Road snacks
I’m thinking with my stomach again. On my bus ride to work this morning I found myself watching a little kid eating goldfish crackers with little faces drawn on them, and started thinking about food that travels. With airlines no longer offering free food on shorter flights, packing enough to sustain you so you’re not gnawing off your seatmate’s arm is becoming increasingly important. So I post the question: what is the perfect road snack?
Personally, I can’t call it a vacation unless I’ve treated myself to a bag of wine gums. Love those things. Small, non-gooey, easy to stash in pockets and they don’t go bad if you don’t finish the bag in one seating (like that ever happens, really). I love them to the point when I discovered light wine gums in Hong Kong I stockpiled them (customs must have thought I needed to go to Wine Gums Anonymous or something) and now only break them out for travel or road trips. They’re my ultimate treat. And with the light ones, they’re like treats without guilt! And slurpees. Nothing makes a trip happier than the icy goodness sliding over your tongue… I’m starting to think I need to reduce my sugar intake… oh well, they’re vacation calories, they don’t count anyway. These are reserved for road trips though, something with a cupholder and no restrictions on liquids and gels. I somehow don’t see splitting your slurpee into little 100ml or less bottles and putting them in your airline-approved Ziploc baggie working out too well.
On the other hand, my BF is all about cookies. Specifically chocolate chip cookies. Sometimes he’ll just space out, and when I ask him what he’s thinking about, it’ll be cookies. Those little individually wrapped ones are like gold to him. It makes his good vacation even better, though they do have a slight tendency to get crushed in carry on bags.
That’s what makes trail mix so wonderful. You can customize your own blend, as healthy or crappy as you want, and then stuff it in assorted bags and pockets, all the little individual pieces malleable enough to be packed around other objects without breaking. You can do almost anything to a bag of trail mix (playing catch is always a big hit) and it’s still perfectly edible. And the action of eating all the little bits is good for you, too, as it takes more brain power than just popping one stick of gum into your mouth, and helps pass the time on what can be a mind-numbing travel day. For my Mom, a smoker, this helps her a lot to fight off the cravings, and she’s incredibly pleasant to fly with. Just don’t stand between her and the smoking lounge when we land 
Love you, Mom.
Granola bars are another popular choice, as they’re healthier than Snickers bars and individually packaged and portion-controlled, though I find they have a tendancy to squish or break (depending on if you bought the chewy or crunchy versions) as I shove everything into and out of my giant purse.
So what does it for you? What is your ultimate road snack and why? I’m looking for suggestions, I’m almost out of light wine gums and airfare back to Hong Kong isn’t in the budget!
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Love you too, Holly.