# Packing extra food on vacation



## Tostig (Nov 18, 2020)

On vacation when you have an inclusive buffet breakfast, how many of you pack extra food to take when you go out?

I bring an extra bottle with me to discretely fill with orange juice. Then in zip lock bags, I pack extra croissants, buns, and yogourt. Depending on the culture of the country you are visiting, lunch or mid-day meals and snacks may not be readily available so these extras from breakfast can hold us over in the late afternoon.

On some cruises, orange juice is free only during breakfast time. So I bring a few extra cups of oj back to our stateroom and store them in the fridge.


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

Yes, I second taking refillable water bottles and a supply of zip locks. Small plastic spatula and plastic serrated camp supply type small knife too. A small zip lock with kitchen cloth pre loaded with a dab of detergent in it can be useful too. All into a small packs flat insulated bag.

Opens options on non inclusive vacations as well.
That lets you hit grocery sources at your destination for whatever is popular. 
For us in north america that usually means deli meats, cheese, a small mayo or mustard jar etc, bread and fresh fruit. 
We use these to makes a good 'lunch on the go' made up after breakfast, to get tossed in the day bag in the floppy insulated bag.

Then you are not held hostage to mid day meal times and restaurant costs if you don't feel like using them. 
Maybe stop for a mid day or late afternoon cafe if the mood strikes for coffee/tea and bathroom break depending on the country.

The stuff that needing chilling can live in a bar fridge, or even a garbage can with ice cubes in it that the plastic zip locks and opened jars can float in.


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

We do all the time. We usually grab portable fruit, as fresh produce is one of the things we don't consistently get throughout the day while travelling, perhaps a muffin or croissant depending on what is the plan for the day, and if it's a travel (driving day) we may grab a few other portable things. 

For pretty much all of our trips we carry a small knife with cover, dispoable cutlery, refillable water bottle, ziplock bags, ziplock containers (we can use as bowls), reusable coffee cup, small insulated bag. I am also the one that also bring emergency food from home all the time because we have sleep over night at airports so many times.


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

I'm puzzled by this post. Why would one want to pack "extra" foods when going on a vacation (or even travelling) UNLESS you vacation is a RV road trip? I mean if you're flying and/or travelling around, you want to be as "light" on the baggage as possible as well having the opportunity to enjoy the foods of the local of where you're travelling to/vacationing on. Just make sure you have your ccs or the (some) currency of the country you're in for the vacationing.


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## Tostig (Nov 18, 2020)

Beaver101 said:


> I'm puzzled by this post. Why would one want to pack "extra" foods when going on a vacation (or even travelling) UNLESS you vacation is a RV road trip? I mean if you're flying and/or travelling around, you want to be as "light" on the baggage as possible as well having the opportunity to enjoy the foods of the local of where you're travelling to/vacationing on. Just make sure you have your ccs or the (some) currency of the country you're in for the vacationing.


So the short answer would be 'no'.


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

^ Correct


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

If a driving vacation, we always have enough to sustain us in a hotel room for late evenings and early mornings. Wine, fruits, cheese and crackers, soda, yogurt. Flying we often stop at a 7-11 before getting to the hotel.


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## cainvest (May 1, 2013)

Tostig said:


> On vacation when you have an inclusive buffet breakfast, how many of you pack extra food to take when you go out?


Never done that. 

The only vacation I've ever packed "extra food" is backcountry camping.


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## milhouse (Nov 16, 2016)

Specific to buffets at hotels and cruise ships, I typically do not grab extra food on the way out. 

I'm generally trying to focus on drinking water most of the day to stay hydrated so sourcing extra juice isn't appealing to me. And usually a big component of our trips is going around and checking out local places to eat so saving extra breakfast food generally isn't worth it for us. The exception might be if we're going to be in transit without easy access to food and then the missus may grab a cookie/bun/etc in napkin. Personally, I'm fine with just water but the missus is a grouch when transiting on an empty stomach. 

