to hydrating, remember that there are alternatives to water that still count, think tea, juice, milk & coffee. Take your favourite tea bags with you because most places (including a plane) you’re abe to get a cup & hot water – this is particularly handy if you prefer something than black tea.
Eat well in the lead-up
You’ve got hydration covered and snacks for the trip sorted, so we’re done right? Well, sort of. Eating healthy in the lead up to big trips is a great way to help your body function properly when travelling. Think of it this way, if you’re feeling good & have loaded up on nutritious food in the lead up, then you’re more likely to arrive feeling half decent as well. Start off feeling dodgy and you’re probably not going to feel much better when you arrive.
Try to eat meals with lots of veggies in a myriad of colours for nutrient diversity, and watch your portion sizes. The hard part, try to avoid food high in sugar & fat or highly processed foods. We know that’s not easy at this time of year.
There you have it. Our fave snacks & top tips for arriving fresh & ready to have an adventure or survive the family.
Tell us in the comments what your favourite snacks & travel tips are!
