This Trader Joe's Snack Is A Favorite Of Rick Steves' Protege While Traveling Europe

Packing for a trip abroad is an exercise in deliberate scarcity. To maintain the simple packing mindset that travel expert Rick Steves says is essential to keeping light, you have to examine what items are most important to you while being practical. Steves himself has a few suggestions on what to bring — one unexpected item on his packing list is a sealable plastic bag. Steves' protégé and co-author, Cameron Hewitt, offered a compendium of his own favorite things to pack on his own website, honing in on "items that are practical, useful, and light enough that even if I don't wind up needing them, they're still worth packing along." One surprising, specific item on Hewitt's list is the organic dried mango from Trader Joe's.

Sure, you could probably find similar dried mango slices around different stores in Europe, but the real reason Hewitt suggests packing the mango treat is about preparing for the steps of your journey before even landing. "On an hours-long plane or train ride, junk food is tempting. But instead, I carry a couple of bags of Trader Joe's dehydrated, unsweetened 'Just Mango Slices,'" he wrote. The snack is lightweight and healthy while being "hearty enough to cut through any jet lag-induced hunger," as Hewitt put it. It might even be worth packing a couple packages of the mango slices to take with you for further transit in between European cities — not bringing snacks on a long train ride is an often overlooked mistake. Since they're dehydrated, the mango snacks can last for months in their sealed packaging.

Most other reviewers agree with Hewitt's praise of Trader Joe's dried mango snack. It holds 4.6 stars on Influenster, as of this writing. One Influenster reviewer, Anuki V., noted that the mango slices are "a little on the dry side," but added, "I like that the package is sealable and you can save it." This, of course, makes it perfect for travel. All the mangoes are peeled and sliced by hand before being left to naturally dry on racks, according to the Trader Joe's website. That natural drying method may contribute to the mangoes being drier than expected, though others appreciate the chewy texture and lack of added sugar.

In addition to the regular dried mango slices, Trader Joe's also sells chile-seasoned dried mango, which was called "Trader Joe's absolute best dried fruit" by Tasting Table. The chile powder (plus salt and citric acid) adds a spicy zest to the fruit — a combination commonly sold by Mexican street vendors, though it's the fact that Trader Joe's sells it dried that makes it suitable for travel. The chile seasoning does include cane sugar, though, so there are slightly more calories in the seasoned option than the non-seasoned mango slices.