Eating healthy while on the road doesn’t need to be hard. Some people even make it seem harder than it is by throwing around quotes like “It doesn’t matter how old you are, buying snacks for a road trip should always look like an unsupervised 9-year-old was given $100.”

I can’t track down the first person to say those words, but it has turned into a popular meme that you’ve probably seen shared a few times. In theory, this sounds like a great idea. In practice though… eating that way can get old reeeal quick. Usually around the time the stomach ache kicks in. If you’re even luckier (HAHA), it’s around the time you get to your hotel room and spend the next 3 hours puking up the buffalo flavored cheeseits and chocolate covered pretzels you thought you should eat on that long haul through west Texas.

How do you eat healthy on the road? Just by making a few small changes.

Most of us can figure out how to eat healthy while at home. You have certain habits that keep you in check. Knowing you need to pack a lunch for work, the rhythm of cooking dinner at the same time every day. Maybe you meal prep on Sundays or use the slow cooker a few times a week. While it may not be easy, there is a certain schedule you probably stick to.

Camping? Road trips? Travel?
That’s a whole other story!

The trick to keeping up the healthy habits while on the road comes down to the dreaded “P” word.
Planning.

With a little bit of planning ahead, you can make some good choices that leave you feeling a little better than trying to survive on Red Bull and Swedish Fish while on the road and then stopping at Applebees as 12am. I can tell you from experience, nothing good ever happens at an Applebees after the sun goes down (ESPECIALLY if it’s the only place open in a town that smells like a cow feed lot.)

Most of the trips I take involve a mixture of driving and camping. Those two things require completely different types of meals. Both things you can quick grab and go with, as well as cooked options for around a campfire.

Tip 1:
Overlap your meals.

Use ingredients that are great for multiple meals. This saves on cooler space. It also helps cut down on the amount of food waste. In the end, you won’t be left with bits and pieces of leftovers that get thrown out.

For example: Tacos, sandwiches, breakfast burritos, and burgers sound like four different meals with three very different sets of ingredients. When you think outside the box and go a semi untraditional route, you can overlap quite a bit. Skip the burger buns and sandwich bread. Just pick up a pack of tortillas! I stopped at a restaurant once that had “quesaburgers” on the menu. I’m sure it was some weird mashup of a burger and a quesadilla… but the idea stuck and I started using it! A cheeseburger wrapped up in a tortilla can go right back on the grill to crisp up the outside.

Those same tortillas can be used as wraps for a quick snack with some lunchmeat. The next morning you can drag them back out and cook up some scrambled eggs for breakfast burritos. BONUS TIP: if you only plan on using eggs scrambled, crack them in a bottle to store in the cooler so they don’t break.

This also helps if you are like me and accidentally leave a dozen sitting on TOP of the cooler… then drive away… then spend the next 20 minutes on the side of the road cleaning egg off everything… when it’s over 100 degrees out and it’s quite literally cooking onto everything as you wipe it down. That was an experience I don’t wish on anyone hahahahha *cries*.

Cheese addict? Maybe instead of bringing slices, shredded, and block… you try to pick one option you can use universally. Pick up 2lbs of beef instead of 1 to get burgers and tacos out of.

Tip 2:
Bring sturdy food.

I really am not sure how else to word that, though it sounds weird. Sturdy food?
At home, I cook with a lot of spinach. On the road? Spinach sitting out gets disgusting. Spinach sitting in a cooler gets disgusting. I’ve swapped out spinach for sturdier veggies. Bagged cabbage has lasted over a week properly sealed in the cooler! I use that to top all my taco-y things instead of plain lettuce or spinach.

Think of options that are hard, or crunchy. Potatoes not only stay good while being bumped around, but can be cooked over a fire for stuffed baked potatoes, diced for morning homefries, stuffed in breakfast burritos, etc.

Peppers and carrots hold up better in the cooler as well. Hard boiled eggs. String cheese. Nuts. Celery. While you are out shopping, look at your list and see if there are any fragile foods that you can swap for a sturdy equivalent.

