In general, I choose the easy way out. Is it more expensive and less healthy to buy fast food than it is to make your own dinner? Yes. Will I continue to eat fast food anyway? Yes.
I’m an idiot, but you don’t have to be! 
Last year my brother and I roadtripped around the Washington and Oregon border. One of our AirB&B choices included the use of a kitchen, so we stocked up on eggs, potatoes, and zucchini. Before leaving Portland for a drive along the Gorge to explore waterfalls, we cooked everything on the stove. The rich salty smell filled the apartment, and we…looked for somewhere to store our breakfast feast. Here is the travel tip sub-tip: when making your own food for a trip, make sure you have something in which to transport it.
When preparing for our roadtrip in Seattle, I impulse bought a large container of individually packaged jello-like snacks called Jin Jin Assorted Fruit Candies. In a fit of creative genius, aka desperation, we dumped the small jello containers into a plastic bag and filled the jug with our egg/potato/zucchini meal.
Fast forward several hours to Multnomah Falls. We had hiked a couple trails and admired stunning views. We were hungry. I got our breakfast jug from the car and we used plastic forks from takeout (okay, so this was maybe the one time we made our own food during this trip) to dig into our…not so delicious breakfast.
“Does this taste grape-y?” Roy asked.
“…No. No, it tastes fine,” I lied.
It did not taste fine. The synthetic smell of fruit-like jello had permeated the larger container which had, in turn, permeated our eggs. Each bite was a surprise–would the potato be laced with mango? lychee? peach? It was not ideal, and we grimaced through several bites. I caught Roy’s eye, and we laughed.
“Do you want to stop at a restaurant?” I asked.
“Ugh, yes!” he answered, tossing his fork into the container.
We found a wonderful little diner that served eggs that tasted, wisely, of eggs.
Clearly I am not qualified to give advice on making travel meals. Have you had better success? Or have you too fallen victim to improper planning? Comment and share your story!
It Is Trish 