Hello Gas Station, Goodbye Sanity~Saving Time and Money Packing Road Trip Snacks

Welcome to Travel Tips Tuesday! Please stick around and post your best travel tips and take a look at some of the best ideas around the traveling blogosphere.

There is so much about the long distance car travel that sings with happy possibilities-the freedom of the open road, the prospect of a surprise around the next corner, the waiting exploration in the next town. All of this, along with a flawlessly chosen playlist, weaves together to make a package of travel glee, at least in my world. While I have a decidedly sunny outlook on mile upon mile behind the wheel, there is one thing that is my proverbial flat tire.  It’s not the “are we there yet” chorus or the emergency potty alarm, but the gas station snack stop. Oh, the agony! If you don’t feel me, I’m going to guess that you have never experienced the ADHD fun fest that is taking four young boys into candy coated convenience store and trying to herd them back to the car without hitting level orange on the crazymaking scale.

I have to admit that the average convenience store knows their consumer and they are willing to employ their marketing genius. An unprecedented level of choices are placed right at eye level and displayed in sparkling Technicolor packages that are as irresistible as the World of Willy Wonka.   Making a quick and decisive purchase is a veritable impossibility, but there is a money back guarantee that whatever the choice, it will be overpriced and under healthy. That’s not even my biggest problem, it’s the sheer impossibility that they can all make a choice and come back to the cash register before I start to cry. Imagine the two metaphors “puppies in a box” and “kid in a candy store” merging and you’ll have the right idea.

For my most recent road trip, I shook a Scarlet O’Hara style fist at the sky and vowed I would never buy gas station snacks again. A proactive plan was in order and so I created “Mom’s Convenience Store.”  In my mind, I had an idea to make a portable case full of snacks with clever signs and displays that would make every Pinterest user proud. In the end, I ran out of time to make it “Pin-Worthy” and had to resort to throwing a bunch of snacks in a Tupperware container.  Despite the lack of Pinteresty-ness, it worked great!

My goal wasn’t to deprive my poor children of fun road trip snacks. Good snack food is as vital to a great road trip as good tunes, so it was important that I choose the types of snacks that they love from the gas station to enjoy in the car. By shopping the Target Dollar Spot and the Dollar Store, I was able to choose the snacks they love and save some cash. I was also able to buy in bulk and divide the snacks into small ziplock bags, allowing me to give them treats that weren’t the overkill of the megabags at the gas station. Once I packed all of the treats into my Tupperware container, I realized that the clear box was an important part of the success of my plan. With the snacks so tauntingly displayed, the kids were more than happy to race inside to use the bathroom and come back to the car for a treat.  No crazy convenience store scramble, no tears shed and we were back on the road in no time. Mom’s Convenience Store for the win.