Travel food containers?

Hello! Looking for suggestions on how to make this more efficient:

When my partner & I travel and visit cities for 1+ days, we like to buy some groceries to make our breakfast and lunch at our airbnb, to take with us while we’re out walking around for the day.

We’ve stored this food in collapsibile silicone containers and it’s worked pretty well, but I wonder if there’s a better way?

If you do this, do you pack your own utensils? A cloth? Do you have a dedicated lunch bag you put in your day pack to avoid leaking? Silicone bags or regular ziploc bags? What’s in your kit?

I’m looking for a lightweight, leak-free and easy to clean system. Let me know your ideas, thank you!

in HerOneBagby gooniehoe

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13d

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13d

I always bring extra 1L bags with me and are perfect for storing wraps, sammies, snacks in.

cmarie147

🍰

13d

I love Stasher Bowls for this!

cxklm

13d

Stasher Bowls (NOT bags) are the best! They squish down when empty, are super easy to clean, and microwavable. I carry these with with an interlocking camp spoon/fork, and sometimes a cloth napkin or just regular tissues. If I know I'll be carrying something especially liquidy, I'll use a small dry bag as a backup (which doubles as my "sink" laundry washer). I'm someone who tries to be conscientious of chemicals in plastic/pfas, and from what I have researched, stasher is one of the most trustworthy for this.

lovethismoment

They look like they don't open all that wide at the top. Do you think it would be awkward to try to get takeout from a restaurant or street food stall in one of these?

cxklm

I have honestly never done that with any container, but it's a great idea and I imagine it would depend on the situation! For example a lot of street vendors in Asia put things in plastic bags regularly, so I imagine that wouldn't be an issue

LePetitNeep

13d

I take a camping spork as part of my travel stuff. It weighs very little. Mostly gets used for restaurant leftovers though, if I take food out with me in the day it’s usually packaged for that purpose (granola bars and such).

The_Bogwoppit

13d

I have used foil and beeswax wrap, both worked fine and took no room. But we packed the kind of food that was non liquid. Lots of sandwiches and chopped veggies.

bellandc

13d

I use metal bento boxes and the occasional ziplock bag. If you buy all of the them from the same company you can get the same size and they stack neatly which satisfies me in a ridiculous way.

Recently I've also been using Rubbermaid brilliance containers which are the containers I recently started using in my kitchen for leftovers They're very lightweight, they stack, I can easily see what's inside, and most importantly their seal is leak proof. I love that I can find them at most grocery stores so buying another container is something that will easily slip into my current collection. I use them primarily for carrying precut fruit but I expect I will be integrating them into my kit more often.

However, when space is really tight, I use ziplock.

For utensils, I have a set plus a pair of chopsticks that I store in a canvas pencil case.

I have a small canvas bag that I store salt, pepper, ketchup, mustard packets, and wet wipes.

I have a handful of bandanas that I use just as picnic napkins. I typically wrap 1-2 containers in the bandana making it easy to keep them together.

It's not perfec

chicchic325

13d

I second the bento boxes, I got titanium one for light weight. I daily carry utensils (again titanium, got these at REI) and chop sticks. I’ll also use silicone zip bags as well. Plastic bags are my last resort.

bellandc

13d

I've only tried the ziplock brand silicone bags and I can't get them sealed so that they'll pop open. They work really great for steaming vegetables in the microwave but I haven't been convinced to use them for food while out traveling. Do you have a brand of silicone zip you like?

chicchic325

13d

I have some from net zero company but I’ve never tested the leak proof claims specifically, but they say they can be used for sous vide.

bellandc

13d

Thanks!

UntidyVenus

13d

We often share a metal tiffin j have, it takes up space, but it's great for various snacks and meals, and bringing back more delicate suveniers. For utensils, we each have a pack from Amazon that are in a little neoprene zipper bag (knives removed)

--kit--

13d

For utensils I like the titanium spork from Light my fire. I have though about carrying chopsticks instead, though.

silverflame13

13d

I always take my Bentgo lunch box and some sandwich bags, but purchase my groceries at destination. I travel for work though, so I can expense the groceries if bought during the trip.

Pretty_Swordfish

13d

I have a utensil set (knife, fork, spoon, chopsticks) that I got at Staples and love. It's very tiny because the handles swap out and plastic, so no issues with tsa. I have pulled it out and used it many times. I also try to keep at least 1-2 napkins in my bag. I'm usually carrying a water bottle as well.

I'm interested in seeing collapsible containers from folks though, as I do like to take lunch on the plane and want to reduce space taken by those containers.

reindeerfrog

12d

I reuse plastic ice cream containers, disposable froyo spoons and ziploc bags.

Considering they've all served their original purpose, I don't feel guilty if I have to trash them* to save space at the end of the trip. However, sometimes I also use them as packing material on the way back. The plastic container is great for plane snacks or fragile items, and the ziploc bag for potentially leaky toiletries.

*Except for the froyo spoon... I've used the same one since 2018, and I wouldn't have the heart to throw it away unless I really had to.