Pack Your Own Food?

Discussion in Travel started by Rosyrain • Mar 6, 2015.

  1. Rosyrain

    RosyrainActive Member

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    To save money when we go on vacation, we often pack our own food in coolers and bring the camp stove with us, or make sure that our hotel room has a microwave or kitchen area. This only works if we are traveling by vehicle, but it saves us a lot of money in that we do not have to dine out. I love to cook, so it is not even like work to me. I will often splurge on some foods that we normally do not eat at home. Does anyone else do this when they are on vacation?
     
  2. steph7h

    steph7hActive Member

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    Yes, if at all possible! You can save so much money cooking for yourself on vacation, even if you only do one meal and breakfast each day. This is a really good idea especially for larger families, or if several couples are going on a trip. One way my extended family has also done this is to get find a vacation home rental through a reputable vacation rental website, and that way you can have a full kitchen and more privacy than a hotel also.

    Even if you fly there, you can just stop by the grocery store on your first day in the area. Yes, you might pay more than your home grocery store depending on the location, but you'll still save money over going out to eat all those times. If the area has different grocery stores than what your home city has, look into them before your trip to see if they have a store loyalty card and sign up for one so you can get the special sale prices on your items for the time you're there.
     
  3. eppie

    eppieActive Member

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    Yes, I do it all the time. :) I pack food for my kids to bring at school and food to bring along in short vacation trips. Not only practical for me, it's also a way to put my mind at ease knowing that the food that I'm going to eat was prepared safely. :)
     
  4. missbishi

    missbishiWell-Known Member

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    I never do this unless I'm on a camping trip. One of the best things about going away, to me, is the variety of local foods you can try. It's a big part of going on vacation for me.
     
  5. akiii123

    akiii123Active Member

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    I think this is a wonderful idea. The idea of cooking kills me. But I do not mind doing it once in a while. But I do not entertain the idea of cooking everytime. It is really tough. Also most of your time will go on cooking rather than enjoying the holiday.
     
  6. Feneth

    FenethActive Member

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    We do this too. I like to try different restaurants while we're on vacation and part of the fun for me is eating out at least once a day but I bring or buy at a grocery store - water, non-perishable snacks, breakfast items. Even in a normal hotel room, they have wall outlets. You can bring an immersion heater that plugs in to heat water and use that to make packets of oatmeal for breakfast or boil eggs or any number of things. Eating most of the meals/snacks homemade lets us really splurge on nice restaurants when we do eat out instead of fast food. And it's healthier. When we do pick restaurants, we try to grab groupons too.
     
  7. H.C. Heartland

    H.C. HeartlandActive Member

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    Yes, we are about to go on vacation and are planning on taking our electric water pitcher and things we can re-hydrate or instant cook. Some of these things are ramen noodles (which can be fixed up with veggies and other ingredients), oatmeal, and anything else that is instant. But oatmeal doesn't have to be instant oatmeal to be able to cool. Pasta doesn't either but it is hard to find a container that will hold the water. We will only be gone for a week so I think this will help us so that we will only eat out one meal a day.
     
  8. Theo

    TheoWell-Known Member

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    If you have kids I think it's a good idea so you have some of their favorite foods on hand. As I travel alone I keep a few snacks to hand, but not too many as I like to have breakfast when I am out as it's usually inexpensive and there are well priced breakfast buffets.

    It does save money and time, but sometimes it is nice to eat out or to have a picnic as you get to see the area. If you have fussy eaters or someone with dietary requirements then taking your own food is essential in case you can't find anything on the road.
     
  9. DrRipley

    DrRipleyExpert

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    We pack our own food but only for the car trip. Usually we just check and see if our budget can handle the amount of meals we are going to be having and if it falls short then we would just bring our own, but normally we just eat out and if we don't have as much money at that time then we'd just opt for eating somewhere cheaper just because it saves us some trouble with preparation.
     
  10. May102014

    May102014Active Member

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    My friends/family always bring pack food on our trip. We always make plans ahead for our vacations, especially if our budget is limited. It is always the cheapest way, if we do the cooking on our vacation rather that eating in a restaurant. We never forget to bring our outdoor portable stove to be ready because of our limited budget vacation.
     
  11. Determined2014

    Determined2014New Member

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    I wish I did, but no I do not, for some reason, when travelling, I like to spoil myself, I like to eat in restaurants, enjoying different foods from what I am used to cooking in the house, packing your own food does save money, but I like to treat myself, to restaurants.
     
  12. Rosyrain

    RosyrainActive Member

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    Most of the time, we rent cabins instead of staying in hotel rooms and we always have a small BBQ grill in tow. It is a lot of fun to have mini grill outs with the family, as it is not like eating at home. Most of the time we travel with a rule that we are only going to have one nice restaurant meal as a treat. It is something we always look forward to.