What would summer be without a trip to your favourite city or a weekend of festivals and music? It would be boring, I know. But I hear so many people complaining about how hard is to travel, be fit and maintain their healthy lifestyle during this season that I thought about sharing my tips on how to maintain your healthy lifestyle while traveling, too.
- Walk as much as you can
Walking is a great low-impact activity that burns sugars, tones up leg, abs and makes you feel relaxed while maintaining your healthy lifestyle. When I am traveling for business purposes I try to avoid cabs and tubes – whenever it is possible – and walk to the location instead. If am on vacation I am always bringing with me my essential walking items: comfortable shoes, shorts/leggings, a lightweight raincoat, t-shirts, sweater/jumper and my backpack. Feeling free and comfortable makes walking for long hours less stressful and more enjoyable. Clearly, I also visit places and stop every once in a while to take pictures or shop, but that’s part of the exercise. Walking is a great must for your healthy lifestyle and you can combine visiting + exploring with burning extra calories.
- Use the stairs
Unfortunately this is not always possible, especially if you are late or have a tight schedule. But I still like the challenge and if I’m not wearing heels or have 5 minutes more I do like to use the stairs rather than the elevator. In Venice we have endless stairs, which makes it a habit for me. And London is not that different with all its tubes, streets and modern buildings. Sometimes I have to take the elevator because of my broken knee, but I’m always happy to try and use the stairs, great for your back and legs.
- Adapt to the local facilities
If you are traveling you have to acknowledge the situation and understand that it is a change. A temporary one, but it will impact your healthy lifestyle. That’s something you can’t change: different city, different habits, food, language, different people and location. Not your yoga classes, not your kitchen, not your lifestyle. But that doesn’t mean that you cannot adapt and make the most of the local facilities. And I mean (a) health clubs or gyms/pools and (b) anything that the city/place you are visiting can offer you to keep up with your healthy lifestyle. From parks, beaches, the pier, a quiet running area, a climbing wall, an open-air gym at the park, long distances, stairs, etc. I usually check in advance and adapt accordingly. I don’t have kids, so when me and my boyfriend travel we can choose the location based on our own interests, and I’m lucky as he is a former gym instructor who has run 2 NY marathons and has a very sporty approach to traveling. So we like to always pack running shoes and run as part of the exploration process. But if you have a family, my suggestion is to take every chance you have to spend time with your kids and bring them to the park, walk for long hours, play with them and…well…simply move more!
- Keep it minimal
When I travel my mantra is “Keep it minimal and enjoy the experience”. I would really love to bring all my fancy dresses and designer shoes, my laptop, my books (all of them!), my favourite coffee mug, all the bags and all the sunglasses. But, then, where would all the freedom and fun of letting things (literally!) behind go? Isn’t traveling great because you can let materials things at home and plunge into the new experiences? A minimal luggage always work for us because we really have less to worry about and more mental space is left for the new to come. We make sure to have a list of stuff we need, always include the fitness gear and give preference to lightweight and easy-to-dry clothes (I have an obsession for the Nike DriFit series and my running shoes/walking companions have been Asics for years – really the best, most resistant and comfortable shoes ever – let alone my Birkenstock, which I own in different colours).
- Exercise quickly
At the end of two weeks of vacation I always find myself happier and healthier. It also happened that I managed to loose weight once. But I don’t splash money on expensive retreats, actually most of the time we travel with our dog so we go the easy and fun way. However, what I do is frequent mini fitness session. I ditch the CrossFit + weights schedule to do more repetitions and work with own bodyweight:
- 1 minute of jumping jacks + 30 side lunges & front 30 lunges + 1 minute of jumping jacks (repeat 2 times)
- 1minute mountain climber + 50 abs (crunches, lat, etc.), repeat 2 times for a total of 100 abs
- 20/25 minutes of yoga
- 5 minutes of meditation
If I don’t have time I split this and do reps and yoga separately (morning and night, for instance). It doesn’t take a lot of space and beginners find apps and videos to guide them through. I don’t have one to suggest, as I don’t follow any apps, but I have my own fitness notebook with sessions and progress tracked that I bring with me when I travel.
- Run and explore
As I have said, running is a free activity that anyone can do. And when I travel I love to make it part of the fun because it is also a way to live as a local would do.
- Plan in advance
I care about my health and healthy lifestyle, this is clear. And even if when I travel for business is not always possible to have everything I want with me, I try to make the most of my breaks, the morning time or any other opportunity to run, do a quick workout without weights, do yoga or walk/run. But when we travel for pleasure we have more freedom and we can choose the right place. So although I know that the idea of an exotic vacation is tempting, one has to comes to terms that some locations/experiences are better for your health than other and then, plan in advance. If you are going on a group trip you might find that there is less time to exercise, and so if you are packing for the whole family. So why complain? Planning is forecasting and acknowledging and it gives you the chance to choose the place fit for your healthy lifestyle.
- Bring your #healthyfreelancer kit
I have mentioned what the #healthyfreelancer kit is in this article. It’s what I use when I travel (plus a few extra items such as small free weights and my gluten free snacks – but only if we are traveling by car and have the freedom to carry anything we want). At its most basic version, my kit is made of 1 traveling yoga mat, meditation app + music, my fitness notebook, sneakers, fitness underwear and 1 top + 1 pair of shorts or leggings (depending on the weather), one lightweight jacket to be used for running or walking and a book. Why a book? Because to me, living a healthy lifestyle means taking care of my body, spirit and mind. And reading is an extremely relaxing activity that is great for the mind.
- Eat and drink mindfully
I do try new flavours, salads, fruit or cocktails. But I also try to avoid overeating and messing up the day with a horrible hangover. I give myself permission to eat a bit more, which is great for my soul, but then I counterbalance it with a long walk or by drinking more water. It’s good to relax and enjoy eating, just try to make it a pleasant experience rather than a damaging one.
- Choose the right hotel
If you have the chance to, choose the right hotel and get free access to the gym/spa/pool. It is always convenient to know that you can exercise while the kids are sleeping or at the end of a walking day (ah, swimming!).
- Give yourself permission to relax
And finally, enjoy your vacation. Give yourself permission to try new fitness hacks such as running, walking or exercising without weights. Drink more water, explore parks and live a bit the local life. It doesn’t really matter if you won’t win the marathon because you are not running to compete, but to explore, unwind, do something different. It doesn’t matter if rather than aerobics you will be trying yoga in your room for the first time, it won’t be that advanced, but it will challenge your and make your vacations healthier and happier. Give yourself permission to read, nourish the soul, the mind and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
The Healthy Freelancer 