Guide

Travel is one of the hardest situations for blood sugar management — your routine is disrupted, food options are limited, and you're often eating on someone else's schedule. Here's how I'd approach it: plan the food, not the restrictions. Preparation beats perfection every time.

Air travel: the airport gauntlet

Airport food courts are built around speed, which usually means high-GL options: pizza, white-bread sandwiches, pastries, sugary drinks. The few "healthy" counters — smoothie bars, acai bowls, granola parfaits — are often just as high-GL as the obviously bad stuff.

My default strategy is to pack food before arriving at the airport:

• Mixed nuts — almonds, walnuts, pecans. High in protein and fat, essentially zero GL. No refrigeration, TSA-friendly.
• Cheese sticks or cheese slices — string cheese, Babybel, or pre-sliced cheddar. Keep them in an insulated bag with an ice pack for flights under 4 hours.
• Protein bars — look for under 5 grams of sugar and at least 15 grams of protein. Quest, RxBar, and some Kind bars meet that threshold. Read labels carefully; many protein bars carry 15 to 20 grams of sugar.
• Hard-boiled eggs — two eggs deliver 12 grams of protein, zero GL. Pack them in a sealed container.
• Cut vegetables — bell pepper strips, celery, cherry tomatoes. Nearly zero GL and they travel fine in a zip-lock bag.

If you have to buy at the airport, the lower-GL picks are: salads with grilled chicken (skip the croutons, dressing on the side), a burger without the bun, or a cheese-and-fruit plate — lean on the cheese and protein, limit the crackers.

Many airlines offer diabetic or low-carb meal options on long-haul flights. Request them at least 24 to 48 hours before departure. Quality varies, but they're almost always better than the standard meal for blood sugar purposes.

Road trips: the gas station strategy

Gas stations have improved, but they're still predominantly stocked with high-GL snacks. Here's how to navigate them:

Good options at most gas stations:

• Beef jerky or turkey jerky (check the sugar content — some brands add a significant amount)
• Nuts — small bags of almonds, peanuts, or mixed nuts
• Cheese sticks or cheese snack packs
• Pork rinds (zero carbs, high protein)
• Sunflower seeds
• Hard-boiled eggs (increasingly available at larger stations)

Skip these: trail mix with chocolate and dried fruit (GL 15+), granola bars (GL 17–22), muffins, donuts, chips, candy, and most "energy" bars.

The best road trip move is to bring a cooler. Pack deli meat roll-ups, cheese, cut vegetables, plain yogurt, and water. It removes the need to find acceptable food at unpredictable stops — and saves money.

Hotels: setting yourself up for success

When booking, three features make an outsized difference:

1. A mini-fridge — lets you store perishable snacks, deli meat, cheese, yogurt, and vegetables. Many hotels include these as standard. If not, request one.
2. A microwave — opens up pre-cooked chicken, steamer bags of vegetables, and portioned oatmeal. Suites and extended-stay hotels almost always have these.
3. Proximity to a grocery store — a 5-minute walk to a grocery store is more valuable than a hotel restaurant. On the first day, stock up on low-GL basics: deli turkey, cheese, pre-cut vegetables, nuts, eggs, plain yogurt.

Hotel breakfast buffets deserve special attention. The continental spread is a blood sugar trap — pastries, waffles, sugary cereal, orange juice, white toast. But most buffets also have scrambled or hard-boiled eggs, sausage or bacon, and sometimes fresh fruit. Focus on the protein options and skip the bread and cereal.

International travel: pleasant surprises

Some destinations are actually easier for blood sugar management than eating at home. Japan is a standout: portions are smaller, meals emphasize fish and vegetables, rice portions are modest by American standards (typically ½ to ¾ cup), and fermented foods like miso and pickled vegetables are standard. A typical Japanese set meal — grilled fish, miso soup, rice, pickled vegetables — carries a lower GL than most American restaurant meals.

Mediterranean countries (Greece, Italy, Turkey) offer solid options: grilled meats and fish, olive oil-dressed salads, fresh vegetables, cheese. Pasta portions in Italy are actually smaller than at American-Italian restaurants — pasta is typically a first course, not the whole meal.

Southeast Asian cuisines (Thai, Vietnamese) feature lots of vegetables, herbs, and protein, though watch rice portions and sweet sauces. Asking for sauce on the side helps.

Countries with heavier starch-based diets — parts of Central America and West Africa — require more planning. Staples like white rice, plantains, and corn tortillas are high-GL, so focus on the protein and vegetable components and keep starch portions modest.

Time zone changes and medication timing

If you take medication on a schedule, crossing 3 or more time zones creates a real practical problem — meal timing shifts, which affects when you need medication. The general guidance is to shift medication timing gradually over the first 2 to 3 days rather than jumping immediately to local time. That's worth working out with your endocrinologist before you leave, not something to puzzle through mid-flight.

For insulin users specifically: eastward travel (shorter day) may mean needing less insulin, while westward travel (longer day) may mean more. Have that conversation before departure.

Planning ahead with Glyc

Before a trip, I'd use Glyc to look up recipes from your destination's cuisine. Headed to Mexico? Pull up a few traditional dishes and see which score low on the GL scale — you might find that carne asada with grilled vegetables is an excellent choice (GL under 5), while a rice-and-beans side adds significant GL. Knowing that before you arrive means ordering confidently instead of guessing at the table.

The core principle stays the same wherever you go: plan your food, not your restrictions. Traveling with diabetes isn't about deprivation — it's about knowing where the good options are before you get hungry, so the trip stays enjoyable.