Four Snacks That Should Be In Your Bag On Every Trip

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If we're ranking outrageous prices associated with air travel, food and snacks available in airport concession stores might not crack the top 10, but the prices are still a notable burden. They don't have to be, though. As any savvy traveler knows, making a little space in our carryon bags means we can bring an extra snack or two to hold us over until we make our first trip to the all-inclusive buffet and start earning our money back.

A bag of pretzels and small bottle of water won't cut it, so here are some yummy treats we've been keeping in our bags on our last few trips.

Obviously, with TSA restrictions we can only bring so much liquid on a flight, so your big old bottles of water have to stay at home, and a 16.5-oz. bottle of raspberry tea won't cut it either. But if you're (wisely) bringing a TSA-friendly beverage container in your carryon—something you should do when a tiny cup of airline soda won't do the trick—then it can't hurt to fill it with your favorite beverages, especially a delicious, healthy tea that's short on calories and purportedly high on things that our bodies like, including antioxidants and natural ingredients.

Beef jerky (or really any meat product) is tricky for air travel, because no one wants to be the smelly guy. Or, perhaps more accurately, no one wants to sit next to the smelly guy. Good beef jerky comes doesn't just come in a resealable package; it also doesn't stink in the first place. Old Trapper not only checks those boxes, but it also comes in a variety of flavors that are delicious and not overwhelming. For example, the Hot & Spicy bag won't require begging the flight attendant for extra water. That's great science at work.

This should probably be any Jelly Belly candies in general, since a multi-flavor bag of the company's celebrated jellybeans has a permanent spot in my work drawer (and maybe a secret drawer at home that my son doesn't know about). But Halloween is always special because it means the limited release of Jelly Belly's mellocreme pumpkins and gourmet candy corn, and roll your eyes all you want, but Jelly Belly's candy corn blows normal candy corn away.

Also, don't sleep on the sour pumpkins. Unlike a lot of sour candies, they won't make your mouth implode, so the key is to grab a case of these seasonal treats and enjoy them on flights and road trips for months to come.

I saw Paw Patrol on Luckybar's label and was instantly sold. Okay, that's not entirely true. I'm not foolish enough to base my son's snacking habits on his love for Chase and Marshall, but getting him to try something new is half the battle, and so I appreciate the encouragement from Adventure Bay's finest.

As for the actual product, Luckybar was developed by a mom and "crafted by a doctor" to be ideally nutritious for our little ones, so expectations were high. The Pirate Peanut Butter Chocolate protein bar was an instant smash in my house, and it will certainly have a spot in my Pakt weekender bag on our upcoming family trip to Atlantis.