With covid-19 restricitions slowly lifting, people find themselves traveling again. However, traveling should not simply be about “scaping your reality”, it is about discovering new places and with them things about you. However, most of us sort of lose ourselves when we travel. We let go of our routines, and that is a good thing if those routines are healthy habits you’ve established overtime to boost your health. In this article, you can learn 7 ways to stay on track while traveling. By following these tips, you can keep fit and stay healthy while indulging in the luxuries that your vacation has to offer.
No doubt, traveling is fun and amazing. Nothing beats the idea of flying to a foreign country or even within your own country and enjoying that away time. It’s simply an enjoyable experience. As fun as traveling may be, however, there is always the risk of indulging in things that can be harmful to your health and breaking healthy habits. Not to mention the stress associated with flying, especially if you’re one to travel often.
We understand your plight. The stress associated with traveling can sometimes be hard to deal with. First, you may fall out of your daily health routines. Second, you may not eat right. And third, you may not be able to exercise as well as you want. Whichever the case, we’re here to help. By following these healthy tips, you can stay on track, as far as your health is concerned and enjoy the many pleasures of your trip.
1 – Get Enough Sleep
We can’t stress (no pun intended) this enough. Sleep is critical to our health. Without it, we simply are hindering our health. From the second your plane lands and you get off it, you’re facing jet lag. You may have heard jet lag but what is it? Jet lag is asleep disturbance symptom that comes as a result of disruption of the body’s circadian rhythm. The best way to remedy stress from traveling is to get enough sleep every chance you get. Why, because in addition to jet lag, you’re getting stressed by luggage carrying, transportation to and from the airport, and walking to destinations. Not to mention dealing with a Karen or Darren along the way.
But it’s big enough to spoil your entire trip, make you sick, and straight up take you off track for your entire trip. This makes sleep the most important health routine while on a trip. To determine how much sleep you need, pay attention to your body. If you feel fatigued after a walk somewhere, then allow your body to rest for a few hours. You need a break.
2 – Plan Your Stay
We all know how excited you must be that you’re in a new location. However, it’s wise to spread your itinerary so you don’t get overwhelmed. Sometimes not planning is the best planning. Planning too much can lead to disappointment and stress if something does not go according to plan which is bound to happen.You’re anxious to see everything in one day, sure, but is it worth it if you feel fatigued at the end? We think not. In that case, we advise that you take things slow and make sightseeing visits when you feel rested enough. If you need to elongate your stay to pace yourself, by all means, do so.
Just like sleep, listen to your body carefully. Allow it to endulge in the experience while allowing flexbility for whatever your mind and body is calling for. It’s a balancing act.
3 – Stretch Regularly
Stretches are one of the easiest ways to relax. By taking some time off every morning when you wake up, you can ease the built-up tension in your body. It also it’s a great way to get your body slowly move and get going before you head out of your hotel, Airbnb, hostel, etc. You don’t even need to do them for long periods. Dedicate, say, 5 to 10 minutes every day to stretch your arms, neck, shoulders, back, and legs. The moment you do so, you will feel renewed and ready to take on the day. Don’t stop there. While sitting at the restaurant waiting for food or sitting on a bus, you can do some minor neck and shoulder stretches.
And not just in the mornings! You can also get a better sleep just by stretching before bedtime. It helps to relax your muscles and leaves you primed for a good night’s rest.
We highly recommend this tip as one of the best ways to ways to stay on track while traveling.
4 – Meditate
You cannot ignore the importance of meditation, especially the types dedicated to breathing. A lot of people don’t breathe properly and that could be down to so many reasons. Although we won’t dive into that, we will focus on the importance of taking a deep breath now and then. In this case, we laud meditation for being the perfect breathing exercise.
As often as you can, in your living room or an outdoor park, take some time to meditate. Take deep breathes, hold them and exhale gently. If you can repeat this process once or twice a day, you will feel lighter than usual/ Meditation is a very good way to relax and combat the stress of traveling, especially jet lag.
5 – Create An Exercise Routine From Scratch
Face it, your exercise routine can never be the same in another location that isn’t home. The major challenge is getting equipment to exercise with. Fortunately, this is an easy fix. You can stay at a hotel that has a quality fitness center or that is close to a local gym. Although we highly recommend body weight exercises. If you don’t enjoy public places, you can exercise in your room. Exercises you can do indoors are push-ups, yoga poses, sit-ups, and, of course, jump rope exercises.
Outdoor exercises you can practice are running and cycling. Some beaches offer free workout sessions for people who need them. Whatever form of exercise you choose to engage in, have a schedule in mind. Not only that, stick to the routine. We recommend you have a flexible exercise schedule that lets you exercise every other day at least.
And possibly out of the best ways to stay on track while traveling is incorporate say a morning run, not only it’s a great exercise for your body and mind, but it is an amazing way to experience and discover the locationg you are staying at.
6 – Don’t Skip Breakfast
We can’t tell you this enough: breakfasts are the most important meal of the day. So, no matter how busy you may be, don’t skip breakfast. Eating breakfast is the very first step to staying on track. If the reason you skip breakfast is that you eat out for lunch and dinner, why not make your breakfast?
Think about it. You could whip up something within your hotel room from fruits or cereal at the local grocery store. You could make your oatmeal, eat some pastries, or drink some orange juice. At the end of the day, stuffing your stomach before you start the day is the most important health routine while on a trip.
7 – Stay Hydrated
Out of all the ways to stay on track while traveling this is probably to most overlooked. Staying hydrated is the key to being healthy and people easily forget to keep hydrated in the midst of all the nuances of traveling. Ensure you carry a bottle of water around with you. Drink water whenever you can. While it may not always be easy to find clean water, especially in “third world” countries, but just know that your body will thank you greatly for staying hydrated. Also, do cut down on your alcohol and sugar intake as those will counteract hydration, especially alcohol.
Bonus Tip: Eat Healhty
One of the best ways to stay on track while traveling is to simply eat healhy. You are in fact what you eat. And that applies when traveling as well. We know, you want to try the best food, especially if its street food. We get it, we are foodies as well. While you can endulge in those guilty pleasures, try to be intentional and eat as healthy and balanced as possible. In fact we wrote an entire article about this.
To read about 8 tips to eating healthy while traveling, click here.
We hope you enjoyed these 7 Ways To Stay on Track While Traveling and have a safe trip!
To know about current Covid-19 restrictions when traveling, please click here.
Modern Man Advice
