Road Trip! (I wish! -- I mean cross country airline trip with LOTS of baggage)

We travel. A lot. When your husband works on the opposite side of the country from which you live and you refuse to give up something you love that pays you in hugs and kisses (and not really your pocketbook,) maintaining a relationship is left to skype, phone calls and lots of air travel.

Now that I am obsessed with not eating things like GMO's and food that isn't "real," it puts a whole new spin on how hard it is to travel. Especially when you tend to pack heavy and your entorauge through the airport includes a toddler and two dogs.

While we have perfected getting through ticketing and security (we can totally beat any well traveled businessman, toddler & carry on terrier included - which I think is hilarious because everyone avoids getting behind us in line. Ha! Jokes on you. I rock security. I also have similar feelings to the nasty looks I get when boarding a plane with my child. I get all my kid has probably traveled more than you dude save your looks for the rookie parent travelers.)

One thing I know about air travel is it is unpredictable. Just when you get used to everything being delayed and running to try and catch your connecting flight, everything is on time or early and you actually have extra time to seek out something yummy (and as healthy as you can find in an airport- good luck!) to eat.

Either way, when we stop I have two priorities - a potty break for B (which is sometimes a change as we are in the middle moving to the end *fingers crossed* of potty training) and a potty break for the little dog. (She will chews holes in her carrier if she doesn't get a potty break. Keeping her claws and teeth of of the mesh that holds her in the bag for the entirety of a 4+ hour flight - not fun for my back or my scratched up hands or the drunk lady on the 9 a.m. flight who accused me of abusing and suffocating my dog since I had my hand in her bag the entire time. But that is another-get-me-fired-up-story.)

I have found these two potty breaks take presidence and whatever we have time for after is great. In case there is no time left at all, I have a nice list of go to airplane (or car) friendly snacks I love to pack.

Quartered strawberries in a few small tupperware containers
Blueberries in small tupperware containers
An apple or two
Clementines
Sugar snap peas
Carrot chips or sticks (B still needs them small) or baby carrots

And small baggies of:

Almonds
Cashews
Raisins
Dried Apple Rings (make sure all fruit is no sugar added)
Shakeology packets

All super easy and nothing requires cooking or baking on top of trying to get your life packed into a suitcase (or 6. Okay, maybe 8.) That is what I need when we are making our yearly trek to wherever John is working. I have enough to worry about with trying to get the dogs' healthy travel certificates and making sure I don't forget whatever stuffed animal has the coveted favorite-B-can't-sleep-without-it spot. (Forgetting that is a melt down on a plane stuffed with angry travelers waiting to happen.) I try to keep it simple with things I can partition into snack size baggies or small tupperware containers. I can just pass out the snacks when we are on the plane and not get sucked into buying one of those overpriced snack boxes full of processed goodies. I also vary the fruit to what is in season (or on sale.) If it is a winter trip, you will not find me buying strawberries and blueberries.

Happy Travels!