Feel free to use these samples of a decision tree and some prompts to save time researching available food products.
Prompts for Researching Food Availability
🥤 Meal Replacement Beverages
“List all stores in [city] that carry meal replacement beverages like Ensure, Boost, Kate Farms, Orgain, or similar. Include pharmacies, grocery chains, and health food stores. Note which brands are typically available in this region.”
“If Ensure or Boost are not available in [country], list medically equivalent alternatives sold locally.”
“Find stores within 1 mile of [hotel address] that sell gentle meal replacement drinks suitable for digestive issues.”
🍎 Safe Foods for Digestive Issues
“Identify grocery stores in [city] that carry gentle foods such as applesauce cups, broth, electrolyte drinks, rice cakes, instant rice, tuna packets, and gluten-free crackers.”
“List stores near [airport] where I can buy safe foods immediately after landing.”
“Find local equivalents to [brand] if it’s not sold in this country.”
🧼 Clean Prep Supplies
“Find stores in [city] that sell sanitizing wipes, travel dish soap, disposable gloves, and small cutting mats.”
“Locate pharmacies near [hotel] that carry medical-safe cleaning supplies.”
🧯 Emergency Food Access
“Identify 24-hour stores in [city] that sell safe foods for digestive issues.”
“Find delivery services in [city] that can bring gentle foods (broth, rice, applesauce, electrolyte drinks) to my hotel.”
🧳 Arrival-Day Safety
“Create a list of safe foods I can buy at [airport] or within 10 minutes of arriving at [hotel]. Include meal replacement beverages, gentle snacks, and emergency items.”
⭐ 4. Build a “Destination Food Profile”
This is a one-page summary of what’s available at your destination.
Include:
- Brands available
- Stores that carry your items
- Distance from hotel
- Hours of operation
- Emergency options
- Local substitutes
This becomes your safety net.
⭐ 5. Decide What to Pack vs. What to Buy
Use your research to make decisions. And incase of delays, use this prompt:
“Simulate a scenario where my flight is delayed and I arrive at midnight. What emergency food options exist near [airport]?”
Decision Tree Diagram
┌──────────────────────────────┐
│ START: Do you need │
│ medically-safe foods at │
│ your destination? │
└──────────────┬───────────────┘
│
▼
┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Are these items sold in the destination │
│ country? │
└──────────────┬────────────────────────────┘
│
YES │ NO
┌──────────────────────┐ │ ┌──────────────────────────────┐
│ Buy on arrival OR │ │ │ You must ship or order from │
│ order for delivery │ │ │ abroad │
└──────────────┬──────┘ │ └──────────────┬───────────────┘
│ │ │
▼ │ ▼
┌────────────────────────────────┐ ┌──────────────────────────────┐
│ Are items available within │ │ Are you traveling │
│ 1–2 miles of hotel/airport? │ │ domestically? │
└──────────────┬─────────────────┘ └──────────────┬───────────────┘
│ │
YES │ NO │ YES
┌──────────────────┘ ┌──────────────────────────┐ │ ┌──────────────────────────┐
│ Buy on arrival; │ Pre-arrival delivery or │ │ │ Ship directly to hotel │
│ carry 48 hrs of safe │ pickup point needed │ │ │ (label with name, date, │
│ food in luggage └──────────────┬───────────┘ │ │ confirmation #) │
└──────────────────────────────────────┘ │ └──────────────┬───────────┘
│ │
│ ▼
│ ┌──────────────────────────┐
│ │ Track + confirm delivery │
│ │ STOP │
│ └──────────────────────────┘
│
▼
┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ INTERNATIONAL: Does the country allow │
│ import of your items? │
└──────────────┬───────────────────────────┘
│
YES │ NO
┌──────────────────────┐ │ ┌──────────────────────────┐
│ Hotel may refuse │ │ │ Cannot ship from home │
│ international parcels │ │ │ Must order locally │
└──────────────┬───────┘ │ └──────────────┬───────────┘
│ │ │
▼ │ ▼
┌────────────────────────────────────┐ ┌──────────────────────────┐
│ Can you ship to a local pickup │ │ Can you order from │
│ point (Amazon Locker, UPS, DHL)? │ │ destination-country │
└──────────────┬─────────────────────┘ │ online stores? │
│ └──────────────┬───────────┘
YES │ NO │
┌────────────────────────┘ ┌──────────────────────────┐ │ YES
│ Ship to pickup point; │ Must rely on local │ │ ┌──────────────────────────┐
│ pick up after arrival │ online ordering │ │ │ Order to hotel or pickup │
│ STOP └──────────────┬───────────┘ │ │ point │
└────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ │ STOP │
│ └──────────────────────────┘
│
▼
┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ If no local online options exist: │
│ Pack enough safe food for entire trip │
│ STOP │
└──────────────────────────────────────────┘
