Personal RV Travel Nutrition
Staying on track while traveling is a challenge to say the least. During Covid, our family decided to take a 5-week cross country RV trip where we traveled from Kansas City to Colorado, Arizona, California, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska and back to Missouri. The trip was originally planned to be three weeks long, but there is so much to see and if there is one positive thing to say about Covid-19, it’s that it allowed our family to work remotely and gave us the opportunity to take a trip like this. There is no better way to social distance than to travel with your own kitchen, bedroom and bathroom.
Eating healthy on the road is not as simple as some make it seem. I always say you have to plan ahead and although that helps a lot, there is more to the equation. Luckily for us, we had a small refrigerator/freezer and a little pantry space in the RV. We also had a 2 burner propane stove. I used the freezer space for meals already prepared so all we had to do was reheat them. I also put deli turkey, chicken sausages, and frozen veggies in the freezer. I placed frozen chicken thighs/breasts in the refrigerator to slowly thaw and be used within the week.
We assumed we could grill on an open fire at most of the sites we stayed at, but often that wasn’t the case as many places had a fire ban or only allowed propane grilling. One small hiccup. Also in the refrigerator was deli meat and no nitrate salami/prosciutto, a variety of cheese (sliced, shredded, block), corn and flour tortillas, yogurts, hummus, salsa, eggs, grass-fed butter, organic half and half, apples, grapes, lettuce, snap peas, carrots, cucumbers, and energy balls.
In the pantry, I stocked it with organic noodles, rice, gluten free pancake mix, oatmeal, trail mix, nuts/seeds, almond butter, canned beans, canned olives, canned sardines, Nut Thins crackers, organic tortilla chips, sourdough bread, potatoes, onions, garlic, avocados, avocado oil, bananas, oranges, lemons/limes, and grapefruits. We had collected plenty of travel pack condiments including ketchup, mustard, mayo, hot sauce, honey, and sriracha.
With these foods we were able to create several meal scenarios:
Grilled chicken with iron skillet potatoes and green beans (we found wild rosemary growing and used it for fresh seasoning)
Grilled salt and vinegar chicken legs with side salad
Black bean tacos with cheese and salsa
Tortilla wraps with deli meat, hummus, and cucumbers/carrots
Charcuterie meal with salami, prosciutto, cheese, olives, nuts, grapes, and crackers
Chilaquiles (simple dish made with tortilla chips, eggs, and salsa; can be used for breakfast, lunch, or dinner)
Sardine salad (sardines, mayo, onion, lemon, spices) on lettuce beds or crackers
Pancakes with almond butter, banana, honey and breakfast chicken sausage
Chicken sausages with saffron rice and snap peas with hummus to dip
Buttered noodles with chicken sausages and side salad (avocado oil/lemon dressing)
Scrambled eggs with leftover skillet potatoes and black beans
Grilled turkey sandwiches with avocado and sliced oranges on the side
Oatmeal with a splash of cream and trail mix; honey if needed
Ramen noodles with eggs and sriracha and cucumber salad on the side
Avocado toast with fried egg on top
Along the way we were able to find some local produce stands to get seasonal fresh fruit and veggies, banana bread, and even homemade tamales which was so nice. When we needed any groceries, we made a list and either masked up and ran into a store or ordered online for pick up. We stopped twice for fast food in the five weeks and that was In-N-Out which we got a single patty burger with lettuce in place of the bun (protein style) and extra veggies. I did allow the kids to have a milkshake since this was a special occasion. We had artisan pizza with salad, local Indian food, some amazing Thai food, sushi, and we couldn’t pass up the fish tacos and oysters in Malibu.
When we were unsure of an area, we used Yelp to help us find the right places to stop and every place did curbside pickup so we didn’t have to worry about going inside anywhere. We kept huge stainless water bottles we refilled often and a cooler with ice for sparkling water and coconut water. I would say what I missed most was being able to make a smoothie! The fresh fruit and an occasional juice had to replace that. Overall, we did a pretty good job of maintaining a somewhat healthy diet. It helps to have the proper tools so if an RV isn’t in the cards, there are coolers, cigarette lighter options for heating foods, small propane burners and other handy travel modalities to keep you cooking while traveling.
It’s easy to use traveling as an excuse to get side tracked from eating healthy but athletes typically travel so much, this could be a dangerous mindset. Stay focused and try to pair a protein and healthy fat with your carbs whenever possible. It’s easy to eat carbs and too many of them when traveling. I can remember an assistant coach of mine in college bringing a large cooler with his own food to all of our away games and I thought he was crazy, but now I totally understand what he was trying to accomplish! It is possible!
