Staying healthy while traveling, whether it be for work or pleasure, doesn’t have to be as hard as it sounds. By sticking to a few simple pillars, you can stay healthy without sacrificing the fun!
It’s summertime in the states here which means traveling season is in full swing for us. Summer is filled with day and weekend trips to the beach, and a few other travels up north to see family near Philadelphia.
I love both quick weekend trips and longer vacations to different parts of the world. It’s a non-negotiable for me to stay healthy while traveling so that I don’t miss a beat when I get home. No need to “recover” from a trip, and no need to miss out on any fun times while on said trip.
That being said, balance is key.
Balance is a major value of mine – I believe finding balance is one of the best ways to stay healthy and to enjoy life guilt-free! Below are a few ways I use balance to stay healthy while traveling over a weekend or over several weeks. Health is truly wealth, because when you feel good, you are free to do the things you love and life is just simpler.
Below are my 7 simple ways to stay healthy while traveling:
1. Wake up and go to sleep at the same time, 80% of the time.
Sleep is everything! When I’m thrown off health-wise, the solution is almost always to get a little more sleep. My very first way to stay healthy while traveling is to try your best to wake up and go to sleep at the same time 80% of the time during your trip.
P.S. I’ll be referencing a lot of 80/20 in this post.
It doesn’t have to be every single night, but try to follow some semblance of a sleep schedule. Of course, stay out and dance every night if that’s the vibe, but then allow yourself to sleep in if your body needs it. You don’t need to be going to bed and waking up at the same time you do at home, but put yourself on some sort of “travel sleep schedule.”
Your body’s circadian rhythm will adjust for the time-being. If you’re trying to adjust your body clock to a different time zone, you could also start by slowly adjusting your sleep schedule while at home. A good sleep mask is great for this, if you need it to be dark when it’s not.
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2. Drink 8 cups of water per day.
It is so easy to get caught up in the delicious drinks of a vacation, especially if you’re at an all inclusive resort and the cocktails are calling to you! No need to refrain from drinking completely, but balance it out with enough water throughout the day.
Bring a refillable water bottle with you (especially on the plane) and have at least one cup of water with meals if you can. I never leave home without my 40 oz Stanley. Drinking one full Stanley counts for 5 of your 8 daily cups!
A great tip I can offer is to have a water bottle or a cup of water on your nightstand and make sure you drink 1 full cup when you wake up, and 1 before you go to sleep. It’s the perfect way to cap both ends of your day.
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3. Pick 1 step of your morning routine to maintain.
While it’s almost impossible to maintain your usual morning routine on a trip, it helps to pick out just 1 step that you want to follow throughout your travels. This can be journaling, meditating, making sure you have water before coffee, etc.
It can help to evaluate your morning routine and pick out the elements of it that make you feel best. Maybe you like to get sunshine first thing or maybe you like to list 3 things you’re thankful for. While these aren’t necessarily major pillars for health, they’re like anchors. Keeping a piece of your regular morning routine will keep you grounded. It’s like a tether to reality that will keep you from floating completely into no man’s land.
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4. Eat 3 meals every day.
Eat 3 meals, any 3 meals! During a trip I know you want to keep the good vibes rolling and sometimes a lunch interrupts that, but it’s worth it, trust me!
Rather than snacking throughout the day, have 3 full meals: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It may not look as healthy or balanced as it does while you’re at home, but that’s 100% okay! The balance here is the fact that you are on a trip and that you are in fact, eating something, rather than skipping meals or having snacks as replacement meals.
Sidenote here: if you have a super long flight that for some reason is not providing meals (or you’re asleep during meals), please allow yourself the snacks!
But for 80% of your travels (80/20), attempt to eat 3 full meals every day. It’ll keep your energy up so you can keep having fun!
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5. Move your body 80% of the days.
Moving your body can be as simple as going for a walk. And even this, you don’t have to do every single day. If you want a day to lay on the beach and not move for 12 hours, by all means!! But beyond that, your body will end up craving a little bit of movement.
Go for a walk in the morning or maybe you’re in a walkable city that requires movement by design – great! If you are more of an avid gym-goer, hit the hotel gym every other day or see if there are any fitness studios in the area offering day passes.
There are plenty of ways to stay active while traveling, whether it be walking from place to place, swimming, doing some morning stretching, or hitting a gym, it all counts as movement!
I personally love Classpass for this because a monthly subscription allows you to book classes at any gym or fitness studio in the area that has a partnership with Classpass (and a lot of them do).
My favorite gym sets to bring on vacation that take up very little room:
- Sky blue criss cross back workout set
- Double lined tank top with built in bra
- Y2K casual running shorts
And you can wear your workout shoes, if you need them, on the plane to save space!
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6. Bring your usual skin care and supplements.
It’s tempting to skip out on certain aspects of your skin care and supplement routine while traveling, especially on a short trip. But I highly encourage you to bring everything – you can unpack it all later!
While you may not have the time or energy to complete your morning and evening skin care while traveling, having the option is really nice. In a way, it’s respecting yourself and loving yourself enough to continue on with a self care routine, even in a temporarily different environment, where routine may or may not exist.
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7. Release the need to be perfect.
And last, allow yourself the freedom to relax and stop chasing perfection. Traveling is usually a break or a fun change from our everyday lives, and trying too hard to stay 100% healthy and on top of your routines can add unneeded stress.
Don’t overthink staying healthy while traveling – just keep yourself grounded in a few main principles but allow yourself the freedom to stray from them if you want. Like everything, balance is key.
Tracking all pillars of health can quickly ruin your time traveling (or even regular life for that matter), so sticking to some very simple ways to stay healthy 80% of the time is a fantastic goal to aim for. And if you don’t hit it, you don’t!
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Between the plane ride, car ride, possible time change, change in environment, different mattress, and the rest of the list going on, staying as healthy while traveling as the rest of your time is virtually impossible. But these are just a few simple ways to avoid going off the deep end completely while traveling.
As mentioned, you don’t have to follow all of the tips to a T for 100% of your travels. Think of them as loose guidelines that you can do your best to follow for most of your trip.
I promise it’ll help you to feel better upon returning from your travels without feeling like it was some kind of wellness retreat.
I hope you found value in this post, and stay healthy this summer <3
