If you bring food on vacation to be eaten in the room, what do you pack and bring?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I confess this has never occurred to me.

I can't stand paying for breakfast and we don't like to stop our day to sit down for lunch, so if I can't get fruit, bagel, yogurt in the lobby for "free", I'm bringing it in. Cheese and crackers, fruit, PB and bread, chips. Then we sit down early for a nice dinner somewhere.

[Anonymous]

The best experience I had with doing this was when we went to Disney World, and did it for our breakfasts. We were staying on site at one of the moderate resorts, so no "free breakfast."

We went to a grocery store and bought a package of sliced prosciutto, sliced cheese, rolls, fresh fruit and juice. Every morning we'd bring the food down to one of the little tables by the pool and enjoy breakfast al fresco.

The thought of eating anything crumbly (like granola bars) or sticky (like apple sauce) in the room seems gross to me-especially since so many hotels aren't doing daily housekeeping.

[Anonymous]

Just had a beach trip staying at cabin but didn’t plan to cook. Brought electric water kettle for cup noodles and instant coffee ( also brought hot cups, plates and utensils all disposable, 36+ pack of waters, froze some drink and use as ice cubes for food/snack at the beach). Clementines, chocolate milk box, dried mango, a box of variety chips and a box of variety cookies, freeze pops, croissants/waffles/cheese bagels, also chocolates/marshmallows/graham crackers and stickers for roast marshmallow.

[Anonymous]

I did this for our jaunt to the beach over the weekend. It went well and was helpful for traveling with children. I packed:

-bread (sliced)
-individual cups of chicken salad - can be eaten individually or put on bread to make a sandwich
-peanut butter
-individual yogurt cups
-fruit (nectarines and cherries)
-potato chips
-jerky
-water, white claws, and wine

We were able to get two lunches and one breakfast out of this stuff, and it worked for snacks (two adults and two elementary aged kids). Saved $$ on booze too.

[Anonymous]

I usually go to a grocery store or Target and get some granola bars, sparkling water, pretzels.

[Anonymous]

Stuff for breakfast and some snacks. Yogurt, granola, fruit, chex mix, pretzels, nuts, water/seltzer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reasonably shelf-stable perishables:
- I often make a bunch of pbj sandwiches because my family doesn't mind if they've been in a mini fridge for a few days.
- cheese sticks or babybell cheese
- baby carrots
- clementines, apples, other fruit less likely to get squished

dry goods: oatmeal, granola bars, salted almonds, beef jerky, sugar packets (for oatmeal), pretzels/chips

- parmalot milk (for the oatmeal) and ginger ale cans for DH, wine for the adults if we're sharing a room with the kids but have a balcony.

We like going out for meals but also really like being able to tide the kids (or ourselves) over if we're on slightly different schedules, before going out for a meal. It's also really helpful to have when traveling by car/plane. We rarely go somewhere where we can't buy this stuff, but I'd much rather pack it at home -- especially if we're driving -- than to have to think about where to buy basics upon arrival.

Our list is pretty similar. I focus on breakfast because my kids will eat while we're getting ready and we don't have to waste time at a restaurant. Bagels, bananas, milk and cereal have worked best. I buy alot of packaged snacks and have each kid pick 2-3 to take in our backpack for the day. Sometimes I'll get the cup of Mac and cheese so the kids can have dinner if we're not up for going to a restaurant. If we have a balcony or a separate room well bring some wine or liquor for when the kids are asleep at night.

[Anonymous]

Op here. These are so good! Thank you for these responses.

[Anonymous]

I'm going away next week and taking granola bars, fruit, and vodka.

[Anonymous]

Edibles

[Anonymous]

I had no idea people did this. Interesting thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had no idea people did this. Interesting thread.

Most don't

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had no idea people did this. Interesting thread.

Most don't

I think with fast food prices continuing to rise this will only become more common.

Also, I think people *used* to do this a lot (maybe 70s/80s and before?).

Lastly, and most importantly - at least for me - going to restaurants with children is it’s own unique hell, and one I endeavor to avoid at all costs.

[Anonymous]

For trips like Disney, if there’s a mini fridge we buy cream cheese and bagels, fruit, and cheese. With just one bathroom to get ready in those waiting for the bathroom eat breakfast and then we switch. Sometimes we do yogurt or hard boiled eggs, too. We also order cases of water and Gatorade for the room. It would take up so much more time to pay for breakfast at the resort.

[Anonymous]

For Disney we did instacart with fruit, bagels, granola bars, etc for breakfast and then some snacks for the night time and to bring into the parks. It was very helpful.