wanderfoundus
When we think about travel, we usually think about gorgeous views, new experiences and amazing food. We, or at least I, don’t necessarily think about my health or fitness. With all the walking we do, that must burn off the third lunch for today, right? I am guilty of that thought too. I also don’t want to be counting calories or spending time inside a gym when I spent a considerable amount of time traveling to this new area to explore! What we have learned is that you can enjoy those new experiences, try out all of the yummy new food, and not have to spend time at your hotel gym (or your airbnb driveway) just to stay healthy during your journey. Here are our 5 tips to staying healthy on your travels!
1. Split High Calorie Meals (Or better yet split all meals)
We were visiting my cousin one day when he and his girlfriend ordered one meal at the Hard Rock Cafe and said they were splitting it. It seemed weird to me at first. I thought, “Maybe they are trying to save money?” or “Maybe they already ate ahead of time?” I decided to ask (because you know how family can be direct with one another) and he said that they usually split meals when they go out to eat because that enables them to eat deliciously (and ridiculously) caloric food, while only consuming half of the calories. I loved that idea! However, I was someone who didn’t initially like the idea of sharing my meals, but one day I stumbled across the Law of Diminishing Marginal Returns.
You know when you wait in line and finally get that delicious smelling piece of goodness that you have been longing for? For me, that is usually pizza (I LOVE PIZZA). The first bite tastes like heaven! It is what you were dreaming of. Then you take another bite and it is still good, but not as great as the first one. Bite after bite after bite, it gets less satisfying. The law of diminishing marginal returns states that, at some point, adding an additional factor of production (translated: more yummy all in my tummy) results in smaller increases in output (translated: maybe I shouldn’t have eaten the four…teen of those). You can use this idea for when you’re adventuring with food. When travelling, the appeal is often in trying new foods local to where you are visiting. By splitting meals you can double the number of new local/foods you can try! Another added benefit is that splitting meals hedges your bets because you may not even like the new food, so you don’t have to begrudgingly finish it yourself if you’re sharing!
One of the best parts about doing this is it allows you to experience many different restaurants and get a better feel for the local cuisine. Often you only get to try a couple of food stalls (or risk falling into a food coma) before having to leave an area. By having smaller meals, you can feel better about going to a new restaurant every couple of hours and trying a few new dishes! It is “healthier” as well because it allows you to eat smaller meals throughout the day, which many experts have said is better for your metabolism! Using this practice in general (travelling and near home) can often save you some money as well… money which can be used for travelling!
2. Choose an “Active” Activity
Being active on your travels doesn’t mean just going to your hotel gym. It can be anything that keeps you moving. We did a walking food tour of Nashville that kept us moving and helped us burn a couple of the calories from delicious food from location to location. It also let us see more of the city!
Speaking of a walking tour, just choosing to walk to each attraction, if feasible, can be another great way to stay active. Many of us are used to taking our cars or calling an Uber/Lyft/Grab to even go just down the street, but try walking to your next destination on your vacation if it’s reasonable. Some of the coolest spots we have discovered on our travels have been because we were walking along the city to a restaurant or grocery store and found some great gems we would have missed being in a car (like the photo below!).
Another great option is to go hiking if the location allows. Many cities have popular nearby hiking trails that often provide amazing views of the place you travelled to visit. Hiking is a powerful cardio workout that can lower your risk of heart disease, improve your blood pressure and blood sugar levels and improve your balance. It can also strengthen your glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, and the muscles in your hips and lower legs, while strengthening your core. Health is not just about your physical body but also your mental health! Hiking can help boost your mood. “Research shows that hiking has a positive impact on combating the symptoms of stress and anxiety,” says Gregory A. Miller, PhD, president of the American Hiking Society. “Being in nature is ingrained in our DNA, and we sometimes forget that.”
If you’re visiting a place that has lots of water, consider kayaking. It’s a great way to see the nature of the coast, riverlands, or lake up close and personal and often is a much cheaper alternative than paying for a boat tour. You can get a great workout in and you are in control of the itinerary, not just along for the ride.
Finally one activity people don’t normally think of as an active activity can include swimming at the beach or even walking along the waves where it crashes against the sand. Stabilizing yourself as you walk on sand takes more effort than walking on a sidewalk – and can be more romantic too!
If you’re looking for some active shoes that can do it all (except double as formal wear), we highly recommend these KEEN Newport H2 Sandals. We have been able to go hiking, snorkeling, rock climbing and more with just these shoes! We bought them when we were going to hike the Secret Waterfall hike in Kauai. Everyone told us we would basically lose our shoes in the mud because it was so thick. We reluctantly bought these KEEN Newport H2 Sandals and were so relieved when we were able to make it through the hike while stepping over a graveyard of lost shoes in the thick mud! Since then we haven’t gone on any vacations without them and have always been relieved to have them. Highly recommended!
