I'd rather be in a tent in Florida Part Deux How not to starve

This one is about scheming and plotting skills. 

So you are in your car for 12 hours and you want food. Now. The natural inclination is to start reading the road signs and take the first thing that appeals to you with a "Screw it! I'll deal with the finances later!" sort of attitude.  Hunger rules your brain and eats your logic. Which is why you really need to think ahead with these things.  And you know that whole diet thing I wrote about before?  Throw it out.  You are on vacation and it must be adjusted for monetary purposes.  Plan on walking a lot, don't eat the kids food too and readjust back to your saintly ways later.  I think we actually spent less albeit gained weight.  It is possible.

In our case we drove a long time both coming and going on the first and last legs of our trip.  We needed to cover at least three meals and two of them had to be outside of the car because if we didn't get out, we would have begun eat our own.  These breaks were important to refresh and stretch but you don't want some place that is going to take a million years. We found that ye old Costco wholesale warehouse provided a lunch for three of us for about 6 bucks in their limited but ultimately useful foodcourt.  The husband and I did large hotdogs and a drink for $1.50 each.  The daughter had a very large slice of pizza for $1.99.  Since we are not big on having her drink soda, we give her $.50 and let her go buy a bottle of water out of the multiple vending machines. In fact, if you have to feed a soft drink craving, this is the place to stock up.  $.59 for a regular size fountain drink.  Ridiculously cheap vended sodas. If you are feeling particularly famished, you can also get a very very large vanilla, chocolate or swirl flavored frozen yogurt.  I suggest that you split it. Like I said, very large.  The plus on this is that Costco is all over the place. The bad news is that you have to have a membership.  That and it is pretty not healthy but freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose. No? How about we are on vacation lighten up?

Most meals came from the frequent flyer miles for restaurants that I spoke about in the "Frequent Flyer Miles Can Get You That Latte" blog.  Many of the chains available as a choice for those cards are regional specific.  Like Sonic will do you little good in the north (we did bring one with us because we were going south).   Dunkin Donuts exists in the south but not like in New England.  It is best to gauge a general idea of the area that you are going to be in by mapquesting the driving hours from different areas along your route, go to the websites of the places that you are interested in, and look at the closest ones.  Redeem your reward points accordingly. Chilis saved us tons because we could look at the menus online and budget according to our two $25 gift cards.  California Pizza Kitchen was just an fun place to stop because the ones in Florida tend to be nice in sunny shopping malls.  We came home with one $25 card because their locations are limited.

The biggest food expenses are camping stuffs.   It is better to shop for the basics before you leave because you know where to get the stuff for decent prices already.  Bread, cereal for breakfast, peanut butter, stuff that doesn't require hard core refrigeration.  Milk and juice boxes that do not need to sbe kept cold can be purchased in wholesale warehouses.  Take as much as you think you can pack in the car and still not have to strap the child to the roof.  Meat and dairy products need to be purchased in areas closer to camping.  Try to stick to big groceries like Publix that have sane prices. I am addicted to Robert Is Here in Florida City.  We attained large quantities of fruit and vegetables there for farmer prices, a lot freshly picked.  The more remote to a large camping vicinity, the more likely it is that you are going to be purchasing last minute goods in a gas station convenience store out of last minute desperation. Stick to the list and shop where you can get it cheapest without the food rotting before you get to the campsite.

We planned on eating at two inexpensive restaurant type places that we can only go to in one area of the country outside of our rewards points system.  We had to score cubanos because we were way too close to Miami to not get one.  And Zaxby's, a relatively new southern fast food chain that is not afraid of hot sauce, was the other because we loved its deep fried indulgence the first time and we could take the leftovers with us.  With the exception of carefully plotted car snacks, the aforementioned Costco, rewards card meals and the two surprisingly not bad complimentary breakfasts that came with our hotel rooms, this is where we ate.  Nowhere else.  Remember, this wasn't a normal vacation.  This was one that we barely could justify going on to start. No extras.

And, speaking of snacks, here is where some of the nutritional value can be redeemed a little.  It is fun to load up on junk and go a little nuts.  It makes us feel like we are truly doing something outside of our home habits.  However, think of being in a small area for 14 hours with a kid going on sugar swings?  Or adults for that matter? We had a Starbucks card with us from our membership rewards because coffee is a necessity but it is possible to drink that away super fast and too much caffeine can be a mood wrecker.  You know that at least once, people are going to get on each others nerves.  Too much sugar and caffeine on top of really tired is a bad idea. Keep a small cooler in the backseat.  Put foods high in protein like cheese or peanut butter on celery to help kick up the energy in reusable plastic containers.  Vegetables and fruits cut up in sticks are good for something to chew on too that will cleanse the palate a little and not make you feel like a five year old after an Easter binge.  Pretzel sticks can be purchased in bulk at wholesale stores and placed in plastic bags for easy transport.  They are not high in nutrition but it satisfy that salt meets crunchy feeling that folks tend to crave. And bring a jug of water and water bottles.  Those water bottles will serve you throughout all aspects of the trip, especially while camping.

It seems like it would be tricky to figure out these things ahead of time but it really wasn't.  If the places you are sleeping at are predetermined and you know the routes that you are taking to get there a head of time, its pretty simple to research where you are going to be around meal times and plot accordingly.  Besides gas, this is your largest potential travel expense.  Conquering the money eating side trips of snacks and ditching the plan for indulging your yen for those tasty looking restaurants (La Toro Taco almost got me in Homestead) will make it possible to spend the same if you were at home. In our case, definitely less. Take that winter in Boston!

www.costco.com
www.points.com