Also, the missus may grab a piece of fruit (apple, banana, etc) on the way out because similar to PA, we have a tough time eating enough fruits and veg when travelling.


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

Beaver101 said:


> I'm puzzled by this post. Why would one want to pack "extra" foods when going on a vacation (or even travelling) UNLESS you vacation is a RV road trip? I mean if you're flying and/or travelling around, you want to be as "light" on the baggage as possible as well having the opportunity to enjoy the foods of the local of where you're travelling to/vacationing on. Just make sure you have your ccs or the (some) currency of the country you're in for the vacationing.


I always have 'emergency' food. My family and I get pretty hangry if we don't have it. This is under most circumstances too. 

Here's my reasons why:
Car trips - I always have snacks (usually prepackaged shelf stable), with bottled water and drinks. I am driving my kids or me so often we are running from one place to another, that often we have to grab a snack if we are running late. This extends to vacationing road trips as we just like to snack and don't always want to stop or will just stop somewhere that will throw off our schedule because we saw something interesting, we didn't plan for and we wanted to see, and then it saves us from having to get food. 

Flying - I always have a snack in case our plane gets delayed, and we can't get anywhere with decent food even at the airport. Sadly, this has happened multiple times where were were stuck overnight due to stupid plane delays and there was nothing opened other than the Starbucks that only had coffee and ran out of food. Also, depending on when we plan to arrive, sometimes we go right to the hotel and there have been issues with food. This happened just this last summer vacation when finally arrived at our motel which was so dodgey (thanks to my hubby who didn't research) that it did not feel safe to go out to find food. We ended up eating our emergency snacks that night. Then to make it worst, we left for breakfast early that morning because we were starved that the place we when was just randomly closed, so no food there either. So we had to drive to our destination which we had a ticketed check in times, in which due a car fire on the highway and some person literally moving a house that slowed us down, we couldn't stop for food either, so we barely made it to our tour, and ended up again the remaining emergency snacks, until we found vending machine. For this reason, when travelling, I almost always have enough food for that evening and emergency snacks for one meal, even if I going on a plane. 

Vacation destinations: Same as above, I usually grab enough food for the day of travel for when I get to my next destination. Last time we went to Cuba, when we arrived at the airport, almost EVERY single thing was sold out at the airport due to some supply issue and our plane was again delayed. People were freaking out because many had young kids and they were getting hangry. After it was over 8 hours since we were able to eat last (from our breakfast, to the long drive to the airport, then delay) then when we boarded the plane there was hardly anything. My family and in laws were pretty happy that I had a bag of snacks that I had brought from Canada. Other families were offering to pay me for the food. 

All inclusive & Cruises: I bring enough to get me to the all inclusive (like the one in Cuba) and back. I will grab some fruit or nonperishables during the day, especially if I have to travel. 

Honestly, I have had so many times where weird things have happened on trips, I always have lots of cash in all currencies (US, Cdn, and the countries I am visiting), plus emergency food. How much I bring depends on the itinerary. 

I once traded my Canadian treats for a ride in a rickshaw from a local and a watermelon. The money wasn't enough.


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## Gothenburg83 (Dec 30, 2021)

Tostig said:


> On vacation when you have an inclusive buffet breakfast, how many of you pack extra food to take when you go out?
> 
> I bring an extra bottle with me to discretely fill with orange juice. Then in zip lock bags, I pack extra croissants, buns, and yogourt. Depending on the culture of the country you are visiting, lunch or mid-day meals and snacks may not be readily available so these extras from breakfast can hold us over in the late afternoon.
> 
> On some cruises, orange juice is free only during breakfast time. So I bring a few extra cups of oj back to our stateroom and store them in the fridge.


Yes, We often get pastry snacks for the dive boat captain and dive crew. Also a banana or two for us depending on how far offshore we go. I usually avoid calf ramps on the later dives thanks the bananas even if I'm not hungry.


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## Gator13 (Jan 5, 2020)

I might indulge if I could grab 6 beer and a few bottles of red to go.

