10 Simple Ways To Stay Fit While Traveling
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Staying fit while traveling is full of challenges. You have to adjust yourself according to the surroundings, give up your comfort routine, dine on some unhealthy food options and stay cautious. Taking a few simple steps to ensure fitness during travels would increase your mindfulness and help you in enjoying your trips to the fullest.
Here are some very effective tips that you must follow during your trips.
Contents
1. Eat Healthy Meals
Before you leave pack some travel friendly healthy snack options such as unsalted dried fruits, granola bars, mix of nutrient rich seeds, gluten free crackers and digestive cookies. You can have these snacks at regular intervals to avoid feeling overly hungry before your meal time.
If the hotel you are staying at has a mini bar in your room, stock it up with fresh fruits, yogurt, salads, milk and other healthy options available from the nearest grocery or supermarket. This will help you fill yourself if you miss out on having early morning breakfast and may also cater as a quick fix for midnight hunger.
Opt for grilled, steamed or baked food options while eating at a restaurant or a street food stall. Order fresh fruit juice, lemonade or shakes instead of fizzy drinks. If you are craving for a fried food option on the menu, order it as a side in a small portion along with a healthy food option such as a salad bowl or grilled vegetables.
2. Practice Simple Yoga Exercises Before Leaving For Your Day Trips
You should make time for yoga in your everyday routine even while you are traveling. Yoga not only distresses you, it also strengthens your immune system, keeps you mindful, brings inner peace, fills you with positive energy and prepares you for great adventures while you are on the go. You can easily practice yoga poses (asanas) in your hotel room, terrace garden, hotel lawn or a yoga retreat if your hotel offers one.
3. Stay Hydrated
Drinking water is so important for everyone. Carry your sippers or refillable water bottles with yourself. Avoid caffeine, alcohol and salted nuts since they may cause dehydration which may lead to tiredness, headaches, fatigue and constipation. Also, you may eat fresh fruits, drink coconut water and fresh juices to keep yourself hydrated.
If you are going for camping or hikes and unsure how the water will be there, carry LifeStraw bottle to help you get clean and filtered water from anywhere throughout your trip.
4. Put On Light Weight Sneakers
Unless you are not going on a fancy outing or a luxury dining you should always put on light weight sneakers. These are very comfortable for doing walking tours, hiking or cycling on the trails. Your feet will remain pain free and also safe from those ugly shoe bites.
5. Avoid Stress, Stay Happy
Dealing with stress or anxiety while you are traveling may lead to insomnia and digestive distress. No matter how much nutrient rich food you are consuming or staying active, stress tends to suppress your immune system making you feel weak and low during your trip. Here are some very effective tips to help you avoid all the unnecessary stress and make you prepared for your journey;
- Pre-plan your hotel stay, transfers and trip activities few days before you are traveling.
- Pack your luggage effectively and practice self care regularly throughout your journey.
- Prepare a checklist of important things you need to carry such as medicines, passport bag, portable battery chargers, credit cards and membership cards.
- Also make sure you have copies of important travel documents stored in your phone and emails.
- Stay open minded towards the culture and people of the city you are visiting to. Travel is all about having new experiences, enjoying the activities and spending some me time away from your daily life routines. If you encounter any undesirable incident or something did not go as planned, just get over it and accept the situation.
- Keep yourself motivated through some positive and inspiring travel quotes.
6. Go On Walking Tours
There is no better way of exploring a new place than by going on walking tours. You get to know more about the people, the culture, discovering the hidden gems and trying out the local delicacies. You should also check with the hotel staff or through GPS if the landmarks are located at a walk-able distance. Walk to the places as much as possible but make sure not to overdo it.
7. Carry Hygiene Essentials
Personal hygiene is something that should never be ignored. While traveling, you may find that some places do lack in hygiene supplies. You should always pack some basic hygiene essentials that may ensure your personal hygiene and hence help you in staying fit while you are on your trip. Some of the much needed hygiene essentials are as below;
- Hand Sanitizing Wipes
- Refreshing Facial Wipes
- Colgate Wisps (Mini Disposable Toothbrushes)
- Disinfecting Wipes
- Dry Shampoo
- Travel Sized Quick Dry Towel
8. Pack Easy To Carry Work Out Essentials
Carrying some easy to pack work out essentials may motivate you to practice some exercise every day while you are traveling. You might be able to find some free time in between your day trips when you would want to energize yourself or may feel like burning out some calories. A set of resistance bands or a jumping rope may prove to come handy while checking on work out possibilities on the go.
9. Sleep Well
A good night sleep is not always easy to achieve when you move to a new place or a new time zone. You may feel uneasiness on the bed and may also face insomnia. Restlessness may result in ruining your plans for the day. Abide by some of these tips to make sure you get a good night sleep;
- Lessen the intake of caffeine during the day and avoid cafe drinks few hours before your bed time.
- If possible, follow your normal sleep routine.
