With our Alaskan adventure looming, and me trying in vain to get as much done as possible so I am not scrambling last minute (yeah right), my attention turns to travel snacks. A 4-hr plane ride to Seattle + 2 kids = copious snackage, right?
I started throwing together a feedbag. And then I stopped.
As a society, we have a habit of incorporating food into pretty much everything we do. Don’t get me wrong: I love holiday food and coming together with friends/family for a Sunday meal and all that jazz. It’s this eating on-the-go phenomenon. It sparked the advent of an entire industry:
Travel snacks, cups, bowls, bags you name it, it’s out there. When the kids were younger I had an entire cabinet devoted to sippy cups, covered snack sorters and the like. I’m embarrassed to say we did not go near the car without a full complement of snacks and drinks. It was as if we’d starve and wither away if 15 minutes passed in the car without caloric sustenance. Once I realized the insanity of my ways, it stopped. For me (as a kid in the stone age) there was never food and drink in the car. Eating at a fast food place was a very rare treat. So where did this snack on-the-go mentality come from?
Sure all snacks are not created equal and I’m not saying one should never snack. On a 4-hour plane ride, I will bring snacks along. But I also think kids and adults alike need to learn to be without food at their fingertips at all times. I think this habit lays the groundwork for boredom eating, overeating and soothing with food, to name just a few.
I’ll get off my soapbox now. But in general our society’s travel snack mentality leaves plenty of food for thought. Vacay blogging will be spotty to none depending on internet connections (and how the sled dogs are treating me). I’ll try to share on Instagram if nothing else. Catch you later!
Are you guilty of travel snack mentality?
I agree Marcia. Every activity for kids these days includes a snack, even if it’s only an hour long class. They are being taught that food is part of everything they do. Definetely a dangerous habit to teach them. I started waiting for my kids to ask for something to eat… what a concept!
When I was a kid, we’d drive from TN to MI a couple times a year to see family. With three young kids in the car, I think food was a way to keep the sanity. Nothing gets kids to shut up quite like a cinnamon roll :). Now, though, I tend to not pack as many snacks on trips or if I do it’s usually fruit and granola bars.
Have a wonderful trip to Alaska! I’m kinda concerned you’re going without Thelma, so please tell Louise to be careful out there dogsledding and oh, while you’re gone I may actually write a blog post about Leadville! 🙂
xoxo
It’s a fine line between being caught unprepared and actually going hungry!
I think HUNGER is not a bad thing, but I always carry some emergency food with me. But I make it something nutritious that will hold me over till I can get a proper meal into me.
Good topic!
I am terrible with the car snacking. For road trips, I have to plan appropriate treats and I inevitably have to start eating before we even get out of city limits. So sad.
I am also guilty of being a toddler mom. I’m pretty sure there are always emergency juice boxes and individual Goldfish bags in the car. Lord, help him if he can make it to daycare without announcing that he’s hungry.
I was raised the same way, I think it keeps the car waaaaaaaaaay cleaner too. 🙂 The only time we stopped for McDonalds was halfway through the 3 hr ride to Grandmas, which we did maybe five times a year. I’m still not a snacker, in the car or otherwise. Give me three meals a day, and if they’re timed right and large enough, I’m good for the day.
ENJOY & enjoy the break from social media! 🙂
I never really thought about it until you put it that way. And I don’t know about your house but at mine they think there is “nothing to eat” unless there are snacks. What an eye opener! I’m still not quite ready to give up my sippy cup/tiny bowl cabinet.
I agree. However, now that there are no meals on planes and food served in business meetings can be so bad, I am a bit obsessed with healthy snacks in place of nothing or junk to eat as meals. (See giveaway 3 of said stuff on my blog this week!)
Have a great trip! Alaska is awesome!
I agree. That combination of being bored and tired from the travel fatigue/anticipation that you just want to eat, eat eat! We used to go thru bags of Starbursts and Twizzlers when I was little on road trips. Now, on long plane rides, I purposefully pack things that taste boring, like plain raw almonds, so that its enough to keep hunger at bay but not make me want to keep eating for the taste.
found you through RealInto….
great post…I know I get so caught up in bringing snacks and lunches…that I forget what’s really healthy.
After a trip to the dinosaur park and ridiculously huge sandwiches. I told hubby from now on I’m bringing PB&J sandwiches, cheese sticks, and granola for Dino and I on trips…no more of these fattening and unhealthy foods.