How to make fitness a priority when you travel

Travel and stay fit

We are firm believers that travelling is the best way to learn about life, mature and develop your sense of curiosity. For us, travel is certainly the life-long university degree we should all “study”.

In saying that, whilst travelling can change your life in many amazing ways, it is not always for the better. What do we mean? By travelling and being constantly on the road our routine is broken which makes it a challenge for your diet and your fitness routine. For some that are not full time on the road, a trip is most often in a vacation mode, which makes you want to indulge even more in terms of eating anything and mostly relax and not do any exercises.

We often hear people gaining weight after their vacation. Or losing tons of weight before to compensate everything they will potentially eat during their trip. A vacation doesn’t always need to be such a “planning” process. Let us share you a few tips on how we think you can make it a mission to stay fit while travelling and on the road!

Changing your mindset: how can staying fit make sense during a vacation?

We understand not everyone are full time travellers. Most of you are busy office workers. Some of you have to travel often for work and can find it quite hard to find the time to look onto your fitness. Either way, this shouldn’t be a problem. You have to set yourself a few goals and perhaps wake up 30 minutes earlier than you would usually would to fit in a quick workout. All you need is just a quick 20 minutes HIIT (High intensity workout), or a mini run/biking session. Rotate and get creative! All you need is a short but intense workout.

Bring some equipment

No, you won’t need to check-in your kettlebell. Good workouts on the go don’t really require any special equipment. All you need is your trainers, a mat (even this is not required!), perhaps also a Thera band! You can train in your hotel room, by the pool, at the beach, or even at spacious green areas at your hotel property! You don’t even need to go to the gym of your hotel!

How to choose what fitness routine and where?

Don’t forget; you are on vacation! Might as well make your workout environment a place you will enjoy the view! We often look for places that inspire us. In front a beautiful bridge in the city I am visiting, or by the beautiful ocean on the beach. If the location is beautiful, we know we will enjoy spending some time that and get inspired for a workout! You could sit and have an ice cream looking over the Eiffel tower on the park, but why not make things more exciting by having a good 20 minutes abs workout on the lawn then get rewarded by refreshing waters overlooking that same view! Why not haha?

What is your fitness routine while travelling?

We try to fit in a workout first thing in the morning. It usually wakes us up and sets the tone for the rest of the day! Working out in the morning will give you strength, energy, and great positivity for the rest of the day. Not to mention, the breakfast will feel very rewarding! We love outdoor workouts, using the stairs and doing body weight exercises. We use to do little runs, but with recent injuries, we both stop enjoying running as much as we use to.

There is that belief that to stay fit you NEED to go to the gym and spend some time there, but that isn’t true. All you need to do to be in your best shape is to maintain a good lifestyle for the rest of your life which involves a good diet and a daily 30 minutes intense workout.

 What tips to you have for travellers to help them stay fit on the road?

Well for the first time, we will be over 3 months on the road and will put our own practice into a longer test!

  • Watch your diet: We definitely think that eating right is very important. Do still enjoy local food and discover the culture, but you won’t need to eat that local fried food DAILY, do it once to try only you know? Then, as much as it is to say “oh I will do it later”, don’t ever postpone your workout.
  • Discipline: As much as we are disciplined, every time we postpone our session we end up not doing it. Morning workouts are amazing so just get rid of it as soon as you wake up! Plus there are many benefits such as boosting your metabolism. Who doesn’t want to have a good mood and amazing energy levels to start your journey during travelling?
  • Be active: Make exercising part of your lifestyle. It’s the little things like walking more, taking the stairs, explore the city by foot or biking!
  • Drink water: Most often you drink less water when you travel because you don’t want to always find washrooms right? But keep drinking lot of water as you body needs it! You will be mostly walking more than when you are not travelling, so make it a priority to hydrate when you can. This is most important before and after flights as well. If you haven’t noticed yet, when you fly, you are more dehydrated because of the lack of humidity in the air. You will thank us for potentially avoid any headache, dry skin and fatigue. If you can, drink a glass every hour of your flight.

Goodbye!


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