Road Food

I’m generally pretty frugal when on a road trip. However, there’s one area where I tend to blow the budget. I eat too much road food.

It’s really bad when one considers that for many of these road trips I’m going camping. Food and cooking gear is right there with me. So what’s the problem?

One of the big issues is the weather. Often I’m traveling during the cold of winter or when it’s raining. That’s not exactly picnic weather. Sure, I could have a sandwich and munchies in the vehicle, but that’s not much of a break.

A lot of my travel is done during the night. Traffic is lighter. A 2 a. m. picnic at a rest area would be pretty odd and often uncomfortable. It’s so much easier to pull into a 24 hour truck stop and get a nice plate of fat, salt and preservatives.

My food travel stops are more than about food. At least half of it is for a physical and mental break. A walk to stretch the legs is not just nice, it’s necessary. Being waited on is pleasant. If we stop at a Cracker Barrel, my lovely wife will check out the store part to see what’s on sale.

While I’m not going to totally eliminate stopping for road food, my plan is to cut back on it. At the very least it should be easy to start off with some sandwiches and a thermos of coffee. Cooking up a dehydrated Mountain House meal is quick and easy with little mess. The food’s of pretty good quality too.

Maybe stopping for just coffee now and then would be enough of a break and a lot easier on the budget.

-Sixbears