During my mid-twenties, when I was becoming an avid hiker, I started carrying snacks and water with me. At some point it didn’t matter where or what I was doing, I always had something handy to extinguish hunger pangs. I am evil when I am hungry. As I age, hunger makes me even irritable. Sometimes I get shaky and can’t even think straight. Therefore, I always try to travel with some type of snack especially when I don’t have time to interrupt my day to eat.  I really do love eating out, but when I am in the middle of something, I would rather not be bothered with stopping to eat. It is so inconvenient or there simply isn’t anywhere suitable to stop and eat.

Over the years, packing snacks has served me well. When my family was experiencing a medical emergency, my snacks and water allowed us to concentrate on the situation and be present. During these times, I started packing extra snacks to help nourish others. This prepared me for becoming a Mom. After giving birth to Mathew, my body produced nourishment 24 hours a day for as long as he or I wanted. Luckily, we were ready to move on at the same time. Nevertheless, I still needed nourishment, in fact in greater quantities than before. As Mathew’s eating patterns developed, I started to pack more snacks that he enjoyed. Diaper bags aren’t just for diapers.

Although Mathew is now 10 years old, my habit of packing snacks is still going strong. I don’t use a diaper bag anymore but a sack is always available. On hot days, we even have a cooler in the car. Ever so often, if I’m on a short errand, I may forget water or snack; it is always missed.

 Here are some typical snacks we take along on long and short trips:

• peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
• bananas
• apples (whole or cut-up)
• grapes
• Clementine’s
• strawberries
• blueberries
• trail mix (mixture of dried fruit, whole grain cereal, & nuts)
• humus and carrots
• cheese and crackers
• pretzels
• Cliff bars (Mike’s recent addition)
• homemade muffins

Even on our recent trip to Costa Rica, snacks came in very handy, especially in the middle of the rainforest. Funny, we even traveled with a jar of organic peanut butter, just in case. Thank goodness, as it came in very handy.

Do you carry snacks with you, if so, what kind? Please share and I will continue to share.