12 Foods You Should Never Pack for a Christmas Trip
Packing for a Christmas trip can feel like a game of Tetris: you are trying to cram everything around practicality and convenience. While we all want to bring a taste of home along with us, there are some foods that are best left at home. There’s nothing festive about dealing with a suitcase full of leaks, smells, and all kinds of nasty surprises.
As you prepare for your holiday getaway, it’s important to go beyond cravings and consider travel practicality. There are certain foods that are notorious for causing inconvenience. These are a few of the most common offenders you should never include in your Christmas packing bag.
Strong-Scented Foods
It’s a recipe for awkward encounters if you travel with foods with strong smells, like garlic bread, blue cheese, or fermented fish. These may be your favorite treats, but they can make enemies of your seatmates or hotel staff pretty quickly. Even airtight containers can fail when it comes to particularly pungent snacks.
Fragile Snacks
Holiday cheer often arrives at its destination as crumbs or melted blobs. Packing treats like sugar cookies, meringues, or chocolate truffles may not be advised. If you are bringing desserts, you could pack some that can withstand the jostle of travel, like biscotti or granola bars.
Foods That Needs Special Utensils
Don’t pack items that require special tools to consume, like whole lobsters, coconuts or pomegranates. These foods take up valuable luggage space, and in addition they require extra effort to prepare or eat. Convenience is king when you’re on the go.
Highly Perishable Items
Cream-filled pastries, fresh seafood, and dairy products might seem like the perfect treat, but they are perishable. These items will spoil in hours without proper refrigeration. The USDA found in a study that perishable foods left out of refrigeration for more than two hours are at greater risk of bacterial growth and subsequent foodborne illness. Instead, choose foods that will tolerate a range of temperatures including dried fruits or nuts.
Liquid-Based Foods
While soups, stews, or sauces might warm your soul, they are a nightmare for travelers. Not only are they prone to spillage, but you’ll often have to leave these comfort foods at the TSA security checkpoint due to restrictions on liquids. Go with solid options that will be easier to pack and are less likely to make a mess.
Items With Excessive Packaging
Boxed chocolates with lots of wrapping, or multi layered snack packs can take up a lot of valuable space in your luggage. They also leave behind unnecessary waste, as these items often do. Choose compact and travel friendly packaging to keep your trip clutter free.
Unripe or Overripe Produce
It can be tricky to bring fruits and vegetables. Ripe produce may seem fine at first, but on the way, it can ripen and go mushy. Overripe items tend to leak and bruise. Take bananas, for instance: they are notorious for arriving in a completely unappetizing mess. Fruits that are dried or freeze dried are much better alternatives.
Homemade Jams and Jellies
Jams and jellies can make great gifts, but they can also be a huge headache to travel with because of their liquid-like consistency they are subject to the 3.4-ounce rule of TSA and are often confiscated. If you’re intent on gifting preserves, think about shipping them.
Unsealed Spices and Powders
Spilled open containers of spices, powdered drink mixes, or baking ingredients can ruin your luggage. Cinnamon is festive, but not when it’s on your clothes. Make sure these items are always tightly sealed or better yet, leave them behind.
Frozen Foods
It may seem like you can transport frozen items, but without a reliable cooler with ice packs, they’ll thaw and make a soggy mess. Vacuum sealed frozen goods are also at risk of leaking as they defrost, so they aren’t the best travel companion either.
Canned Goods
Canned goods are durable but they are heavy and take up a lot of space. Their dense metal packaging also means they’re prone to scrutiny by airport security, which can flag baggage scans. If you are really keen on having a specific canned item check to see if they have it at your destination.
Unlabeled or Homemade Liquids
Unlabeled sauces, homemade juices, or broths are often discarded by security personnel because they don’t know what’s in them. If you are traveling by car, there may still be a risk of spills or spoilage.
Disclaimer: This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.
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