I just returned from an annual road trip to Mississippi to a friend’s family farm. It’s a get together we all look forward to each year with good friends, good food, and tennis.
About halfway into our five-hour road trip, we stopped to fuel up and take a break. I walked into the convenience store to get a beverage. There were aisles of chips, crackers, cookies and candy and walls of beer, sports drinks, sodas, and water. But where was the “real” food?
I spotted three options – nuts, seeds and bananas – and the bananas weren’t even ripe. I could choose from peanuts, cashews, almonds, and sunflower seeds with loads of salt, oils, and/or artificial flavors – but where were plain nuts? Not an option.
This whole situation got me thinking about travel and convenience. Given my scenario, there were no good options. Some pit stops offer more options than others, but the situation does present a challenge.
If you are in the midst of cancer treatment, taking a road trip might not be possible right now. However, traveling to and from multiple medical appointments can create the same situation. Perhaps an appointment or scan takes two hours longer than anticipated, and suddenly it is two hours past your usual lunchtime. You don’t want to eat a full meal since dinner is approaching, but you have a 30-minute drive home. What can you do?
Be prepared. It may take too much energy to prepare snacks for yourself each day you have appointments or treatment, but take the time on a day you feel well, or ask a friend or family member for help. Put together some grab-and-go foods you can carry with you when the unexpected happens.
In the convenience store, your best bets include:
When you have time to prepare a snack, choose foods that do well without refrigeration:
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