The hardest part of meal planning is trying to stick to it when you’re travelling. You run into a lot of unexpected circumstances so it’s hard to plan ahead. And travelling causes a lot of stress, which makes me want to get take-out instead of prepped meals. So today, I’m going to create a modified meal plan to take into account travel and previous dinner arrangements.

Modified Meal Plan

• Spaghetti Squash & Tomato Sauce
• Lo Mein
• Boston – sandwiches for lunch & restaurant for dinner
• Boston – eating out for both meals
• Boston – take-out/fast food on the road & snacks
• Dinner with zoo coworkers @ Pumphouse (food covered, drinks at my own cost)
• Université de Moncton 50th annivary gala dinner (pre-paid)

This week’s meal plan will not include an ingredient list or a grocery list because we did not need to buy anything (thank God). I did purchase a few sale items for our stock pile and an avocado because we ran out for last week’s meals. But other than that, we will be spending our grocery budget money on restaurant meals and take-out during our trip to Boston. And on top of the that, we’ll be going out for 2 other dinners, but they were previously arranged so we won’t include those meals in this week’s budget.

Travel Tips

• The best thing you can do to plan out your meals when you travel is to do your research and be honest with yourself.
  I usually try to convince myself that if I pack double the amount of sandwiches and snacks that we won’t get take-out. But travelling is tiresome, and sandwiches get old real fast. Or we get hungry sooner than we thought. Either way, we always end up eating out after the first meal while traveling. So this time I’ve planned for it.
• Bring snacks. Bring lots of snacks. Having to buy overpriced snacks at gas stations is probably one my worst pet peeves. So save your money and bring your own snacks – even if they’re treats, you should buy them in advance.
• Don’t be disappointed if you don’t stick to your plan. Make the most of your travels and give yourself some grace if you slip up when it comes to meals. Your happiness is more important than saving a couple of bucks.

I can’t wait to hit the road and see if there’s any way I can improve my travel meal planning. Let me know if you have experience with this and what works best for you!