Bonus tip: Bananas won’t last more than 2 days in a van unless you feel like making banana bread.

Tip 3:
Pack your own coffee.

I am a coffee shop stopper when I travel. They’re always in the perfect downtown areas, are super cute shops, and you get a sense of the locals. Unfortunately, it also eats into the adventure budget, and leaves open the opportunity to buy more than just a cup of coffee. Those shelves area always loaded with cookies and cakes!

Find a coffee method that’s easy, and take it with you. With a small camp stove, way to boil water, and your favorite coffee… you can find a way to enjoy your favorite warm drink on the side of a mountain, or edge of a cliff. Making coffee on the edge of the canyon at Goosenecks State Park in Utah is one of my treasured memories from that trip.

Pour over, instant (eww), or a percolator are the easiest ways to do this in your van or camper.
That way you can make your coffee shop stops intentional vs first thing in the morning zombie mode struggling to find the closest gas station.

Tip 4:
Cook grab and go options ahead of time.

You won’t always have time to stop and cook something. A little bit of prep work at home can make sure you’re loaded down with options if you need to pull over on the side of the road for lunch.

Make your own lunchables. Mix up some trail mix (avoid chocolate if you’re planning on being in a warm area and sticking your hand in the bag after midnight, in the dark, when you wake up hungry).
Boil eggs. Chop veggies. Prep some sandwich sliders. Make a batch of granola bars. Keep protein shakes in the cooler.

You can also prep some of the things you can cook. Before hitting the road, load up your kebobs. Chop up meat. Assemble breakfast sandwiches in foil you can heat up. Anything that can make meal time quicker or easier.

I always try to made a huge batch of pasta salad. Chickpea pasta ramps up the protein. Cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, green peppers, and mozzarella cheese hold up well to a few days of sitting in a bit of balsamic dressing. Perfect for pulling over somewhere pretty in the middle of Yellowstone National Park for lunch!

Tip 5:
Visit Farmers Markets.

You don’t have to fill your vehicle up to the brim with food, unless you’re planning on going off grid for multiple days. Instead, look ahead to where you’re going and do some research to see if they have a farmers market.

Fresh groceries every few days, and all locally grown to where ever you are at the moment. It’s a great way to increase your fruit and veggie consumption, and eat fun new foods that are in season as you travel.

Tip 6:
Canned foods.

You might avoid a lot of them at home. Why bother getting a can of green beans when it’s just as easy to buy them fresh? Or why buy peaches in tin when you can just eat a peach?
On the road, those things can get tossed around and bruise pretty easily. Or, like I mentioned above… you’ll find out you have to eat bananas for every meal on day 3 as they go bad. Canned versions of things work great for travel.

If searching for fruit, pick one that’s packed in water instead of syrup.
Different types of canned beans can speed meals up, or stretch ground meats and add some bulk. Canned corn is quicker to turn into a dip than cooking the whole ear to chop up. Diced tomatoes go over pasta. Canned chicken or tuna turn into a quick sandwich or salad. Quick heat soups for chilly nights (or mornings, I don’t judge).

… just make sure to remember a can opener.

Completely Irrelevant tip 7 that probably won’t help you at all:
Foraging!

I don’t recommend this unless you really know what you’re doing.
I just happened to get lucky once and go hiking with someone who knows their shit, and I trusted that this was an actual raspberry and not poison.
This raspberry was found on a waterfall hike near Pagosa Springs, Colorado!

Tip 8:
Know when to have something that might not be healthy for you physically, but is healthy for you mentally.

If you do what you can to make sure most of your calories come from food that will nourish your body, you can usually get away with indulging in some things here and there that might not.

Eat a smore with everyone around the campfire.

Drink a beer at the top of an epic hike.

It’s worth it.

These 8 tips should get you started with swapping to healthier ways to eat while on the road.
Do you have any additional tips? I love hearing from readers over on my facebook or instagram page!