Review

5 Easy-to-Pack Road Trip Snacks

Check out these delicious and healthy snacks ideal for your next adventure!

Traveling by car is an undoubtedly amazing experience. But it can also be stressful because we have to prepare lots of things, including food. This text about some tasty road trip snacks might be something that you need to fully enjoy your next adventure!

As you all know, these past eleven months haven’t been an ideal period to pursue our hobby. Nonetheless, we grabbed the opportunity to go on several road trips that we enjoyed. If you ask, plenty of people will tell you that road trips can be super fun, but exhausting experience. So opt to move by train or plane with as little fuss around the preparation possible. We felt the same way before, but then life in pandemic started. The idea of not being able to travel at all seemed, in all honesty, more grueling than all preparation for a road trip, and thus unacceptable.

The biggest question we needed to resolve was the food. The concept of eating gas station food three times for five days wasn’t really attractive. To stop and cook so many times wasn’t an option either, because it would take too much time and energy, and we wouldn’t be able to see all the places we wanted. We only had time to make donuts in our donut makers for home use, but they would be fresh only the first day. After researching a bit, we created a list of road trip snacks that we know to get each time we go on a road trip. We are sharing our favorite road trip snacks with all of you adventure lovers who would love to pack your car and hit the road but maybe have the same concerns as we did.

Best Road Trip Snacks

Fruit and Veggies

If you are anything like us, and you like to have something to munch on the entire time during the trip, then you are what we’d call a boredom snacker. In this case, you need to take a bit of care about the type of snacks because otherwise, you might end up eating more calories than you would like. A perfect solution for this is to bring enough fruit and veggies to keep your mouth entertained. We suggest packing cauliflower or broccoli florets, baby carrots, snap peas, celery sticks, etc. Good ideas for healthy road trip snacks if you are not big on vegetables are hummus, guacamole, or ranch dressing. When it comes to the fruit, we suggest that you pack some clementines, cherries, and apples. You can also bring dried fruit but make sure that it doesn’t have added sugar or any colorings or preservatives.

Jerky

If you did it at least once, then you know that almost everyone is continually hungry during a road trip. It seems that an hour doesn’t go by since your last meal, but you hear your stomach growling. Are you wondering what is it all about? Well, this happens when the road trip diet is carb centered. The best road trip snacks for adults that can prevent this are those that have high protein content. Many of you would probably think to bring protein bars, right!? But there is something better, and we generally love it – beef jerky. The only thing you have to take care of is to get grass-fed and finished beef, not the one from the gas stations. This type of beef jerky is a good source of protein, omega 3, and conjugated linoleic acid. It also has a much lower level of sodium, fat and nitrites, and nitrates.

Popcorn

Popcorn is one of the best options for road trip snacks for toddlers. We feel it is necessary to point it out because kids tend to be super picky eaters in general and especially while traveling. Nonetheless, it is one of the best road trip snacks for adults as well, as popcorn is packed with fiber and complex carbs that will keep you satiated. It is best to make your popcorn at home with real corn and avoid using those packets for the microwave.

Chickpea Snacks

Chickpeas or garbanzo beans are a great source of protein, fiber, folate, and some minerals such as iron and phosphorus. They are excellent as road trip snacks for everyone, but especially for people who like to have something to chew on while driving. There are plenty of chickpea snacks that you can buy in bio shops or even supermarkets. But, they are also super simple DIY road trip snacks. You just need to mix them with spices you like, oil the pan, and roast them.

Sweets

Can you imagine a fun and enjoyable trip without something sweet? Well, neither can we, to tell the truth. But we don’t want to buy those candy bars at gas stations because we know they are full of artificial stuff. Instead, we like to have our selection of healthier snacks for a long road trip. We suggest packing dark chocolate, whole grain cookies, graham crackers, chocolate with fruit and nuts, etc. In case you feel like it and you have time to do it, we also suggest you make muffins or black bean brownies.