3. 15 Minute HIIT Session in the Morning
If you really do like the gym workouts (#fitfam) and still want to workout at your hotel, a quick 15 minute High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) session could be a great idea because your metabolic rate is higher for hours after you exercise. One of the ways HIIT helps you burn calories actually comes after you are done exercising. Several studies have demonstrated HIIT’s impressive ability to increase your metabolic rate for hours after exercise. Some researchers have even found that HIIT increases your metabolism after exercise more so than jogging and weight training. Therefore, if you take 15 minutes before showering for the day to do a quick HIIT session, you could increase your metabolic rate for the day, helping you burn more calories during your vacation. We like to use either body weight exercises or these great travel resistance bands that are lightweight and take up little space in your bag! The resistance bands mean we can do resistance workouts regardless of if the hotel, or more so the airbnb, doesn’t have a gym. It also means we don’t have to pack gym clothes since we can work out in whatever we want in our rooms and use that space for more of your favorite shoes (like these amazing black boots!).
4. Water, water, water!
We all know that water is important for our bodies but many travelers forget to drink water on their adventures. You get more dehydrated during a flight or walking around as you expend more and more energy on your trip. Dehydration can trigger headaches and migraines and studies show that even mild dehydration can impair many aspects of brain function. In a study of young women, fluid loss of 1.36% after exercise impaired both mood and concentration, and increased the frequency of headaches. Another similar study, this time in young men, showed that fluid loss of just 1.59% was detrimental to working memory and increased feelings of anxiety and fatigue. You don’t want those feelings while you are supposed to be having fun on your vacation!
You don’t always have easy access to clean water all the time so it’s tempting to keep buying water bottles while out and about and spending a lot of money on it. We like to bring our own water bottle like this one, that collapses and extends as we need it! We will usually fill it up at the hotel gym for free, use the complimentary water if available, or buy a large water bottle at a local grocery store and fill it up whenever we head back to our room.
5. Mental Health
Taking time to manage your mental health is an essential part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle at home or abroad. When you ignore your mental health, you may become overwhelmed by tiny stressors during your vacation. By taking time to keep your mind and emotions in a healthy place, you will feel better about tackling a canceled reservation from an unexpected rainfall or even getting sick while overseas. How disappointing is it when you are in a bad mood when you are supposed to be on vacation? Fortunately, mental health exercises only take a few minutes, or even seconds, to help you stay balanced and focused throughout your day. There are plenty of techniques to help you get through it.
One that we have recently started is a form of daily reflection. We review what we liked or appreciated about the day at the end of every day before going to bed. It is a great reminder of the adventures we had, the funny memories, or delicious food we won’t easily forget. Oftentimes it’s too easy to obsess over the things that didn’t go to plan and color the memories of that place or day because they take up so much space in our minds. By saying out loud the great parts of the day, it allows you to go to sleep feeling grateful and wake up in a better mood! If you like to write things down, there are also tons of cute gratitude journals on Amazon you can bring along with you.
Last but not least, take a moment to laugh. Laughter is a powerful way to instantly boost your mood. When you laugh or smile, it makes you feel happy and energetic. Even when you fake a smile or laugh, it has a positive impact on your mood and mindset. When you feel stressed out during your travels, take a moment to laugh. Watch a funny YouTube clip or try to remember a funny story. If you are traveling with a group, let them know you are feeling stressed and that you want to do an activity that would make you smile. When you laugh, it reduces your stress levels and makes you feel optimistic and positive. You can also be a great travel buddy for someone else who is feeling stressed out!
We hope this article gave you a few ideas to try out during your next vacation. You can enjoy all of the great aspects of traveling, like new experiences and trying out all of the delicious new food while using these ideas to help you stay healthier!
Bonus Tip!
Make sure you are stretching throughout the day. Whether you are on a plane, sitting on a train or riding in a car, trips can keep you in one position for a long time and you may have a limited opportunity to move and exercise through your day. That can make you feel sluggish and upset your mind. One way to help is to simply stand up and stretch on a regular basis. Ideally, you want to stand up every half hour or 15 minutes for a short time period. The stretching and even light movement will keep your circulation moving. The movement reduces the tension that develops when you stay in one position for an extended period. You can also use the resistance bands in tip numero three for deeper stretches!
Stay happy and healthy on your travels, wanderers!
With wanderlove,
Daniella & Eric
Have you tried the techniques above? Any other ideas to help stay healthy while on your vacations without giving up on the vacation benefits? Post them in the comments below to help our travel community out!
Great tips!! My sis and I always split meals. Mostly so we can eat more often and try more things – there’s so much good food to eat!!
The law of diminishing returns! Love it! I’ve never heard of it before. Really great and helpful post. I forget to think about fitness when I’m travelling!