The Adventuring Pals talk Meal Planning Ahead of their Simpson Desert Adventure 

We are in the midst of planning a remote three week odyssey through The Simpson Desert. Of those three weeks we will spend one week away from shops or civilisation and running water. This means we will have to carry enough supplies to help fuel, feed and water us while we travel. So planning and preparation is key to have all the bare basics to last us safely and comfortably through this journey.

Assessing the Challenge

Meal prepping is going to play a big part in helping us achieve a quick, easy and reliable food source.

Now admittedly, this is not something we do too often. Even while travelling on the road for three years, we never really had to plan ahead for meals more than just stocking the fridge and pantry of the caravan, similar to what we did back at home. However, on an extended remote trip in parts of Australia where supply can be unreliable and where we are multiple days’ drive from anywhere, we had to make sure we will be ok. Add to this the chance that we may be stranded for whatever reason and have to be self reliant for multiple days. Now things are starting to sound serious.

So we got planning and had to lay it all out on a table. With 3 meals for every day and even counting for some takeaway options along the way where available and plenty of snacks to keep the kids happy on the journey.

Game Plan

We pre-made multiple meals and froze them for a quick reheat and eat. We cooked double the quantity for dinner in the weeks prior to our trip and froze the leftovers in take away containers. As well as this, we are also getting meats portioned and vacuum sealed for the fridge and freezer.

We also will carry plenty of canned foods such as tuna, spam, soups, beans and 2 min noodles. We will carry uncooked rice and pasta and a few sealed bags of wraps. The wraps can last weeks unopened and will store easily in the fridge once opened.

Buy as we Go

We still plan to restock along the way where possible, especially for fresh fruit, veggies and salad stuff. It’s important to research and map out where grocery shops will be on your route. We love to treat ourselves and look forward to eating out at local restaurants, buy take away meals and coffee occasionally on the road while travelling, so we don’t plan to take food for the entire trip but we just have enough to get us by if things don’t work out along the way.

Having pre-made meals will allow us more time to travel and explore, less time to cook and clean and as well as less water consumption.