Final Take

As you can see, preparing good road trip snacks isn’t such a big deal as it might seem at first! Remember, there are plenty of other things you can take, depending on your taste. These are just some
suggestions to help you start getting ready for your adventure. Now, when it comes to storing food during the trip, we think plastic containers are the best option because they are lightweight and don’t break easily. And if you lose them, it won’t be a big deal! In the end, we would also like to hear from you! Do you like traveling? What is your take on road trips?

A Parents’ Guide to Mental Health in Young People

This lockdown has really highlighted the growing mental health problems among young people and children. Most parents have known for a while that the pressures of being young can be tough but adding social media into the mix online bullying, gaming addiction and the plain fact kids don’t have the freedom they once had all go to make a rather negative mix. However, it really isn’t all bad because there are things parents can do to help and support the mental well being of kids of all ages so here is a simple guide to some positive steps all parents can take as well as some handy sites that might help too.

For the purposes of this article young people covers children of all ages up to 18 and even into university age. Mental health and well being can be fostered at a young age and continued through out the teens and beyond.

Talking and Being Open

One of the big things we can do as parents is to create an atmosphere of openness and being able to talk about mental health. This doesn’t mean chatting to a 5-year-old about depression but it does mean creating a home where being sad is OK, being scared is OK as well as being happy. Creating a space where young boys are not told to “stop crying” or “man up” if they are frightened of something. Sometimes school isn’t fun, sometimes going to football practice might make a child nervous for example…these feelings are important so being able to talk about them is really healthy. It can also be quite positive to say that adults feel sad sometimes too or scared and explain how we deal with it. The challenge with being open like this is trying to make sure, as parents or carers, that we say the right thing. There are lots of very positive UK websites that offer help with this like https://youngminds.org.uk/find-help/for-parents/

Encouraging Self Discover and Learning About Mental Health

As young people get older they should be encouraged to explore their own feelings and, if they have concerns about their actions or mental health, to be able to speak to parents as well as look for information on their own. It is crucial they are guided to positive places for this kind of information. Just Googling mental health issues like depression can lead to some bad advice at best, and dangerous information at worst. Sites like Hidden Strength good places to suggest looking, the content is reviewed by professionals and it’s a UK based site which gives confidence to parents it is legit. Be wary of young people getting into a YouTube spiral about mental health and joining Facebook groups, sadly there are people out there offering information to actually enable negative behaviours like self harm so be vigilant and once again…talk about things. If the home is a place where mental health is talked about openly then young people are less likely to explore in secret.

Knowing They are Not Perfect

Mental health can be related to bullying but in a less obvious way young people can take out their own fears and problems on others to help them feel better. It is really important parents appreciate that young people can do the wrong thing and are not perfect. It is the right of a young person to make mistakes, grow and learn. So it is also the job of the care giver to be able to address this and talk about it. The transactional Analysis state of “I’m OK, your not OK” is really common in young people and recognising it from both sides is very useful. If your child is putting others down it may be because they are struggling, and if their friends are putting them down it may be the other way around. The point is, mental well being involves understand actions and reactions and helping young people decipher it all. If a young person is being negative to others is doesn’t mean they are a bad person, it means they may need some support!

Work on Your Own Mental Health

Nothing will cause problems in young people faster than parents with issues of their own. Many parents were born in a time when mental health wasn’t discussed, and people still used terms like “nervous breakdown”. Getting help may not have been an option, but it is now. Having obsessive issues, anger problems or anxiety can change our behaviour and it does affect those around us. Bringing up children with unresolved mental health issues can simply pass on your issues or cause things to express themselves in different ways. As a care giver it really is important to address any issues in order to create a space for a healthy young person to grow. But don’t beat yourself up, be positive and make some changes if you think it will help, you may well find you can fix things you just assumed were “just part of you”.

Surveying for a New Project

Preparation is key for any new project. Get that right and you are much less likely to run into problems later. Surveying for a new project is a key part of that preparation.

Surveying for a New Project

A good place to start is with a general overview and then move onto a more detailed survey later. Drones are a great way to start the process off and can be used throughout the progress of a project. A drone like mavic has the ability to the ability to shoot photos and videos in HDR (High Dynamic Range). With their ability to capture data from above, drones have been successfully integrated into surveying workflows to perform land surveys, photogrammetry, 3D mapping and topographic surveying. Drones make sense particularly when you are dealing with challenging terrain. Then they make it unnecessary for human operators to physically access and measure points in hazardous or remote locations.

