Carefree - March 25, 2005
Carefree by Joyce McCombs
Carry On Airline Snacks
This week’s survey is called “Can I ask you a Wacky Question?” I
freely admit I pestered some perfectly nice people into revealing
food secrets that I am now shamelessly turning into a column
(thanks, guys!) This week the victims were my very tolerant
co-workers at City Hall, Pat White, Dave Zimmerman and Letha
Burcham. The question of the week was: “Do you take any snacks
with you when you travel by air and if so, what works best and
why?”
This topic has been on my mind lately, since it seems like either
the Carefree spouse or your CG are spending a lot of time lurking
around Fairbanks Airport Gate 3. While I’m all for pumping up
those frequent flier miles, the process of getting from here to
there to wherever can sometimes be more of an adventure than we
planned. For instance, Steve recently attended a Fire Safety class
in Anchorage, and I just got back from an incredible trip to
Barrow for the State Library Conference. Even though both trips
were short, direct flights, each one had mechanical problems that
caused significant delays. Steve ended up spending two hours on
the tarmac before the plane was ordered back to the terminal and
everyone deplaned for another two-hour wait inside. On my return
trip from Barrow, mechanical problems in Anchorage caused the
flight to be delayed more than six hours. My intrepid co-worker,
Nancy King, and I camped out at the Barrow airport and were
grateful we had comfortable seats, access to a restroom and our
own snacks to see us through that long evening.
Spending six hours in Barrow staring at a vending machine loaded
with sugar, fat and salt made me glad we had saved some of our
hotel and travel snacks for this last leg of our journey. And it
made me think of the old Scout motto “Be Prepared!” because as we
all know, in Alaska, anything can happen and it usually does.
I started thinking about extreme flying situations and came up
with these basic four scenarios. In the first one, the plane
breaks as soon as the baggage and everyone is loaded on board. No
one is sure how long it will take to fix, therefore nobody is
allowed off. After a couple hours, they offloaded passengers and
baggage, but you can’t leave the terminal, since everyone has
already gone through security. If you need to eat, either for
medical, social or sanity reasons and there’s no snack bar or it’s
closed, what then?
Next, it’s not only Alaskan air that can get rough, but we often
have more than our share. Even though you only have a 2-hour
flight, you could quite possibly have 2 1/2 hrs of turbulence.
Under these conditions, the flight crew is not allowed to serve
meals. I remember one rocky flight from the Aleutian’s to
Anchorage where a lovely wool hat was pressed into service as an
emergency an airsick bag. Not fun at all, but then again nobody
really missed the inflight meal, either.
Third, there’s always the chance that you won’t like the food that
is served. I know you’re a grownup and should be able to just grin
and bear it, but why should you have to? You’re on vacation! Or a
business trip! Or heading home! You should have some fun, at least
when you’re eating. You already know I am fanatic about avoiding
spinach, broccoli, green peppers or raw onions, and Steve can’t
abide cheese in any way, shape or form. But don’t even think about
asking ahead for a special meal, they just don’t exist on short
flights, and sometimes not on long ones either.
Finally, there could be an electrical problem with the galley and
your meal, as meager as it is, remains frozen solid. This happened
on the way up to Barrow. As we boarded in Fairbanks, we were hit
with a 95-degree blast of air and gasping passengers. The flight
attendants were all leaning out the door to catch a breath of cool
Fairbanks air. We were told later that the ovens wouldn’t work in
flight and they had to crank them up high while the plane was on
the ground for twenty short minutes. Still, our ham and cheese
sandwiches were barely lukewarm when served and the coffeepot
never did work right. Thank goodness the duct tape on the ceiling
held up or I would have been really worried.
For all of these reasons, and more, (dietary, religious, health)
it just makes sense to travel with some lightweight, non
perishable, tasty snacks that will get you to your destination
well hydrated and reasonably nourished.
I asked City Secretary Letha Burcham for her ideas first and she
answered so quickly I knew she had it down to science. She packs a
small apple, an orange that’s been peeled and sectioned and placed
in a zip top bag, and a package of peanut butter crackers. Plain
jerky is also good, and she often tosses in hard candy for a
little treat during long flights. Her husband Mike has thinks that
power bars and other kinds of granola bars are a must. Letha
avoids juice and caffeine and sticks to drinking water from her
own bottle. I sure agree with that, especially if it’s half frozen
so it stays cold for most of the day.
