5 Tried-and-True Tips for Actually Eating Well on Your Road Trip, from 'Snackleboxes' to Michelin Stars

For those planning a road trip this summer, it can feel daunting trying to juggle an itinerary that hits all the sights while still finding time for a quality meal. And while of course, a drive-thru car meal is an inevitability from time to time, it can get monotonous if you're on the road for multiple mealtimes.

So how to plan for the occasional healthy or interesting meal on your road trip, without adding the headaches of trying to absolutely maximize the culinary options along the way?PEOPLE spoke with Emily Krause, a social media creator who has been road tripping around the United States and traveling abroad with her husband and four children since 2018. She gave us her tips and tricks to elevate the eating experience on a long drive.

Anyone who has seen the horror of what's beneath a car seat may think this is impossible with snacking kids on long drives, and Krause acknowledges crumbs are "kind of inevitable.” The mom of four says “the mess in the car drives her nuts,” but claims she has found a solution that helps cut down on the chaos. 

“The best way I found is to have little trays for the kids,” Krause tells PEOPLE, explaining that she prefers the ones that are divided into sections (see her "Snacklebox" DIY here). She also says she keeps a stack of small plastic cups in the car that she uses to distribute any snacks to her children.The social media creator shared she also uses “the plastic shower caddies you have in college with the little dividers in them” as cup holders to help keep everything organized.

Krause has a few essentials she keeps in her “car box.” In addition to things like sunscreen and a first aid kit, Krause says she always keeps “a blanket for a picnic” in the trunk of her car, too.Across the United States, there are over 429 national park sites that include monuments, seashores, battlefields, and more. While planning out an itinerary, take some time to stop by a few of these sites to set up a picnic and work off some energy.

Krause says one “hack for finding food on the road is to stop at a grocery store.” She says a lot of times, stores will have “fresh sandwiches with vegetables on them" — and for the pickier eaters in the car with fast food on the brain, the grocery stories will also "sometimes chicken nugget-type food for the kids."Krause shares that she also -

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keeps it interesting for her kids by designating certain snacks as roadtrip specific. While she’ll bring things like apples and mandarin oranges for their ease of transportation, she’ll also throw in “things that are pre-packaged that we don’t normally let the kids eat in the house,” and hype them up as treats for “when we leave the house.” 

Krause admits that she “isn’t what you would call a foodie,” so she doesn’t “do a ton of research about restaurants ahead of time.” Rather, she looks for an option that will work best in the moment. 

“If we’re walking along I’m like ‘What place would have room for our family of six?’ and we’ll duck in and check and see if there’s space for us and things that the kids would like,” she tells PEOPLE. “We really just like those kind of neighborhood places.” Stumbling upon these more casual spots has resulted in successes for Krause and her family. Recalling a trip to Guatemala, the mother of four shares that “we found this sourdough pizza place. There was no one in there, but it was the best pizza we’ve had — other than the pizza we had in Italy.” 

However, if dining is paramount to your road trip, then doing a little research in advance can help food lovers snag a reservation.Accolades from the likes of Michelin and North America’s 50 Best Bars can point diners towards some of the most highly lauded establishments in the country if cities like Chicago, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Washington D.C. or Los Angeles are on your route. Meanwhile, looking at the James Beard Awards and their nominees can help inform eaters about restaurants all over the country.(And not all of these places will be spendy, either: Michelin's Bib Gourmand listings specifically highlight more accessible gems around the country.)For a more local perspective, try searching for the best restaurants on city-specific sub-Reddits to see where people from the place you’re visiting are actually eating.While sometimes reservations to some of these restaurants can feel like they’re hard to come by, asking for a little help never hurts either. When eating out at a restaurant, ask the server or bartender where their favorite local spot to eat is, and keep the cycle going to find some hidden highlights.

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