World Snacking
My husband likes to compare me to a hummingbird. He says that like a hummingbird I need to constantly eat to stay in flight (and by in flight he means be a happy, sane person). In our ten years of travel together we’ve fought about being lost, late, tired, fed up with each other’s griping, and who decided it was a good idea to drive in one day from one side of France to the other, but generally speaking, all these fights were just because we were cranky from lack of food.
It took a few years to figure this out, but now that we have, we pretty much always travel with snacks. You just never know what’s going to happen when you travel, and everything is a lot happier and prettier if you have something to eat handy. I also love food, and bringing home food souvenirs (ahem, as allowed by law, mostly) from my travels.
In the spirit of making your travel a little less cranky, I give you my top travel snacks, and some great snacks I have procured on the road, don’t leave home, or the destination, without them!
1. Chocolate
For a flight longer than two hours, I always have a chocolate bar. Toblerone or Ritter are good because the pieces break off so easily. Especially on a overnight flight, nothing invigorates you for getting off the plane and getting to your hotel at 7 am like some chocolate. It’s also a lovely midnight snack. Buy tasty local chocolate for the flight back.
2. Water
I don’t think I need to explain this, and everyone is attached to their water bottle at the hip these days anyway. Drink lots of water and minimize alcohol and caffeine on the plane, do the opposite once you’re in your destination. Kidding! Hydration is still important when you’re on land, but so is imbibing celebratory beverages.
3. Tim Tams (Australia)
Tim Tams are probably the national biscuit (or is it cookie?) of Australia. Great with tea, a perfect 5pm tide you over until dinner snack.
4. Cheezels (Australia)
What Cheetos should be, but aren’t. Deliciously cheesy. They take a suspiciously long time to get stale.
5. Local Ice Cream (Barcelona, the French Riviera)
The Albert 1er chain in Nice, France makes some of the best ice cream I have ever had. Creamy, flavorful and in an array of gorgeous colors (I particularly recall getting pistachio frequently). In Barcelona any little shop with a walk up window is bound to be good. Not to mention that in the summer these two locales are hot hot hot, and the ice cream is blissfully refreshing.
6. Mariage Freres Tea (France + the UK)
Best tea ever, and I drink a lot of tea. As much as I love Peets in the Bay Area, I have to admit Mariage is the freshest, most aromatic tea I have ever had loose or in bags. I prefer the black varieties, and I enjoy their little cheesecloth-like sack teabags.
Though they don’t carry Mariage Freres, if you’re in New York, check out the tea at McNulty’s, I always bring home some white tea and their Assam is great.
7. Macadamia Nuts (Hawaii)
Nuts are a great beach or snorkel trip snack. Satisfying, easy to eat and transport, and if you drop it in the sand, its no biggie, just brush it off. Macadamia’s also might just have my vote for tastiest nut.
8. Honey, Jelly or Jam
Local honey, jelly or jam is almost always really, really good, and almost always fine to bring back to your home country. It also makes a nice souvenir gift. Manuka honey from New Zealand is great. Anything unusual looking in the food halls of David Jones (Sydney) or Harrods (London) will probably be tasty - I’ve gotten some great lime marmalade and ginger and fig jellies from excursions there.
9. Pretzels (Germany)
Bretzelen in Germany are often warm and always delicious, not like the poor, hard US street or mall or ballpark version of the soft pretzel. Get them sweet or plain, but get at least one while you are in Germany. You need something to wash that beer down with!
10. Pingvin (Denmark, Iceland)
Salty black licorice would not normally sound good to me, but somehow Penguins are addictive and delicious, maybe because they are so small and the black licorice flavor is pleasant, not sickening. And I love their namesake animal, which is imprinted on each one.
I could go on with ten more suggestions, but I think this will do to get started. More importantly, visit local food shops on your next trip and find a great new snack. If you’ve got a favorite travel snack to share, leave a comment and let me know!
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March 6th, 2007 at 10:34 am
Don’t get me wrong — I love the Cheezel and the pretzel and the TimTam. But I am a little disappointed in you Kelly, and you know why.
Nowhere on your list is the humble, succulent, squishy, flavorful, colorful, gently sticky, fruit-scented GUMMY BEAR mentioned. Can we make this #11 on your list?
And let me just say — a gummy bear ain’t a gummy bear if it doesn’t come from the Happy World of Haribo. Accept no imitators!
I was introduced to the gummy bear on my first trip to Germany, when I was 12. I consider this one of the highlights of my childhood. I am only partly kidding.
March 6th, 2007 at 10:57 am
You know why I couldn’t include it. We all know why. I just am not allowed to eat the gummy. I used to eat so many it caused me to sweat. I am not joking, it was wrong. I can’t eat just one. One leads to another and one hundred more, so no gummy for me. Make your own snack list buddy and you can have it #1 there.
March 6th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
I’ll throw in Galaxy Minstrels from the UK (like giant M&M’s) and Burger Bites from Ireland (burger flavored corn snacks. Much like the cheezels, they oddly enough don’t go stale!
June 19th, 2007 at 3:23 pm
Kelly, Kelly, Kelly - you really need look no further than your own backyard!
#1 - Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. End of Story. Period.
#2 - The Butterfinger Candy Bar.
Oh and you didn’t really mean you were “kidding” about applying the Reverse Hydration Principle (is that a new term?) in your destination swapping water for alcohol did you?