Problem. That's a very grand picnic box, great for an afternoon out. But I don't have room for it when I am driving off on holiday.
For A Plane
Avoid packing yogurts, or eat them first.
For A Car
Consider:
Pasties
The traditional Cornish pasty was a way of sealing the meat and gravy and mixed ingredients in a hard non-leaking cover.
Bagels
The bagel was originally a way of carrying bread on a string through the hole, tied around the traveller's neck or waist or hung from the arm. Consider cutting in half horizontally and vertically. You could even cut them into quarters.
Sandwiches
Fresh cooked meat such as chicken is healthier and can be kept in a cool box. Fresh meat will go off eventually. Safer options are preserved meats or fish such as smoked salmon.
Salads
Inexpensive cucumbers add moisture. Salads can be packed in a plastic box with a lid. If you are short of containers, some supermarket soups come in tubs with tightly fitting lids and after you have eaten the contents can be labelled and re-used.
Coffee and Drinks
Coffee in take-away containers is sold at motorway stops. In my exeriences, the lids are insecure or have holes for a straw. You might prefer an insulated Thermos for drinks and leftover drinks bought en route, or drinks from home.
You can check your motorway route in advance and see which coffee shops and supermarkets are at which stop. You might have a preference for Marks & Spencer and Costa Coffee, or Starbucks. You can know in advance if by ignoring a Service Area continuing your journey to the next stop, you will be sure to find another of your favourites.
Sometimes the toilets or the coffee shop you want is the other end (good for your return journey). You can also see which end of the service area has the complex with your favourite shop or cafeteria. That saves time.
Rye bread steak sandwiches from B & K salt beef bar and restaurant, Hatch End.
1 Bag (s) as container for litter to throw away.
2 Cutlery
Include knife, spoon or a penknife with an attached fork and spoon. (The bigger models have all the cutlery and a bootle oener and even a toothpick.
The toothpick slots in at the end, far left of this picture. Photo by Angela Lansbury.
I like to take an old knife, fork and spoon so that if they get lost en route, or forgotten in a hotel room, I do not spoil a set. You might prefer to take an elegant set to feel you are really enjoying yourself.
From a Singapore Airlines meal, I saved the disposable wooden chopsticks. Very light to carry.
3 Paper towel to mop up.
4 Wet wipes to clean your hands.
You can improvise a wet wipe before leaving home with kitchen towel dipped in water, or with a smear of moisturiser, then water. Keep it in a waterproof box so it doesn't dry out and make sure you have somewhere to keep it when it is used until you can find a litter bin.
At every stop, one person is designated to look for a litter bin and empty the litter bag.
Always travel with some water and food. You might get stuck in a traffic jam. You could be delayed at the place you are visiting. Remember the Thai boys who were stuck in a cave for days!
Tinned Food
You can't carry fresh meat and fish for days. But you could have a tin of sardines in case you end up stuck at a hotel without food. It it is not used, it just comes home with you. Low cost, no loss, no waste.
Sardine tin in a sealed container. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.
Toilets
You can buy devices for men and women to take in a car.
For a long journey you might like an improvised toilet. Go to the toilet before you leave home. This saves getting out in a city to look for a toilet and leaving a car unattended. In the countryside you might not want to get out and annoy animals.
Umbrellas
An umbrella in the car can act as a shield if you are on a hiking trail without toilets. A walking stick to help you walk over uneven ground to a hiding point is helpful. One with a point can be used to dig a hole in advance, or pull leaves to cover the hole. If there are two of you, one can stand guard to stop other hikers approaching or warn you when it's busy and when the coast is clear.
If you are going on long trips, through countries where they have few toilets, or charge for toilets, you might prefer a campervan or caravan with a built-in-toilet.
If you didn't have the time or budget or foresight or space to pack a picnic set, when travelling look for items which will come in handy later.
For example,
NAPKIN
the unused paper napkin at your lunch stop
TOOTHPICKS
A toothpick in a paper wrapper to keep it clean and prevent points digging into your pocket.
Toothpicks in containers and paper wrappers. Photo by Angela Lasnbury. Copyright.
