Sponsored post: This post is brought to you by Jo-Sha wipes, Artisana Foods, Cuppow and BuyJumpRopes, who have all given me one of their products for the road trip and have offered to give one to you, too. See below to enter. This is part two of a two part cross country road trip post. Read the first here, if you like.
Last week, my dog, husband and I packed up our truck and drove from one side of the country to the other. Connecticut to California in three and a half days. I'll be honest, I was absolutely dreading this road trip. Snoozefest, you know?
But it actually turned out to be one of the best trips I've ever taken, and I've traveled quite a bit. Just this year alone I've visited Dubai, India, Greece and Spain, and this cross-country trip ranked up there with them all.
I mean, I knew our country was big. Really big. But you don't appreciate just how huge and how diverse it is until you see it first hand. Just breathtakingly beautiful.
Leading up to the trip, my concern (per usual) was how I was going to stay on the GAPS diet. My stomach is doing so much better, but if I cheat too much on the GAPS diet, I suffer. Since GAPS requires so much cooking, I was a little worried about what exactly I'd eat. I can do nuts and dried fruit in small quantities but I can't eat that all day when I'm stuck in the car, and we all know that rest stop restaurant food is pretty much no bueno. The GAPS diet is a lot like the Paleo diet, so if you're following that, these tips may help you too. Or, if you're just looking for ideas for some good snacks, I gotcha! I am happy to say that we planned really well and I didn't need to eat out for one meal!
Pin it! How to stay healthy on a road trip.
Road Trip Foods to Prepare
Besides those pictured here, I also brought sliced raw cheddar cheese, fresh fruit (apples and bananas), homemade yogurt and some cut up veggies. Additionally, I made:
1. Asparagus and squash salad with bacon. Um, delish. You just boil butternut squash, asparagus and carrots until you can pierce with a fork. Then drain the water, cook up some bacon in a separate pan and add it all together (if you're on GAPS, just check the package, you wouldn't believe how many companies use sugar on their bacon). I used mason jars to package the salad and they were great during lunch the first two days.
2. Sausage - I found GAPS approved sausage (meaning it just contains meat and spices - always read your labels!). I cooked this and put it in our ISO bag container and popped it into the ISO cooler.
3. Hard boiled eggs - Perfect for breakfasts to go with my sausage and homemade yogurt!
Awesome cuppow lids for a spill-proof drive
4. & 5. Fresh juices. I made enough for both my husband and me to have two a day: an orange one in the morning and a green one in the afternoon. We were so happy with the cuppow mason jar lids because it meant a spill-free road trip. They worked like a charm! A cuppow mason jar lid is included in the giveaway!!
6. Dried fruit. If you don't have a dehydrator, you could just buy some at the store.
Road Trip Snacks to Buy
In addition to what's pictured here, I also brought fermented vegetables and canned wild salmon. I ate the fermented veggies with each meal, and had the salmon for lunches.
1. Artisana Foods nut butters - Artisana sent a bunch of packets of their butters, plus a jar of their coconut butter and almond butter. The nut butters were perfect with fresh apple slices, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I might have mixed some coconut butter with cacao butter to make a sort of frosting when I was craving something a little sweet. These are included in the giveaway!!!
2. EPIC Bison Bar - Full discloser, I didn't try these because they're not GAPS friendly, but Greg bought a few and ate them on the way. He said they were interesting. Good, because they're healthy, but don't expect a sweet granola bar from this - they're an animal based protein bar.
3. Raisins - I don't normally eat this much fruit and I was worried about how it would affect my stomach and digestion, but I was fine for the trip. These raisins were a great snack and so good.
Whole Foods pit stop
For the first night, I had salmon and veggies for dinner. For the second and third nights we were lucky enough to be in Denver and Las Vegas, which both had a Whole Foods near our hotels. In Denver, we bought a roasted chicken and a salad from their salad bar.
Hotel room in Vegas with kitchenette
On the third night, we were in Vegas and got a room with a kitchenette. Our party days are long gone, so we hit up Whole Foods when we first got into town and picked up some shrimp, flank steak, squash and veggies and made ourselves what felt like a little feast.
Vegas dinner
So good to have a somewhat home cooked meal after a long day of travel.
Jo-Sha Wipes
Avoiding Germs on the Road
Rest stops are germ central. It doesn't matter how often I wash my hands in the dimly lit bathrooms, I still feel like I have little bugs crawling all over me. We kept these Jo-Sha wipes in the car with us and we'd use them on the console or for our hands just to keep things clean! These are included in the giveaway!!
Staying active on the road
Staying Active on the Road
If you're like me, it's not realistic that you'll work out at the end of the day in your crap hotel gym. It's just not going to happen. By the end of the day, my joints and lymph nodes in my legs were starting to swell a bit (why am I so weird?!). Anyway, BuyJumpRopes.net hooked me up with a jump rope for the trip and I was pumped because it travels well (just wrapped it up and put it in the door of the truck) and while I might not have energy for a big workout at the end of the day, I certainly could do 10 minutes at each rest stop, right? Also, jumping is good for the lymphatic system. A jump rope is included in the giveaway!!!
A Giveaway
The giveaway includes: a jump rope, a bag of jo-sha wipes in a variety of scents, a cuppow mason jar lid, and a sampler of nut butters from Artisana. The giveaway is open to US residents, and will come to a close on Thursday at 11:59pm est. A winner will be picked at random. You must comment on the post using Disqus below to be eligible to win. The winner will be announced on this post on Friday, May 30, 2014. Good luck!