USVI-On-Line

Foodstuffs to pack in your luggage

Food and snack type items can be very expensive on St. John (depending on what you are used to paying).

Of course these days since the airlines are now restricting the amount of luggage as well as the weight of the luggage and charging accordingly you need to weigh the cost vs. benefits for packing and bringing food with you.

In other words it¡¦s probably not worth it to pay extra $$$ to pack a lot of food in your luggage. BUT if you have the room there are some things that you might consider bringing with you.

Typically I only pack those items which are very light, non-perishable and would be expensive if I had to buy them on island.

See list below for suggestions:


Tea Bags (cold brew for iced tea)
Equal or Splenda
Drink Mix (i.e. Powdered Gatorade, Kool-Aid)
Cereal/Breakfast Bars etc.
Power bars
Snack items (Pringles, cookies etc.)
Microwave popcorn
Jell-O mix (for the ubiquitous Jell-O shots)
Gum
Brownie mix (I love the Ghirardelli ones you get at Costco- I throw in 2 packets and I am GOLDEN!)

I also pack a nalgene bottle into my carry on and stuff it with crystal light packets (the individual ones that you just add to a bottle of water). This comes in really handy on the fly.

Something else I always take Gromit is packets of Good Season's Italian Salad Dressing Mix. I just buy a big bottle of oil and vinegar and I use it for marinade for chicken and beef, salad dressing, and I always make a huge pasta salad our first day for several dinners. I also take Ranch Dressing Mixes for dips.

Oohh Bev THAT's a GOOD one!!

I also do the water bottle/crystal light thing. I need so much liquid on vacation (damn that booze..) that I get really tired of drinking water.

My additions to the list:

dry bases for pasta sauce mixes, the type you just add olive oil and toss with past, cant remember the brand name but they come in little envelopes.

Nuts. DH is a bottomless snack pit. There is local producer in our area that has sleeves of cashews and such. I always shove these in the nooks and cranies.

I also take coffee filters just in case the villa doesn't have them. They can double as snack servers for the above mentioned nuts.