We pick up fresh food during the day or more often, hang out on a good patio for a while and have a drink and a bite to eat.


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## Synergy (Mar 18, 2013)

All you can carry buffet 👍 Fun for the whole family!


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## londoncalling (Sep 17, 2011)

I am of the mindset that it's ok to grab a piece of fruit or a muffin, and a coffee to go, or a bottle of water or juice. Some would say that is not acceptable. I know many will plate up and head back to their rooms. Packing your lunch and dinner from the buffet table into a ziploc is going overboard. If you have to do that you can't afford to vacation. I don't believe the hotel intends to act as an all-inclusive for its guests by offering a free breakfast. 

It is also dependent on the culture of the country you are visiting. Some locales (especially all inclusives) are totally fine with grab and go. I know of other people that have been asked to return packaged items, incurred extra room charges, and even banned from the hotel for such infractions. A good indicator of what is acceptable is if you get dirty looks from the hotel staff or need to sneak it into bags or pockets.


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

Plugging Along said:


> I always have 'emergency' food. My family and I get pretty hangry if we don't have it. This is under most circumstances too.
> 
> Here's my reasons why:
> Car trips - I always have snacks (usually prepackaged shelf stable), with bottled water and drinks. I am driving my kids or me so often we are running from one place to another, that often we have to grab a snack if we are running late. This extends to vacationing road trips as we just like to snack and don't always want to stop or will just stop somewhere that will throw off our schedule because we saw something interesting, we didn't plan for and we wanted to see, and then it saves us from having to get food.
> ...


 ... sounds like you vacation in exotic places ...definitely without in countries without a MCD or Starbucks.


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

Beaver101 said:


> ... sounds like you vacation in exotic places ...definitely without in countries without a MCD or Starbucks.


In a few places that may be the case. There are also many other times we have travelled and there is Starbucks/mcd/ or fast food but having emergency food was a better idea:

Not all opened 24 hours. We have arrived due to a plane delay around 2 or 3 am via airport transport and couldn't really ask them to drive around in looking for food, at that time, I may just want a quick snack and check in the hotel room.
We may not have the time or want to drive around looking for a place if we are not familiar with the area, or not wanted to stop.
Not feeling safe to go venturing out of the hotel. Sadly, this was the case in Washington this last summer. My dear spouse booked a cheap motel because the cost were too high elsewhere. It was seriously the scariest place we have ever stay. There were alot of druggies that lived there that smoked and did drugs literally outside our door (that was the outdoor smoking 'lounge') The girls and I were terrified to leave the room that night to look for food. My spouse had a really bad headache from driving all day. So we ate emergency food. That was the story above. We couldn't find a starbucks or Mcd's near by that moning, but did see the jack and box, and I was so excited, until it was 'just closed' due to no staff. Again, the less eaten emergency food, until we got to our tour.

Like I said, lots of times having extra snacks and food has saved us a lot of aggravation or stress. I am sure in most of those cases, if we didn't have food, we would have figured it out and not starved, but just have been much more irritable (though I was still angry that my spouse picked such a hell hole even with food to save money). For me, the slightly extra work to bring and carry food is well worth the return of not carrying it. Plus the money I save from not having to buy crappy food that I don't really want, but need to eat, especially that my family hits a hangry and we don't function.


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## HappilyRetired (Nov 14, 2021)

londoncalling said:


> I am of the mindset that it's ok to grab a piece of fruit or a muffin, and a coffee to go, or a bottle of water or juice. Some would say that is not acceptable. I know many will plate up and head back to their rooms. Packing your lunch and dinner from the buffet table into a ziploc is going overboard. If you have to do that you can't afford to vacation. I don't believe the hotel intends to act as an all-inclusive for its guests by offering a free breakfast.


I agree. If we want to get an early start then we will only take what we would have normally eaten for breakfast and will eat as we drive. But filling bags with extra food is wrong. The hotel offers breakfast, not breakfast and then fill a bag for lunch because you're cheap.


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