Ditch the lunch box for a cooler

For a long road trip, the safest way to pack perishable food without a fridge is a real cooler with plenty of ice packs, not a standard lunch box. A regular lunch box just doesn’t hold enough cold to keep up with hours of warm car air.

The trick is pre-chilling everything. Put your ice packs and food in the fridge the night before, so you’re not asking cold packs to cool down warm yogurt. Pack the cooler tightly — empty space warms up fast — and stash it in the cabin where the A/C runs, not in the hot trunk. Use separate packs for drinks, because people open the cooler constantly and that kills the cold for food.

Eat the riskiest stuff first: dairy, deli meat, anything with mayo. For longer trips, think like a camper — freeze water bottles as ice packs, and they turn into cold drinking water later. And if you’re packing something hot, a good thermos works just as well as ice.

Plan meals so you eat the perishable stuff early, and you’ll have nothing to worry about.