Keto on Vacation

At home, you’ve mastered the art of eating keto (or low-carb) and have experienced the benefits it brings to your well-being. But now, the vacation is approaching, and you’re wondering how to manage your diet while traveling. You have a choice: you can either temporarily abandon your new eating habits and indulge in whatever you desire during your vacation, or you can stay committed to your keto lifestyle. It’s essential to make a conscious decision based on your goals and preferences.

I should admit that, like anyone else, I occasionally deviate from my keto lifestyle. However, if you choose to stay keto during your vacation, this article will guide you on how to do it effectively.

Preparation is Key

The most crucial step is thorough preparation. Know your destination and do some research on the types of food commonly available in that country. This will help you anticipate the keto-friendly options you might find. Your choice of accommodation also matters. Whether you’re staying in an apartment with a kitchenette, a hotel with a breakfast buffet or all-inclusive meals, or going camping, there are ways to maintain a ketogenic diet during your vacation. However, the level of ease may vary, so consider your accommodation type when planning your destination. 😉

The Basics

Almost everywhere you go, you can find vegetables, meat, eggs, nuts, and various fats (olive oil, butter, coconut oil). These form a perfect foundation for delicious and healthy meals. You can easily replace high-carb items like potatoes, bread, pasta, and rice with more of the previously mentioned ingredients. Keep it simple and stick to these basics, and you’ll enjoy a wide variety of tasty dishes. If the location offers other suitable products, that’s a bonus!

The Journey

Your vacation begins with the journey to your destination. If you’re traveling by car, you have numerous options for on-the-road keto snacks. For long car rides (we often face 12 to 18 hours in the car on our vacations), we pack a large snack bag to keep us satisfied. Here’s what goes in our snack bag for the journey:
– Meatballs
– Keto muffins (both savory or sweet)
– Keto wraps or keto bread (you can find fantastic recipes in this cookbook)
– A container of mixed berries
– A bag of raw, unsalted nuts
– Bifi sausages
– Babybel cheeses
– A container of raw veggies
– Fresh coconut chunks

These snacks help us avoid hunger and enjoy our journey without compromising our keto lifestyle.

Anything leftover from the journey can be eaten during the first days of your stay. This way, you won’t be tempted to grab fast food on the way. So, my motto is to bring a little too much rather than too little.

If you’re traveling by plane, you’ll need to follow the airline’s rules and regulations. Check in advance what their policies are and make your choices accordingly. Products that are usually allowed include unsalted and unroasted nuts, Bifi sausages, a boiled egg, well-packaged Babybel cheeses, and well-packaged keto chocolate. However, I recommend verifying this information with your specific airline. It would be a shame to have to discard items at the airport and end up hungry on the plane.

On the Campsite

When you stay on a campsite, you have fewer cooking options since you don’t have a fully equipped kitchen at your disposal. However, don’t worry; you can go a long way with a small fridge and a hot plate or a small oven. Do you have access to a BBQ or a grill plate (like a gourmet grill)? Then you have even more options. In this article you will find the best tips for a keto BBQ. When staying at a campsite, you usually get groceries from the campsite shop or a nearby supermarket, so you have plenty of choices!

Useful items to bring

On a campsite, you are reliant on what you bring to prepare your own food. So, think ahead about the types of dishes you’d like to eat and bring the appropriate equipment, if possible. Be mindful of the power consumption of these devices and whether they are suitable for your location.

Ideal appliances include:
– A waffle iron (you can make low-carb waffles, vegetable omelets, cook bacon, grill vegetables, etc.).
– A griddle (such as a gourmet grill or grill plate) where you can prepare everything you’d typically cook in a frying pan, like meat, fish, vegetables, and eggs.
– A mini oven or air fryer, which can be used to prepare keto crackers, muffins (both savory and sweet), keto bread, meat, fish, vegetables, and eggs.
– A mini fridge for keeping ingredients cool. 😉
– A mini blender for making your own flour for crackers, bread or waffles.

Breakfast and Lunch at the Campsite

It depends on your preferences for breakfast or lunch. You can choose from options like a vegetable omelet, Greek yogurt with berries/nuts/seeds, a delicious chia pudding (prepare it the night before and keep it chilled), or even a hearty salad. You can also create a snack board with some deli meats, cheese, olives, and raw vegetables. If you have an oven, you can bake some fantastic seed crackers on-site, like the ones you’ll find in The Ultimate Ketogenic Cookbook, or make egg muffins with vegetables, deli meats, and cheese.

Dinner at the Campsite

Salads, BBQ, and griddle cooking are often popular choices when camping, and they are perfect for keto. You can enjoy a variety of vegetables and meats. For added fats, you can include mayonnaise or drizzle olive oil over your vegetables. If you prefer dining out, read this article for the best tips.

Snacks at the Campsite

Camping is often about relaxation, nature, and spending time together, which frequently involves enjoying snacks in the evenings. You can easily join in with various keto-friendly snacks. Take a look at this inspiration for a delicious snack platter. Alternatively, keep it simple with some raw vegetables, slices of sausage, and a jar of olives.

In a Vacation Home or Apartment

In a vacation home or apartment, you generally have the same conveniences as at home. You have access to a refrigerator, a stove, and often even an oven and a microwave. In principle, you don’t need to think too much about it; just make what you would eat at home. However, it’s useful to consider that you might not have everything on hand that you typically have at home. This includes products like almond flour, erythritol, spices, oils, baking molds, parchment paper, etc. So, I find it helpful to make a rough plan of what I want to eat during the vacation and potentially bring some items from home. If you’re flying to your destination, keep in mind that there may be restrictions on what you can bring in your luggage. Check the rules with your airline. When I go to a vacation home by car, I often bring quite a bit from home 😁.

In a Hotel

If you’re staying in a hotel, your options for preparing or storing your own food are minimal. Regarding food, you will mainly rely on the hotel’s restaurant or other dining options outside. In this article, you’ll find the best tips for dining out. However, you can have a few non-refrigerated items in your room, such as a bag of nuts, Bifi sausages, keto-friendly chocolate, etc.

What about wine and cocktails?

This is a question that is often asked, especially at parties, on weekends, and especially during vacations, people often want to enjoy a glass of wine or another alcoholic drink. Alcohol and keto don’t really go hand in hand. When you consume alcohol, you’re essentially drinking your carbohydrates, which you’d prefer to use for food. Additionally, your body doesn’t respond well to alcohol and treats it as a toxin that needs to be eliminated as quickly as possible. Consequently, your body will temporarily halt all non-essential processes until the alcohol is metabolized. This is why weight loss and alcohol often don’t mix well. The best approach is to avoid alcohol altogether, but if you really want to indulge, it’s ultimately your choice, just like the choice of whether to follow a low-carb or ketogenic diet during your vacation. If you decide to have a drink, try to choose the least detrimental options, like dry white wine instead of sweet wine or a sugary cocktail. And make sure to savor that glass, so you can limit yourself to one or maybe two glasses instead of downing a whole bottle on your own. 😉