Unless you are in a margarita mood, and salt your ice by accident
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I’m in agreement with Sam about carry on’s. If it’s important, it stays with me. I avoid check in luggage as much as possible. Travel light (especially clothing), if you can. If I’m travelling for 10 days, I pack for 5 and wash/launder. What I often see at airports make me shake my head. (same with dormitory move in days…what were they thinking? shaking my head).
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The local airport here is only served by smaller regional jets but I haven’t had any trouble bring my D-carry-on bag. There is the option to check plane-side (and thus pick up plane-side at the destination) but I would only put non-temperature sensitive supplies in that bag and keep all meds with me.
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Yeah, I think the size of the bag is key. If you just pack your D stuff in a rolling carry-on luggage that can’t fit in the compartments of smaller jets, then having a smaller bag that you can fit under seat with all your D supplies could be really helpful.
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Good to know!
Thankfully(?), my toddler now requires a ticket, so we have “extra” carry-on space under her seat. I just have to make sure I don’t go crazy with it and end up with too much stuff to fit in our rental car when we get to our destination. 
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I used to overpack for car trips and my husband would say to me, “There’s stores where we’re going”. You’ll get the hang of it!
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Hahaha, yeah, I used to pack lightly, but as soon as I had kids…we were planning to buy a bigger car sooner rather than later, but realized what we really needed to do was focus on packing less. 
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Buy the minivan and you will never look back. Part luxury cruiser, part living room, part truck. Never worry about running out of room…
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Reviving this thread mainly to ask @Jen a question, though anyone else with answers, feel free to chime in.
That time of year again. I will be making at least two trips in the coming months where we will drive for 2 days (there and back), staying overnight at a hotel (thanks, @Sam, again, for the mini fridge/insulin tip). I’m not overly concerned about my insulin being in the cooler with ice since there are so many experiments showing constant refrigeration is not always that big a deal…
But what do you do about food? I have to bring at least a few things, because I’m not staying in a house with a (celiac) safe kitchen, so there are a couple things I plan to make ahead and freeze. I’m ok with them thawing out, but my parents have taken a few trips like this and have always struggled to keep food at a safe temp over several days’ travel. We only have a “cheap” cooler and don’t have the budget at this time to buy a better one, so…tips?
“Better” coolers really aren’t any better… a cooler Is a cooler for all practical purposes. The disposable styrofoam ones work great and are like $3 just keep adding ice
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So my setup is to pack everything in PackIt coolers with additional ice packs and a Bluetooth thermometer in there to monitor temperature. But that only keeps things cold (if they’re put in frozen) for a day of travel. I’m always travelling by plane, so it hasn’t been a problem. When I get to a hotel, I put everything in the hotel fridge. I have no way of re-freezing things (PackIt coolers, ice packs, or food), so I wouldn’t be able to make any additional legs on my trip, and that is something I’ve almost run into and am trying to work through because I’m sure it’ll come up at some point. Depending on the trip, I sometimes buy produce as needed at local stores while packing everything else (including pre-cooked meat, if I’m not crossing into the US). Another option is canned meat or fish, but that isn’t as good as cooked stuff (and I do have to be careful about brands as I’ve reacted to some).
I did recently talk with someone in one of my allergy groups about how they dehydrate their own meals, including things like pasta, corn, and peas, that they can then just pour boiling water onto to reheat. It sounded really interesting, and I do have a dehydrator and a FoodSaver, so it’s something I might try, but I’ll have to do some reading up first. They also do it for things like chicken, but I think that takes canning (which I have no experience with) and is more complicated. But they are able to travel without refrigeration, which sounds great.
Since you’re driving, would you be able to get one of those small fridges that plugs into a cigarette lighter? I’m pretty sure something like that exists. That is definitely something I’d invest in if I could drive.
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Practically speaking, coolers are considered to keep food below 59 degrees F; whereas a refrigerator is supposed to be below 40 F. So things that might last 4 days to a week in a fridge will typically only be good (if you’re following strict food safety guidelines) for a about 24 to 48 hours. However, if you’re using a lot of ice and refreshing it frequently, and then layering the more sensitive foods so they’re absolutely encased in the ice, you’ll probably be able to maintain the sub-40 F temperatures.
Another option (potentially not worth it) would be dry ice. However, you’d need to have special protective gear to handle that probably.
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Also practically speaking, if everything in the cooler is surrounded in ice (ie use a lot of ice) everything in it will be exactly 32 degrees F.
You could also use an old restaurant trick to create thermal layers in the cooler.
- pack items solidly in ice, with a solid layer of ice above. Salt (yes salt, like table salt) the ice vigorously to cover as much ice as possible.
*then create a second thermal layer by placing paper grocery sacks above the salted ice and repeat process ending with paper grocery sacks.
This process is something that was/still is used in salad bars worldwide. The salted ice melts the very top of the ice mass creating an inversion layer that until it is pierced will last up to a day/day and a half. The second (upper ice layer) will melt bottom up and not stay as cold as the very bottom layer.
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yeah i mean in theory. I find the issue is always that things melt and you don’t get a chance to refresh the ice. But I think the 59 degree number is when you use those cooler packs, rather than actual ice.
Yeah the cooler packs are far less effective… they don’t have the surface area… but I certainly wouldn’t lose any sleep over my insulin being 59 degrees for a few days either. On some ships I don’t have a fridge in my room, or have learned to district the fridge, so I just use a lunchbox sized cooler and dump a scoop of ice in every day with my insulins inside a gallon freezer bag.
Ice is easy to come by.
I will say that soft sided coolers are nowhere near as good as real solid coolers imo.
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haha, i’m not worried about the insulin, I’m worried about the food 
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Oh yeah I forgot which thread we were in
Ha, right, I’m worried about the food, too. But it’s looks like for maybe one of the two trips I will be staying the night at a house with a fridge/freezer, so hopefully will be ok! For the second trip, I might try your suggestion, @elver - thanks!
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I wonder if something like this would be useful? Heck, I might buy it myself. Looks like it could be really useful for multiple-leg trips…though I think I’d want something a little smaller.