Vacation is wonderful.

Vacation is also expensive.

Depending on where you are traveling to you need transportation and somewhere to stay.

You also need to eat and stuff to do.

This post focuses mostly on eating but gives some tips for packing food to go to things.

My biggest food savings tip while on vacation is when possible stay somewhere with somewhere to store your food and a way to cook it. This is especially true for me with a whole bunch of hungry growing kids who need to eat. Then plan to cook most (if not all) of your food. And get paper plates 🙂

I know its vacation and eating out is nice… but it is expensive. It costs a lot of money and depending on where you are eating can take a lot of your time.

I prefer whenever possible to stay somewhere with a full refrigerator/ freezer and at least a microwave and cook top. Bonus points for a full stove. I don’t use a microwave at home but am willing to compromise on vacation to heat up some frozen pancakes.

However a mini fridge and a microwave still can significantly help with food costs. I have been at motels with only that and with a little creativity you can do a lot with that.

I also like to know what stores are available near me. Some grocery stores offer prepared foods that while not always (and often aren’t) cheaper than making yourself are still cheaper than a restaurant.  Some food is hot and ready and some can easily be heated up. 

I have little experience with keeping food more than a few hours in a cooler so I can’t speak to that. However I can speak to strategically planning shelf staple foods that can supplement a meal if refrigerated space is limited or is good to grab and go.

Bringing some kind of small cooler or even a large lunchbox is very helpful for bringing food with you on your adventures.

Plan simple. Vacation doesn’t have to meal elaborate meals.

Once you know what you have to work with plan meals around that.

Snack plates are always fun and simple.

If you have access to a stove top make tacos or pasta and sauce. Make extra for an easy to heat up meal ( just make sure to purchase or bring storage containers for the leftovers).

Only have a microwave? The frozen or prepared food section of the store can be your best friend.

My family and I recently had a few days away.

Here is what we ate

Breakfast

Pancakes ( frozen) and sausage links served with fruit

French toast sticks ( frozen) and sausage links served with fruit

Smoothies

Protein waffles and whipped cream

Lunch

Sandwiches

Snack plate

Grilled sandwiches

Mac and cheese

Dinner

Pasta and meat sauce

Baked chicken

Snake plates

For snacks i kept string cheese, meat sticks,  fruit , protein waffles, bread, lunch meat, chicken nuggets etc.

When people think of vacations it is easy to think of the cost of transportation and lodging and overlook food. Depending on how you feed your family food can be one of the biggest expenses (not to mention time consuming). For my family eating out several times a day could easily cost more than the hotel. This goes for beverages too. Carry water everywhere you can.

Neurodivergent parenting tip : vacation is amazing but the change in routine can be a lot for some kids ( and adults) . Having familiar food available to them can help greatly. Don’t assume if they get hungry enough they will eat whatever . Some kids won’t. Also carry around food with you as often as you can. There are mange reasons for this including kids getting dysregulated  quickly when hungry.  Some kids get really into what they are doing and miss hunger ques. Having some quick easy to eat food can help prevent meltdowns from hungry kids ( adults too!)