With food calculated in days instead of nights, over the course of the 113-day trip I spent $1,355 on food (meals, groceries, snacks, drinks, water), or $12/day. Over the course of the trip, I went to a market, in one way, shape, or form, 108 times – grocery shopping effectively every day, and sought fuel to cook with three times.
I eat, even when not touring, a really boring diet – a grain cereal breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, and pasta for dinner, eating out occasionally at budget restaurants with the occasional splurge. Touring I eat the same way, with more fruit and calories. Every day I tend to eat one to two packages of cookies/sweets, 3-4 fruits, a liter of fruit juice (along with water), 100-200g of nuts, and (hopefully) about 100g of meat. I work very hard at never being hungry, so I eat small amounts often. Realizing I feel hungry means I’m going to run out of calories before I manage to get enough calories back into my system. For that reason I also tend to carry something as a backup that’s primarily glucose.
Over time I found that I felt like stopping for lunch 30 km from wherever I started, also providing a break from cycling. Ireland and northern France screwed with that routine a fair amount; between the cold, driving winds, and rain, I often wasn’t in a comfortable position to stop at that point. In that case I ate more raw calories and powered on.
I ate at restaurants (defined as me not preparing anything or having dishes to wash) as well. Preparing my own food was more difficult when staying in a big city and when by myself (or with Sam) I regularly ate lunch and dinner at Subway and McDonald’s respectively. I eat at McDonald’s and Subway because: Free Wi-Fi, food I know what’s in it, free Wi-Fi. A majority of the actual restaurant meals were in Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary, and often food prepared by the hotel, hostel, or campground. The remainder of the time I ate at restaurants primarily when hanging out with fellow travelers.
McDonald’s: 26
Subway: 27
Other restaurants: 48