- Limit the use of electronics such as TV, cellphones and laptops at least 30 minutes before bed time.
- Use a good sleep mask to block light.
- Practice deep breathing for 5 minutes before your bed time. Simple yoga stretches can also relax you and help you fall asleep.
- Applying distressing lavender essential oils.
10. Keep Yourself Active
Being on a vacation means being on a relaxation mode and I generally agree with that. Staying active does not necessarily mean you have to follow your fitness regime, looking out for gyms and doing exercises. There are many other fun activities you can get involved in such swimming, kayaking, walking, skiing, fishing, going on a bike tour and hiking. These activities will help you in striking a balance between staying active and feeling restful by the end of the day.
Do you have any fitness tips for travelers to share with us? Let us know in the comments section below.
You May Also Like Reading :
- Self-Care Essentials That Every Traveler Must Carry
- How To Save Money While Traveling In Europe
- The Ultimate Worry Free International Travel Checklist
- 17 Best Gifts For Men Who Love Traveling
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I always have a hard finding healthy meals on my travels. I kind of eat whatever find on the way but it is better to watch out. Thank you for sharing your thought, well-written article.
You are welcome 🙂
Good tips! It’s true going vacation is much more enjoyable when you stay active and positive
Girl honestly its so hard to stay fit while traveling! I’ve realized that I end up eating not the greatest of foods, but exploring a ton on foot, so it balances out lol
Great tips! I don’t like doing structured exercise while travelling so make sure I do plenty of outdoor activity. We always do walking and biking tours in cities, and hiking / kayaking where we can. It’s the best way to see a place and stay healthy!
Great post! The best shoes for traveling are stability shoes from Brooks or On.
Great post! It’s so important to remember to take care of our health even though we’re traveling:) Just makes for a much more enjoyable trip!
Great, but simple tips – nice to see Im already doing some of these! 🙂
Most of the time I think we just indulge in too many meals (maybe trying to find the local flavors!) but we always end up walking to different places, so travel does keep us going! When in doubt, always order ice cream! Just walk to the hotel afterwards, instead of taking the bus!
These are great tips. I travel a lot for work and always pack a jump rope as well as a few of the items you have mentioned above.
I often find it quite hard, especially the eating part! As we love walking, hiking, trekking and exploring, we don’t have many issues with not moving enough (unless it’s a really lazy kind of beach vacation, which are very rare for us), but food – yes! It’s difficult to balance between wanting to immerse yourself in local food scene, which is not always healthy, and trying to eat well. When you are on a one-week trip, it’s not an issue to get back on track, but when you travel for several months.. quite a challenge! Thanks for your tips!
These are great tips, even for people that stay home and don’t travel. Staying healthy can be super challenging for anyone.
Good tips on living healthy, especially important when traveling. As always, my new year resolution is to live a better, healthier life and I’m doing most of what you suggest. All the best to you for 2019, make it a healthy year!
Great post. I actually believed to eat healthy food but not too heavy meal especially if traveling to hill stations. I eat heavy breakfast once then in full drive I was very uncomfortable. So from now I prefer bread toast or sandwich during the drive to trip. Eat proper food is very important.
Some great tips! I’ve recently taken up yoga and it really is an awakening! I think everyone should practice yoga and like you say, it can be done anywhere so super handy!
Jaz
I struggle with this tbh when I travel. I walk a lot, but like my food and well usually don’t get to sleep on time. The essentials for working out are a really good idea!
Great tips and great post 🙂 Staying Happy even when not traveling will help one go a long way! We as a family have made exercise a part of who we are. As a mother I am a firm believer in Eating real food and Partying with purpose! 😉
Also a good way to stay healthy is to carry your kettle-bell, just if you are suddenly in need for exercise. OK, it is a joke. I don’t carry my kettle bell.
This is a very good check list for my next trip. Besides doing exercise, I’m already doing most of what you are listing here – however, a little reminder doesn’t hurt 😉
Lots of great tips here! I never thought about easy to pack exercise equipment! I’ll have to do that next time!
Very good tips for travellers. I always find this difficult if I go on small trips as I tend to drink more than I normally would, whereas, if I go on a long trip I don’t tend to go as mad!
Staying fit while traveling is highly essential as we cannot afford of getting sick in foreign land where we dont know anybody. Eating healthy food and keeping us hydrated is a great advice. Also exercising and sleeping well is also equally important.
Great Tips, Anjali! As a fitness enthusiast, I make sure to stay active and eat healthy even while traveling. I usually prefer to take walking tours or bike tours wherever I go that makes for lack of gym routine 🙂
Thanks for this post. Being on road for full time often makes my stomach upset. I think I should start eating more fruits to keep myself healthy.
You have definitely some good advice on keeping fit while travelling. From my personal experience I could say that excersing in the morning could make your day much more effective and productive. So stretching or simple excercises in morning could be very good.
Thanks for the tips!
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Really liked reading your blog, maintaining fitness while travel is not that easy. good work, keep going.