Like the rest of the country, I’ve swapped out more far-flung summer vacations forclose-to-home road trips.My wife and I have camped quite a bit this summer, including a recent weeklong trip where we took some extra precautions to be as self-sufficient on the moveas possible. Aside from stopping for gas, we didn’t have contact with anyone. The key to making that happen waspacking all our food. Here’s how we did it—and how you can, too.
Get the Right Gear
First and foremost, nothing prepares you to beself-sufficient food-wise on the roadlike a portable fridge. I think the phrase “game changer” is overused in gear reviews, but that’s exactly what a fridge is for road trips and camping. Not having to fill a cooler with ice means you won’t end up with soggy food or with a box full of nasty swamp water when the juice from those burger patties leaks out.
It also means you won’t need to restock on ice, no matter how long you stay out. I’ve used a (from $960) for a few years and highly recommend it. Since you don’t need ice,there’s more space than a similar-sizecooler. If you pack well and frugally, the 50 liters can fit two to three meals a day for two people for up to a week (it did for us, at least).Dometic also makes units with , which means you can effectively stay on the road without going to the grocery store for even longer.
You’ll need something to power the fridge, and while you can plug it into your vehicle’s 12-voltoutlet,a battery will be necessary to run it when you’re not driving. I use Dometic’s PLB40 battery(from $850), which is great because it powers the fridge for on a single charge. The best partis that you can recharge it from your car’s 12-voltplug as you drive, and it’ll power the fridge at the same time—so you’d be hard-pressed to run out of juice during a road trip where you’re driving every day.
We also bring a small, soft-sided cooler, like the 30-liter(from $300), for all of the snacks and cans ofLaCroixwe want within reach while driving.Then you don’t have to open the fridge as much, which in our casewould mean stopping to access it from our teardrop trailer.
If you’re looking for a more affordable option than a portable fridge, go with a 45-to-50-litercooler from a brand like or Yeti. line of coolers (from $250) has worked better for me and kept things cooler longer than any other cooler I’ve used over the years. If you pack it correctly with a ton of ice, it will keep your food cold for a day or two at a time. That said, for a longer trip, it’s just not as good of a solution as a portable fridge for being totally self-sufficient.
Pack Efficiently
With a portable fridge,you don’t need to worry about about whether your food is sealed watertight or there’sroom for ice.If you go with a cooler, watch this video,and make sure to utilize the little basket that often comes with coolers foritems like eggs and cheesesthat you don’t wantjostled or crushed.
My wifeand I like to prepare and pack all of our food by meal. For example, we’ll cut up veggies and put them in a Ziplocwith a package of chicken and the accompanying sauce, and then we’ll label the meal with the day we planto cook it. This helps with food-safety issues, because we can keeptrack ofthe meal’s expiration date.
Another trick is to pack your ingredients in a container (either usingTupperwareorreusable Ziplocs) that you can then eat out of or store leftoversin. Doing so helps reduce the amount of packages and containers you’ll need to bring.
Bring the Right Kind of Food
It doesn’t matter how well you pack if you don’t bring food that is conducive to a road trip. You’ll want to shop forthings that are relatively easy to cook, will last for the duration of your trip, and aren’t going to require many extra ingredients. One of our go-to meals is stir-fry with a precooked steamed rice pouch. Here’s what we put in it: dried, frozen, fresh, or canned vegetables (depending on how long we’llbe on the road),a stir-fry sauce,and a protein, like chicken or eggs. To keep things easy, weoften opt for canned chicken or those foil pouches you can find at some grocery stores.
Pastas always store well, andpremade burger patties, tacos, and fajitas are great options because they’re easy to cook. We often slow-cook chicken breasts in salsa in advance of our trip so we have taco meat ready to reheat once we’re on the road. Preparing certain ingredients ahead of timemakes it easier—and often safer—than trying to cook a lot of raw meats without a full kitchen. My wife also likes to prepare side disheslike roasted potatoes, which are easy to heat up.
I’ve found that people’s biggest complaint about road-trip and camping food is a lack of fresh fruit and vegetables, so it’s important to think about incorporating more of each into your meals. A fridge makes that easier to do, as do bagged salads—the easier you can make it on yourself, the more veggies you’ll eat. Having a regular supply of fruits and vegetablesalso helps avoid that gross feeling you get after three days of eating garbage, which is always a tempting excuseto go to the store and pick up some “real food.”
The most important part of being self-sufficient on the road is bringing enough snacks. We all love running into the gas station for a candy bar and drink, but having those itemson hand in a separate, small cooler means you won’t feel the need to. We like chips and salsa, hummus, cheese, salami, mini bell peppers, apples, and something sweet. We also bring a bag of clementines with us, since they’re easy to peel and eat anywhere.
Embrace Delivery Options
Remember that you’re trying to be self-sufficient on a road trip, not just to protect yourselfbut to make sure you don’t infect anyone else or bring the virus into a small town that doesn’t have the medical facilities to handle an outbreak.
To minimize your contact, consider the stops you’regoing to make ahead of time, and research what stores offercurbside grocery pickup so you don’t have to go inside.Many grocery chains, includingSam’s Club, Target, and Walmart, havethis option, and some local stores have started offering this service as well.
Takeout from a restaurant is an option if you run out of your own food. Just remember that delivery services like Fetch, Instacart, and Uber Eats aren’t going to be able to provide you with as many choices in small mountain towns.
Outdoorsy Bonus Points: Catch or Forage Your Own Food
If your road trip will take you near any lakes or rivers, you can try catching fish for dinner. My wife and I love to fish, so we always have spices ready to fix a meal if we landsomething, as well as cooking essentialslike olive oil, salt, pepper, and foiltowrap and cook the fishover coals.