Today’s post is a good tip for parents traveling to expensive destinations (usually islands) for relatively long stays.

We’ve got a toddler and often bring another set of hands, which means we end up being a family on five or six on nearly every trip.  We’re typically fairly healthy/balanced eaters and on lengthy trips I find restaurants a little monotonous.  To keep eating out to a tolerable amount, I often prepare some of our meals (at least one a day) — usually we eat breakfast in the room, lunch on a beach/at the pool/on the road and dinner either in our suite or out.

When visiting islands, we often price food out ahead of time and if the groceries are ridiculously expensive (which tends to be the case in the British Virgin Islands and the US Virgin Islands) we opt for a great alternative — an extra large suitcase packed solely with groceries.

We’re gearing up for a 10 day trip to St. Thomas and we’ve booked a large two bedroom suite with a full kitchen.  I pre-ordered refrigerated foods from a local grocery store (which will be delivered to our hotel for arrival) but opted to buy all packaged items like pasta, sauce, snacks, organic veggie/fruit pouches, coffee and protein shakes at home.  The price of checking an extra suitcase is way less than the cost of buying these products abroad.

This can be a great tip for other larger families traveling to pricey places.  And, yes, I know, it’s supposed to be on vacation so why cook??  As I said, I can’t really stomach the idea of 10 days of restaurant food.  I like to know my family is getting some nutritious foods (without all of the salt, butter and oil often added to meals when dining out).

Give it a try and let us know what you think!

Happy travels!