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I’m proud to partner with CVS Pharmacy on this post for the CVS healthy foods line. All opinions expressed are my own, and all product claims or program details shared should be verified at CVS.com or with the appropriate manufacturers.

A little boy sitting in a car looking at a cell phone with head phones on.

We are so excited… warmer weather means more traveling!   We love to go to Hilton Head, as you know, and to visit family in PA and FL.   The only problem?   These trips take time… 4 hours to HHI, 6 hours to PA, 10 hours to FL.  We don’t like to fly with our family because by the time that we get there 2 hours early, wait in line at the Car Rental place for an hour, drive the hour to wherever we’re going… we’ve just wasted 5 hours. So… instead, we drive.

There are 3 things that are a MUST for our car trips:

1. Snacks.  Oh my goodness… SNACKS!!!   I’ll share my favorite snacks for the car below.

2. Movies.  We go to the library the day before we leave and we rent 6 movies.   The kids watch these in the car.  (If you have Amazon Prime, you can get their app, download free movies before you leave and the kids can use their tablets to watch the movies without wifi on the car trip).

3. A portable potty!  Our 4 year old just can’t hold it for 6 hours and she certainly can’t wait when I say “20 minutes until the next rest stop”… so we keep a mini potty in the back seat when we travel and just pull over on the side of the road.

Now… onto the snacks:

We could go with junk food for a car trip, but the great thing about being in a car is they only have the options you give them, so why not pick healthy options!  That’s my theory for lunchbox lunches, too.  (Don’t give them the cookie because they can’t eat what’s not there, so pack healthy foods)

Adding more healthy foods is important!  I ran to CVS and stocked up.  The CVS healthy Foods brands and Gold Emblem line has more than 250 fresh, refrigerated and non-perishable healthy foods.  (Plus, the new store layouts have a better assortment of healthy foods in the refrigerated section)   They have snacks from companies like Bark Thins, KRAVE, Rhythm Broccoli Bites, Larabars, That’s it, Go Raw, Epic Bars, Alive & Radiant, Goodness Knows and more.

They even used the 25% of checkout space that is usually occupied by candy for better-for-you snacks like KIND bars, Larabars and Bega One bars.  This is perfect because when I take the kids in, they aren’t asking for the candy bars anymore & it is a perfect snack to grab while running errands.

  • Pineapple Coconut Chia by KIND. (This has only fruit & Chia.  Mickey LOVED it, so I’d have to buy two boxes for any trips!)  You can pick this up at CVS.A close up of a bag of Pineapple Coconut Chia.
  • Bananas.  This is a great easy snack for a trip.  It comes in its own wrapper.
  • GoGo Squeez – Our kids get one of these every day in their lunchboxes, but when we go on trips, I usually grab 4 boxes:  one Apple Cinnamon, one apple-banana, one apple and one apple-strawberry.   (Pick these up at CVS)
    A person holding a GoGo Squeez.
  • Celery – our kids love celery, without anything to dip it in, so it’s an easy snack.
  • KIND bars (I mentioned the Pineapple Coconut chia above, but I pick up a few varieties for a trip)
  • Gold Emblem abound Heavenly Light Popcorn – popcorn is an easy snack for the road.  It is easy to clean up if it spills (Mickey always wants things that are easy to clean when we are traveling.)  Pick these up at CVS.
    A close up of a bag of Heavenly Light Popcorn.
  •  Sandwiches.  I always pack a sandwich for each person when we are going on a long car trip.  It alleviates the need to go to a fast food restaurant.
  • Blue Diamond Almonds – This is one that I would get for Ethan.  He LOVES almonds.  They are a healthy snack and easy to pack for a trip, because they come in the perfect container.  (grab them at CVS)
    An open can of Blue Diamond Almonds.
  • Juice Boxes.  We like Gold Emblem abound Organic Berry Punch.  The kids like it and I feel good about giving it to them.
  • Pretzels (we get a few varieties)
  • Cereal (we like Cheerios for the car)
  • Goldfish (a go-to in our house)
  • Dried fruit (mango, bananas, raisins, snap peas, pineapple)
  • Peanuts (I try to stay with the dry roasted)
  • Cashews (a favorite!)
    We like these flavored cashews (pick them up at CVS by Gold Emblem):Three jars of Snack Vote cashews with three cups of the cashews in front of them.

I also use this little snack hack to make things easier:  Take a craft box and fill it with snacks.

A plastic container with dividers filled with different types of food for traveling.
Check out this video for more ideas:

Hi there!

I’m Becky, a former elementary school teacher turned certified child development therapist and blogger. I work at home with my husband and together we are raising (and partially homeschooling) our four children in the Carolinas. I love diet coke, ice cream, and spending time with my family.

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