When you go on a road trip, you need to be secure in the knowledge that you can feed yourself! Whether you’re going to be work camping or exploring the country with friends, you can’t let food be hard to come by. But how much of a food budget are you really going to need? Here’s a few factors to chew over.
What Meals Can You Prepare on the Road?
Do you have any meal prep facilities on the road with you, like if you were in a camper van or an RV? If so, you’re going to be able to prepare quite a few of your own meals while you’re stopped or camping for the night.
If you have a coolbox you can put perishable ingredients in (for no longer than 24 hours), you’ll be able to create quite a few yummy, nutritious dishes from the simple comfort of your back seat.
All in all, if you can prepare food on the road, it’ll make your road trip food budget a bit cheaper to manage! You could even put a bit more cash towards your dining out budget, if you’d like to, because you know there’s an easy way to prepare food right there with you.
How Often Do You Want to Eat Out?
A lot of people would love to every single night! But unless you’re a millionaire, that’s simply not going to be a realistic goal for your road trip.
Be a bit more conservative with your dining out plans, whether you fancy an upmarket restaurant somewhere in the city, or a friendly diner in a cozy small town. Indeed, we recommend taking the actual amount of restaurant meals you’re thinking of and halving it!
To get a real look at the kind of costs, make sure you Google things like pizza restaurant near me before you set off too. If you find some restaurants you’d like to stop at, and they also have their menus online, their prices will be listed there.
What Snacks Do You Like?
No road trip would be complete without snacks. Stops off at local convenience and grocery stores will be numerous, no matter what. You’re going to need to stock up on the snacks you like, of course, but also things like toiletries, magazines, and an actual hot cup of coffee.
As such, your snack budget may be the most important pot to sort out before you go. What do you like to munch on when you’re on a long trip? And are you capable of folding the bag back over, and not accidentally eating them all?
Totally fine either way, you just need to be sure you’ve got enough money to stay stocked up for the entire journey! We recommended assigning the budget day by day, say around $20 to $40 per person.
Going on a road trip? Get your food budget sorted ASAP. You don’t want to be tripping and hangry at the same time!
