The Ultimate Travel Snacks (Health Coach Approved!)
I absolutely love traveling and experiencing new cultures and environments through food. Pasta and pizza in Italy. Seafood in Santiago. Pasteis de Nata in Portugal. With each bite, it’s like my taste buds are experiencing the history, present and future all at once of the location I’ve landed in. In my opinion, food often communicates a culture better than any tour ever could. While I love experiencing food during my travels, I have always felt sorely disappointed by the food options while doing the actual traveling part.
As a gluten free, dairy free and plant based girl, airports are often filled with off-limits food options for me: fried bread, cheese covered meats and lots and lots of bagged snacks laden with excess sugar and salt. Even if I didn’t have the dietary restrictions I do, as a health coach I’d steer away from many of these food options which can cause blood sugar spikes and dehydration during a time it is pretty critical to amp up hydration and keep blood sugar steady to arrive to your destination feeling refreshed. While airports are getting better, I just don’t find two hard boiled eggs in a plastic jar to be appealing when traveling (not to mention pretty offensive for your seatmate). Because flying is already tough for me, feeling my absolute best is a must going into a travel day.
So, over the past decade or so I have experimented with all different types of travel food options and finally feel like I’ve found a good mix of options to help me feel good throughout my travels and I hope they’ll help you too. Any to add to the list please share!
The Salty
This isn’t your airline pretzel or airport potato chip. These salty snacks are satisfying in terms of crunch and taste while also packing a protein punch without the extreme dehydration that can come from a lot of typical salt travel snacks.
Packing in 8G of protein and 6G of fiber, these dried chickpeas are satisfyingly crunchy with great saltiness without going overboard. I will often pull these out instead of the pretzels offered on the flight for a more filling option. They also come in multiple flavors!
Same brand, different protein source. These edamame are DELICIOUS and by far for me the most satisfying travel snack. It’s super easy to eat the full bag of these with 11G of protein and 5G of fiber per serving these have saved me when I’ve landed in airports with no food options to keep me full.
These are my most recent find and I love the earthy and salty taste of these sprouted mung beans. At 6G of protein they are a little less filling than the first two options but you can sprinkle them on a meal to get an extra boost. Fair warning- they’re pretty messy but worth it.
I love mixing these with nuts and dried fruit for a grab and go trailmix. They have 8G of protein, easier to digest because they’re sprouted and also pack some great nutrients like zinc, magnesium and potassium which will keep your body health while traveling.
The Sweet
The biggest concern when eating while traveling is to keep blood sugar stable. These sweet snacks are ideal to stabilize blood sugar while also providing some needed sweetness to make your travel enjoyable.
I love these so much. Though they’re refrigerated, they keep outside the fridge for up to 4 days so it’s great to bring for a long weekend or overnight flight. It clocks in with 4G of fiber and 6G of protein but mostly the chocolate covered deliciousness tastes like candy without the sugar high. Simply delicious. Cookie Dough and Peanut Butter are absolute faves.
Justin’s tends to be a pretty good brand with high quality ingredients and their individual nut butter packets make it easy to pack in some protein while traveling. This honey one has a nice sweetness for only 4G of sugar and can be used to make a sandwich, dip some apple slices in or eat on its own. If you’re allergic to nuts, sun butter has individual packets as well for travel.
While these clock in with slightly higher sugar at 6G, they are a really healthy way to get in some sweetness and air dried so have no added oils or frying. I can finish a whole bag of these in one sitting and they fight sweet cravings extremely well.
The Bars
Sometimes you just want to grab a protein bar and not think about packing lots of different snack options. I have searched far and wide for the best bars to keep you full with steady protein while avoiding the typical blood sugar spike that comes with many bars.
Sakara is expensive so I try to get these on sale but they without a doubt are my favorite bars. Only clean ingredients with 12G of protein, 9G of fiber and only 4G of sugar, they are what I rely on when traveling to avoid any blood sugar spikes and feel full.