Picking the right tools and machinery

Laser marking is a process that marks or labels the surface of a item using a low powered laser beam. The technique is commonly used to apply barcodes, logos, QR codes, and other types of identification into materials like stainless steel and titanium. Using a laser marking system is ideal for producing high precision markings on a wide range of materials. Even for the most intricate and complex graphics need not pose an issue for laser marking. As laser marking systems can typically handle small-scale shapes and one-point fonts, there’s unlikely to be a problem.

Getting your site set up

Is the area hard to access? Are you working in an area with severe weather conditions? Do you want to preserve the surrounding environment? Are you working close to residences? Is there wildlife nearby? All these issues need to be considered when you are getting your site set up. If the answer to these questions is yes, it’s worth considering getting in rig mats from a supplier like Northernmat.ca.

Rig matting is a portable structure that provides support for your project. As a result rig mats are important for many different heavy duty jobs. In many construction sectors, rig mats are most commonly used for temporary roads and facilities. With power lines, rig matting is also a useful tool to utilise, to help with the creation and infrastructure of standing lines and poles.

Setting up procedures

Give some thought to how you are going to organise your site on a day to day basis as well as its physical structure. Some of your procedures will be dictated by health and safety protocols and your company or main contractor may already have these in place, for instance. Obviously no two sites are identical, so there may need to be some variation to suit terrain, customer requirements, etc. Looking after your people is key because if they feel cared for they are much more likely to be conscientious employees. It’s worth making sure that your staff facilities are up to scratch and it’s as comfortable a work place as is possible for those involved with the project.

A Special Birthday Gift

a day to remember book

My sister has a special birthday this year – she’ll be 50. We are really hoping that the pandemic will be sufficiently over for us to have some proper celebrations to mark the big day. A landmark birthday like a 50th calls for a special gift, something a bit different, something thoughtful, something to reflect on the years. So hunt has been on for the perfect present to help my sister celebrate and commemorate her big day. So when Historic Newspapers got in touch I was really interested to try out a copy of their unique 50th birthday gift with my sister’s big birthday in mind.

a day to remember book

Ordering is simple, you just need to have your recipient’s details to hand. You’ll need their name and date of birth. Then you need to consider a personal message. Don’t worry if you are short on inspiration for this sort of message – they even have an option for message ideas. You can pick one out or amend it as you like, or if the creative juices are flowing you can create your own message. Pick out your cover: green leatherette or luxury black leather. Finally decide whether you want the name embossed on the front of the book and whether you want if presented in a box.

birthday-edition-newspaper-book The newspaper book is designed to portray the recipient’s lifetime through newspaper headlines of the day, year by year. If for example, they were born on 3rd July 1973, this will be the first front page to appear at the start of the book. After that, it’ll be 3rd July 1974, then ‘75, ‘76 and so on, all the way through until the present day, making this birthday newspaper book a story of the individual’s entire life. I think it works really well with it being a tabloid newspaper, the Daily Mirror, because you get the news headlines, but also some gossip or celebrity news too. There are pictures too, which not every newspaper at the time used. If you prefer a broadsheet though, you can order a book with pages of The Telegraph instead.

birthday newspaper book

As you can see the book looks very smart and makes a great gift. I know my sister will enjoy looking through and reliving the years of her life. It’s amazing to look back at the early 1970s as in many ways, but in others nothing has changed. Some of the celebrities have stood the test of time and others I’ve never heard their names before. It’s a really interesting look back at things as they were. It’s good to move through to the years I remember more clearly too from the 1980s and beyond.

If you are looking for a gift for a landmark birthday, I’d seriously consider purchasing a birthday newspaper book. It’s a thoughtful gift, which makes it easy to look back on the years of a life. It looks so attractive too in its special gift box. If I was given a book like this I know I’d be looking back at it for years to come.