If you’re travelling this summer, here’s my survival guide to avoiding the stodge and keeping your journey healthy and happy!

Hi beauties! Now it’s that time of year so many of us are embarking on long journeys (and praying that Southampton’s roads will be good to us…) I’ve been asked a lot lately what my husband and I take with us, in order to get through them.

My personal trainer clients, boot camp attendees and basically anyone who knows me also knows that traditional service station food is not an option for me!

In emergencies, I’ve ended up buying some bags of carrot sticks, little pots of hummus and some fruit – but I was lucky the service station we stopped at actually had a mini supermarket that stocked all of that!

So here’s a classic example of my typical long car journey survival kit, the recipes can all be found on my blog.

Homemade gluten free bread: I always keep a couple of slices handy as it’s so filling and can also be made into sandwiches 

Homemade flapjacks: these are always featured in my husband’s packed lunch (and every kid so far that’s tried them LOVES them!)

Lettuce or Nori wraps: my sandwich alternative! You could use nori sheets, romaine or little gem lettuce or collard greens. My favourite filling is macadamia nuts and sun-dried tomatoes blended into a pate and put inside little gem leaves

Various fruit: we always have an apple each and I sometimes take grapes. I do also take watermelon slices (of course!) but tend to eat them once we’ve arrived as it’ll mean more toilet stops from the high water content!

Leftovers from whatever last night’s dinner was! 

We also both take a big supply of water, I recommend always taking way more than you think you’ll need in case you end up hitting traffic.

If you’re thinking “yeah but I haven’t got time to make bread etc..” then ask yourself how you’d feel if you instead continued to rely on service station food, and how it made you feel last time. If you’re still reading this, the answer is probably not that great!

My most important driving tip is to stop somewhere at least every two hours, so your brain can rest and avoid fatiguing. You can take a bit of time to recharge, move around and enjoy your food, rather than eating as you’re travelling.

Just remember a tiny bit of planning can save you a ton of stress, calories – and money! I wish you a safe and peaceful journey, wherever you’re heading! x