CUTLERY
disposable cutlery with a supermarket meal can be washed and recycled for the next picnic
a waterproof apron or two from your kitchen can protect your clothes and seats when eating sandwiches or drinking in the car
YOGURT POT
A yogurt pot, small or large, washed out, it serves as an emergency drinking cup, fruit bowl or littler bin
YOGURT POT / SOUP with LID
Serves as a container for fruit or crumbly cake
For quick snacks:
Dates
Nuts
Crisps
Savoury biscuits
Vegetable
Cucumber and knife.
Fruit
Seedless grapes
Bananas
Satsumas (easy to peel)
Edam cheese in small sizes. (If you don't need to eat them on the journey or holiday, you have not wasted the money. The red wax cover will keep them fresh until you get home.)
Wrapped chocolates.
Hikers in the UK take Kendal mint cake, solid sugar in a chocolate coating. Quick energy. Always have food and water when going on a hike. You might get lost or stuck. Remember the Thai boys in the cave, stuck for more than 7 days
.
Kendal mint cake can be bought online.
Do not leave bars of chocolate on the back parcel shelf in the heat. We came back once and found it had melted and run all over the shelf and the maps and guidebooks and hats.
Hershey chocolate I once read was invented for troops in hot countries to it won't melt so easily.
Beware of Exploding Bottles And Cans
Also, beware of exploding fizzy drinks in cans in the car's trunk (in the UK we say boot). This happened to us twice in the USA. Once in a hot car. Once in a cold car when we went off skiing for the day.
Beware of Bears
In bear country, such as parts of the USA, Canada, and in Europe, Romania, do not leave food such as meat sandwiches in your car. Bears and other animals will be attracted, when you are there, or away, and are likely to attack the car trying to reach the food.
Also, do not feed monkeys. They learn that people with bags are bringing food. If you arrive without food, they attack you, trying to find it or angry.
In some areas, it is forbidden to feed animals and birds.
UNPACKING
When you get home, empty the car of all food, drink and litter. Check the car seat, parcel shelf at the back, glove box, under the seat, in the boot (in America we say trunk). Wash out containers.
STORAGE
Either replace the picnic box and toilet in the car, or keep them in a designated place in the kitchen which everybody knows about so you can pack quickly for your next journey.
Failing all else, pick a motel next to restaurant or near a 24-hour restaurant. Order a pizza. Some pizza places will not deliver to car parks or hotel bedrooms. Ask hotel reception for advice if their restaurant is closed. They may know a 24 hour supermarket.
If the restaurant is closed or there's no restaurant, only a bar, order tomato drink. It is vegetable, inexpensive, filling.
Camper's Coffee Maker
You can also buy a camper's coffee maker. We have had two types. One type takes loose coffee. The other type takes capsules. You can use the hotel water from the kettle in a hotel bedroom and enjoy real coffee.
Also, take your own coffee capsules for hotels in Spain which give you a couple of free capsules and charge a lot for another bag of capsules or have flavours which are too strong or too weak.
If you like herb teas, take your own sachets.
Bottled Water
Fizzy water will go off and lose fizz once opened. It still has uses.
Perrier Lemon sparkling natural mineral water. Photo by Angela Lansbury.
Bottled Tap Water
Tap water from home in a bottle is handy for washing your hands before and after eating and after going to the toilet. Use it for cleaning your teeth. Use water to wipe grease off car seats.
Waterproof apron
Makes a protection for the car and your clothes when eating in the car.
Kitchen paper roll. Photo by Angela Lansbury.
Kitchen paper
Wet it and wipe your hands. Use kitchen roll to wipe the inside of food containers when empty so they don't start smelling. Dry off the water, when you have washed the container. Wipe the outside of apples.
Useful Websites
https://www.campermate.co.nz/welcome/index Mobile phone app find you the nearest toilets in New Zealand and Australia.)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mobile-Toilet-Travel-Camping-Hunting/dp/B074T995WY/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1532164952&sr=8-4&keywords=toilet+for+car
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stainless-Outdoor-Tableware-Portable-Chopsticks/dp/B071FB54XX/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1532165051&sr=8-1&keywords=car+picnic+set
See my later post on packing for a trip:
http://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2018/07/food-drink-containers-and-clothes-to.html
Author
Angela Lansbury.
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