These are Nick’s favorite bar and definitely a better price point than Sakara. Equally low in sugar at 4G with 14G of protein and 6G of protein, they’re filling and come in a variety of flavors. The ingredients are slightly less clean but definitely still impressive for a protein bar.
Maria Shriver’s functional bars are meant to enhance brain function with adaptogenic herbs that contribute to better brain health and their plant based bars are pretty good with 11G of protein, 1G of sugar and 7G of fiber. I love the addition of lions mane and vitamins b and d which enhance brain health here. I’m not as big a fan of the soy protein isolate which can cause issues for some people with digestive issues you can read more about here. Still a pretty good option.
The Hydration
Ensuring a well hydrated body pre, during and post travel is essential to showing up to your destination refreshed and avoiding any bloating or inflammation. A lot of electrolyte powders can include a lot of sugar for flavor so these are the best in my opinion to supercharge hydration without a ton of additional sugar.
I feel like every influencer and their mother advertises LMNT but the hype is legit. On hot days, heavy periods and difficult travel days LMNT has saved me again and again with delicious flavors and truly hydrating ingredients. LMNT is good for hydration during necessary points like I mentioned but because it has stevia which can be a hormone disruptor for some people I try to not have it on the reg.
Needed is popular for pregnancy and postpartum supplements but these electrolytes are for everyone and pack in ionic trace minerals as well as anti-inflammatory ingredients like turmeric and spirulina. It’s sweetened with monk fruit which is definitely a certain taste but if you like the taste this is a great option.
I haven’t tried these yet but they’re recommended by my girl Jules Acree who I always go to for the best recommendations so I guarantee they’re fantastic. It’s sweetened with coconut water so the sugar is low and very natural and the reviews are all really good. Next on my list to try!
LEMON, SALT & WATER
No link for this one. My favorite hydration is simply a high quality salt like Celtic Sea Salt, a bit of lemon juice and water. When dissolved in water, sea salt splits into sodium and chloride ions which are critical electrolytes. Lemon and other citrus provide natural electrolytes like potassium, calcium and magnesium. Just bring a little baggy of salt and a lemon on your travels and voila! Money saved and sugar free electrolytes!
This is a very fancy name for a very simple product: ionic trace minerals. The first time I was told to have ionic trace minerals I was in high school and could not find one that didn’t make me want to puke. These are the first I’ve found that you can barely taste and excellent for travel as they can help you hydrate, ward off aches and pains of travel and support your body while adjusting to new environments.
SOOTHING TEA
A hot mug of tea often feels like the most calming and home-like beverage and I love to carry lots of tea bags with me to calm my nervous system and hydrate while traveling. It can also be great for stomach upset. My favorites are Chamomile, Roasted Dandelion Root, Mint and Ginger.
Homemade Snacks
I usually have so much to do before travel that the last thing on my mind is making food for a flight but these are a few easy recipes that you can always pack if you have the energy and the desire to do so.
PROTEIN PACKED AVO & EGGS
I usually struggle in airports to find food that is filling enough for a meal without making me feel greasy and overly-stuffed. Nick and I have started making these avo & egg sandwiches and just heating them up and wrapping in foil before bringing to the airport and eating them before our flight. All it requires is to toast some high quality GF bread, scramble two eggs with 2 tbps nutritional yeast (for added protein), add some avocado and hemp seeds (for added protein) to the toast and top with your favorite hot sauce or spices.
If I have the time I’ll make some energy balls and I like this one from Ambitious Kitchen though I swap peanut butter for almond butter (personal preference). They keep pretty well during a flight and because they’re protein packed tend to keep me full without any sugar crash.
TRAVEL TRAIL MIX
Trail Mix can me a good option to make ahead of time as the ones you get in the airport can often be sky high in sugar with not so great for you ingredients. I like to make mine with some toasted almonds, pecans and roasted pumpkin seeds, dried ginger and cranberries and a few dark chocolate chips or maybe even some popcorn. Pop in a little bag and it makes for a great snack or even cereal with some dairy free milk.
Health coach, meditation teacher, reiki master and woman on a mission to help you live life on your terms.
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