We tend to eat when we’re on the road. Not more than usual (often the opposite) but we do still need to eat. Usually we can manage to stay in a hotel/motel that offers a complimentary continental breakfast (although the super-excellent Hampton Inn chain does complimentary hot breakfast!) but that leaves 2 meals.

When I did my solo vacation a few years ago I realized that I really like at least 1 hot meal a day. There is something about hot food that just feels good. That meal can be a fast food lunch or a sit down dinner (or Denny’s breakfast) but it should exist.

On the road food needs to be simple and quick. It is better if it doesn’t need any accessories or cooling. Keeping food cold on the road can be difficult. Buying ice every day and emptying out the water from the cooler is a pain.

With that in mind, we have what we consider a decent menu for on the road eating:

  • Single-serving applesauce
  • Pudding cups
  • Crackers
  • Granola bars
  • Bagels with peanut butter
  • Pop Tarts
  • Beef jerkey
  • Wheat thins

The new item we added to this list for our last trip are US military MREs (meal ready to eat). They’re great. They need no refrigeration or utensils and come with heating things. They work fine at room temperature, though. While the gum may be terrible, the actual food is pretty good. We tried 4 different menus and I am looking forward to heading to the army navy store soon to get some more.

Sure, dehydrated food may be better and possibly better for you (MREs are high in fat and carbs) but you need water and preparation.

I think that we’ll be using MREs on all of our future camping and road trips. They’re probably also just good things to have around in the event of an emergency.

Happy eating!

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