10.5+ hours in transit... Help!

[aaevk]

I will be traveling from Venice to Istanbul to NYC (just how the cheapest flights worked out) in a day and a half. I am trying to think of some solutions (aka ways to stay compliant) for the journey. Has anyone had experience with asking flight attendants to refrigerate food? My biggest hurdle will be dinner seeing as it will be either on my istanbul to nyc flight, or in the airport, or it will need to be okay not refrigerated. This is the timetable: 8 am leave hostel for 1045 am flight out of venice. 2:10pm arrive istanbul. 6:20 pm leave istanbul for nyc. I figure I can easily carry a compliant lunch with me and ask one of the flight attendants to refrigerate it during flight one until lunch time (but i am not sure if they willbe able to do that). Maybe I could do the same with dinner if I eat it a little early (so it doesn't spoil while I wait in the airport)? Does anyone have suggestions of highly portable, airport approved foods? Also, what am I to do on the ten hour flight? Obviously I will get hungry because I have a very hard time sleeping on planes. What is the best plan of attack for bringing snacks? I don't want it to turn into a free-for-all of eating but I also dont't want to be under-prepared and feel starved or have to eat some sketchy airplane food.

Thanks for your tips and thoughts

[Munkers]

I flew to Portland about two weeks ago and packed a lunch with no ice pack or refrigeration. My food sat for probably 7 hours and wasn't the slightest bit funky when I opened it up. I pulled the same trick when I was in workshops and conferences all day during my trip. Food got packed in the morning sans ice pack (didn't have one due to the TSA liquids rules), was fine by lunch, and my uneaten olives and grapes came home in the evening.

 

I packed hearty things like roasted green beans, shredded cabbage, roasted sweet potato, and snap peas. Grapes can survive at room temperate as long as they're in a hard-sided container to prevent them from being smashed. Oranges, apples, peaches, pears, and bananas are also good candidates for storage outside of the fridge. Olives are also pretty hearty since they've already been brined. Compliant jerky is a good option, although I have a heck of a time finding anything compliant in any of my local shops and would have to special order it online. Primal pacs are pretty popular, but the last time I checked their site, it looked like their ordering was on hiatus while the company makes some changes to its production facilities. You can also look into foil pack proteins like salmon or tuna which are packed without liquid. Pack a small bottle of olive oil with your liquids and then, when you get to the airport, find a restaurant where you can pick up a plain salad and top it with your protein and olive oil.