I’m curious - What habits do people have for eating while on vacation, compared to while at home?
When we are home we are fairly health conscious, but I’ve noticed we haven’t done so great on vacation this week.
When we have a kitchen, and easy access to grocery stores, we do better than when we are in a place with only a tiny or no kitchen.
I often eat 5 servings of fruit and/or vegetables each day at home. On vacation, not so much.
We drink on the weekend, but try not to drink much during the week. On vacation we often drink every day.
We do usually eat breakfast in our place, and then eat either lunch or dinner out, because we don’t need 2 big meals. We also usually carry Kind bars and nuts as snacks, in case we need a little something.
I think we eat the same when we are on vacation, but instead of eating at home we are eating out. We always eat 3 meals a day and we eat similar kind of food (but of local cuisine). We may drink a bit more. As an example, if we are at a restaurant for lunch with a good wine list then we may order a bottle of wine.
When without a kitchen, we always start by getting some staples at a local grocery, and pack a good knife (cutting fruit) and spoons (yogurt, cereal).
I am always on Google for restaurant recommendations, which I don’t mind spending the time to do.
I laugh when my family looks horrified at the holes in the wall that I find, but usually come out loving the place.
We’re usually traveling to a bigger city than ours, so the food options are more plentiful, which to me, makes the trip.
We google and ask the concierge to meal recommendations. We are usually happy dining out at restaurants. We probably eat less fruit and fewer veggies while traveling, but do try eating as much of the cuisine specific to the venue as we can.
At home and while traveling, we try to eat about 2 meals and a snack a day. H will order more drinks while we travel—i rarely drink anything but water nearly everywhere, unless there’s some tempting non-alcoholic beverage beckoning.
I think eating local food is part of the fun of a vacation, so we do a lot of “adventure” eating. It’s amazing to eat new things or things prepared differently and I enjoy that just as much as sightseeing.
We generally rent houses or apartments and for breakfast, we’ll eat at the house. That’s another thing I enjoy - shopping at the different open air markets or grocery stores. So the first afternoon we’re there, I’ll go by the market/store and pick up whatever interesting breakfast looking stuff I find and that’s what we’ll eat.
If we’re in a city doing city things, usually we’ll do our big meal of the day at lunch. My kids aren’t always interested in dressing up and sitting through a fancy dinner at a nice place, but at lunchtime those same great places serve food that’s just as good and because they’re often catering to businesspeople, it doesn’t take 2-3 hours so my kids enjoy it more. Doesn’t hurt that the pricing at lunch is generally more reasonable as well.
Often by dinner we’re tired from all the things we’ve done so we’ll again pick up local foods to eat at our place or we’ll get snack foods while we walk around. That’s also why I often spring for a house with a great view.
I eat a lot more than I normally do at home, but luckily we’re active enough that I rarely find I actually gain weight on vacation (thankfully!)
We definitely eat and drink differently when we are on vacation, but our theory is that’s what vacations are for. Having a drink at lunch or a bottle of wine with dinner most nights is not something we do regularly at home, but we enjoy it on vacation.
We are doing a big road trip to several western states in February to ski over 15 days. We will be in Utah the longest and have an Airbnb rented with a full kitchen. We will grocery shop when we arrive and eat most meals in. Other places we are staying we will only be in for a couple of nights at a time so we will eat out more often.
We have rules for vacations. We don’t care what we eat health-wise and we can’t eat out anywhere we could eat out from home. We prefer mom and pop to chains, but as long as the chain isn’t local to us it’s ok.
We rarely drink alcohol, but sometimes get a mixed drink or wine on vacation. At home once in a while we will pick up a bottle of wine, but it’s less often than once a month.
No plans to change.
We have been doing adventure/active vacations. If we don’t have breakfast included in our accommodations, we’ll go to the market and have easy provisions on hand. Lunch is almost always a sandwich or something grab and go that we put in backpacks and take with us. Dinner, we try to eat new and local foods and don’t ever count calories on vacation. At home, I usually only drink wine F/S but I have what I want on holiday.
We eat more, we drink more and I have desserts without guilt!
At home, I tend to eat a lot of the same things over and over. Zzzz…
On vacation, I branch out, plus definitely more treats (ice cream! burgers & fries!).
Alcohol consumption is the same or less.
For me, vacation is travel. And part of the reason to travel is to try new foods, so yes, I eat very differently while on my vacations. Drinking remains the same: a couple of glasses of wine, max, with dinner. Though on my last trip to Italy I definitely indulged in those Aperol and limoncello spritz’es. And I’m totally OK with that.
Yum, Aperol spritzes! After we came back from Italy I had to search all over town for Aperol!
We have three meals just like at home. We will try all the local specialties (stinky tofu, scorpions on sticks, blood sausage, haggis, frogs legs or California farm to table, or whatever the best local BBQ is as examples). Alcohol consumption tends to be more as I am more likely to be having wine or beer with lunch as well as dinner. (Especially since half our vacations involve visiting vineyards.)
I tend to eat lighter when I’m away, but am always checking the local food scene vs “chains” (I don’t do chains at home either) - and usually it’s one “real” meal and several on-the-go type things.
I eat more variety and snack less on vacation. Overall, maybe better quality since I plan more. At home I tend to eat the same things over and over, although I do eat a healthy diet. On vacation, I like to try new things and try to eat enough to sustain activity throughout the day. At home I might dash out after eating something small but away from home I will think what do I need to eat to do the next activity. We drink more away from home, but that’s part of the try new things ethos.
Why is this night different from all other nights?
On vacation, if it’s a roadtrip, we usually stop at a Denny’s or equivalent on the road, but sometimes we might stop at a McDonalds, which is the only time we would ever go there. Also a Dunkin donut with coffee is possible to stay awake.
Otherwise I still won’t eat meat on vacation, but I consume a lot more dairy than I do at home.
Overseas travel is an entirely different story, with different constraints and objectives.
I always allow myself to eat and drink whatever I want on vacation, within reason of course. That’s what a vacation is, to indulge, explore, experience things you normally don’t in everyday life. I remember being on a diet in a location I’d never visit again and denying myself a famous specialty dessert. Wouldn’t you know it, twenty years later I’m still thinking of it and kicking myself for not trying it.
I went on vacation last winter in the middle of a 70 pound weight loss journey. I was down 50 pounds at that point and didn’t want to backtrack. But I didn’t want to not eat and enjoy myself. I chose lunch or dinner as a meal where I’d indulge more and then ordered anything I wanted but ate only half. My goal was not to gain weight but actually came home down another pound. Now that I’m in maintenance mode I indulge on vacations but I do a 500 calorie day fast twice in the week after I get home. This has kep me on track and made me worry less on vacations about really enjoying local foods.
@maya54 , on your 2/5 days, do you just eat one meal?
@1214mom. I think you described perfectly what being on vacation is all about… Lol.
If with kids (now young adults), usually have a kitchen and get things for breakfast/snacks. . Then eat lunch and a later dinner out. If they sleep in (depending on our schedule.) Might just be lunch and dinner as the meals for the day.