I have people asking for solutions they can use for doing keto while camping, hiking, staying in a hotel (with or without refrigeration), or otherwise traveling. I thought I’d share some of my recent experience. The headline image above is from when I was making Keto Chow for 2 of my kids and my wife.
July 2018 has been a little crazy for me; with Keto Con, a 4 day-30 mile hike, family vacation, scout camp, Ketofest, and Low Carb USA all strung together. Particularly challenging was the hike, and later the scout camp with my oldest son since I wouldn’t have any refrigeration nor anything resembling a kitchen. The camp also wanted $6 a meal for amazing dishes like spaghetti, or grilled cheese sandwiches. My plan for the days I would be at camp was to bring:
- A bag of Chocolate Keto Chow
- A bottle of avocado oil
- A blender bottle (I ended up with a couple but only used one)
- A bottle brush
- Some soap in a tiny bottle
They did have lots of clean, cold, mountain spring water available. The basic routine every meal went like this:
- I would grab my dry blender bottle.
- I’d put in the amount of avocado oil I wanted, it was marked on the side of the blender bottle with a marker to make measuring super easy.
- Add a scoop of Keto Chow powder.
- Add the water.
- Shake it up – from step 3 to step 5 you want to minimize time as much as possible to avoid clumps, try to hit fewer than 5 seconds.
- Go help some kid with something for 5 minutes (this lets the protein dissolve more so it’s not gritty).
- Drink
- Use the soap, water, and bottle brush to wash out the bottle – this is easier with hot water but I’ve used cold without problems.
- Leave the lid off and let the bottle dry.
- You’re ready for the next meal.
In the cases that I had access to refrigeration, using heavy cream was also an option instead of avocado oil. That entire sequence (steps 1-10) only takes maybe 5 minutes, not counting however long you take to drink the meal and it’s super handy when it’s raining but you already have your Keto Chow in your tent with you
So, there you go – a week’s worth of Keto Chow weighs around 1000g with 21 meals worth of avocado oil clocking in around 2000g (about a half gallon worth). Provided you have access to water, you can stick to a strict Ketogenic diet easily (oh and depending on the flavor you get, your net carbs for the DAY will be around 1.5-4g (more for chocolate compared to salted caramel and the others).
This is pretty much my exact routine when I fly or travel. My only difference is that I mix up the shake an hour or so beforehand so it can sit longer, as I feel it tastes better that way. (Although i wouldn’t want it to sit much longer than an hour at room temperature…)
It works great!