Our City Finance Officer, Dave Zimmerman, says he takes cheese and
cracker or peanut butter cracker packs, and says nuts are tasty
and a good source of protein, as long as they aren’t too salty. He
likes Granola bars, especially the kind with dried cranberries,
and he always has lots of bottled water handy in his carry on. He
will indulge in a little ginger ale when the beverage cart comes
through the cabin. (Did you know ginger ale often quiets a tummy
that’s rumbling from airsickness?) Both Dave and Letha advise
packing any daily medications in your carry on bags just in case
you and your luggage part company – excellent advice that I keep
reading in travel magazines. Dave also likes to carry some chewing
gum and either cough drops or some kind of lozenge to combat the
dry throat that comes from all that endlessly recirculating air in
the plane cabin. Finally, Dave advises walking around as much as
possible before a long flight. He also wishes that airlines
offered fresh fruit on flights and I totally agree with that! I
think folks would be willing to pay for it, too, especially since
they fork over five bucks for a cocktail without batting an eye.
City Clerk Pat White says she only takes water since she likes to
“travel light”. She smiled when she told me she doesn’t even like
to put something in the overhead bin and only takes what will fit
easily under the seat in front of her. When pressed for choices,
she did admit that she keeps peanuts in her car and often has an
apple close by. She insists she never goes anywhere but Anchorage
once in awhile, and seems to have faith that if a snack emergency
arises, something will work out! The fact that Pat didn’t say she
traveled with emergency chocolate just amazed me. Probably it’s so
much a part of her she doesn’t even think of it as an “extra” any
more!
What do I like in my carry on bag? Well, the number one thing is a
bottle or two of Clearwater’s finest well water. I am lost without
cheese and really like those very small, prewrapped hunks of
Tillamook, or regular string cheese. Wheat Thins or pretzels go
everywhere with us, and we’ve become terribly fond of the Delta
Meat Terriyaki Sticks, too. Unsalted pecans and walnuts and plain
beef jerky are also good and full of protein that seems to stick
with us longer than some snacks. An apple, granola bars and a
piece or two of hard candy to prevent dry throats usually rounds
out the menu.
These things don’t take up much room, make much trash or need
refrigeration. They don’t get smashed in transit and they aren’t
offensive to fellow passengers, either. (I am not sure I’m ready
to forgive the man who decided to have a home made hard-boiled egg
and onion sandwich on a very crowded flight when I was eight
months into hatching our son, but I suppose I will someday.)
If you’re traveling with kids, snacks take on huge importance,
both for their entertainment value and to keep those little
appetites in check so the vending machines and expensive snack bar
food don’t seem so alluring. Dry cereal is a classic travel snack,
though I’d stick to the unsweetened, sturdier kinds like Cheerios.
Sticky fingers on the airplane tend to make flight attendants
short tempered. Small boxes of raisins are not only a nutritious
and sweet treat, but also just plain fun, and almost everyone
likes them. Those prepacked Baby carrot and dip combos are easy to
toss in, and so are small packages of premade tuna salad and
crackers. Stick with juice boxes over bottles, since they come
with their own straw and are flat and easier to pack. I saw a lot
of kids noshing on Poptarts the last two times I flew, and they
are in vending machines now, also. I’m not sure they’re my choice
for a completely nutritious snack, but if it’s a once in a while
thing, maybe the kids can handle the sugar.
I try to keep a couple of packs of those disposable moist
towelettes in my purse and a small container of hand sanitizer,
too. And I’ve been grateful on more than one occasion to have
sandwich size zip lock bags stashed in either the carry on or the
bottom of my purse. These things take up hardly any room, but they
can sure make life on the road a little easier.
When you do get to your final destination and feel like a snack,
you can do pretty well out of your suitcase also. For instance,
every night in Barrow we were tortured by the smell of hot fresh
popcorn because some smart person had packed some microwave bags
for her evening snack. These days many hotels have microwaves in
the rooms or the lobby for guests to use. I’ve seen people make
cup of noodles, instant soups, cocoa, tea and even macaroni and
cheese for their kids instead of dragging them out to a restaurant
or paying for room service after a long day of traveling. Be sure
to pack some plastic spoons and napkins, and small packets of
sweetner or creamer, salt and pepper if needed. Those tuna salad
and cracker combos make a fine late night snack and are flat and
sturdy to pack, and rest easy on the traveling tummy, too. Grapes
travel well if you pack them in a clean yogurt container that you
can toss after you finish. Individual applesauce, pudding or fruit
cups are fine but I’ll feel better if you seal the whole works in
a large zip lock bag before you toss it in your suitcase.
And finally, I usually pack one of those yellow plastic squeezey
lemons when I travel so I can combat the chlorinated taste of
hotel water if bottled water isn’t available. I guess you can take
the girl out of the Clearwater, but you can’t take the Clearwater
out of the girl – I am terribly fond of our delicious water and
it’s the first thing I want whenever we get back home from our
travels.
