A good way to keep costs down on vacation is to buy food and drink at local grocery stores. For example, a drink at the hotel bar in Tahiti costs you around $20 USD. However, you can walk across the street to the grocery store and buy a six pack of beer for $6 USD. It’s sensible to purchase a portion of your food and alcohol at the local grocery store but this poses a big problem…how do you keep the food cold when you’re at the beach or traveling if you don’t have a cooler?

1. You could bring a cooler but you likely don’t want to lug it on the plane (#bagfees), train or in the automobile unless you have plenty of space and/or money. 
2. Second easiest option is to ask your Aribnb/hotel if they have a cooler they can provide you. Don’t be shy about asking if these things exist (many people are too afraid to ask their hosts for additional help and miss out on maximizing their accommodations). If your host has a cooler you can borrow, great!
3. If options 1 and 2 don’t work, the Sensible Traveler asks the seafood department at the local grocery store if they have any leftover styrofoam coolers from fish deliveries that can be taken for free. This option saves you money, saves the environment by recycling the cooler and preventing you from purchasing a new one and saves you time from searching at other stores for a cooler since you’re already at the grocery store purchasing food!

Bonus: While we generally try to avoid the purchase of plastic water bottles, you may consider purchasing a few large ones which you can continually freeze to keep your items in the cooler cold.