Hotel BuffetEating well while traveling can be difficult.

Hours on the roads, quick stops at restaurants, and bad hotel food served to captive audiences can easily lend itself to a “not quite right” feeling in your gut even a week after you get home and back to your normal diet.

There are a few tactics you can follow to improve matters, though.

First, bring a canteen with you and refill it with water regularly. If you have to, even bottled water beats drinking nothing but soda or coffee, but the more water you can drink the better off you will be no matter where you are.

Second, bring some fresh fruit with you or stop and buy some when you get where you are going. Apples and bananas can travel well, especially if you are driving.

Third, have plenty of healthy snacks to get you through your day.

I was at a seminar last week that had the usual bland and not particularly healthy food easily available at the hotel. There were a few restaurants around the hotel, but none within quick walking distance so the hotel had it made.

Thankfully, I had a barrel of pretzels, a few different types of dried fruit and nut mixes, and my trusty canteen to get me through most of the days so that I wasn’t starving come meal times and could take the time to find some better options for at least a few of the meals.

Normally I’d have made some beef jerky or apple leathers to bring with me as well but I hadn’t had time before the conference so I had to make do.

What are your strategies for when you are eating on the go?

(Photo Credit: Nemo’s Great Uncle)