I’ll admit that staying fit is something I don’t do well when I travel. First of all, I like to use the gym, and that is not a reality in many places I visit. Plus I may be staying in some European city where gyms are nonexistent and where working out would be kind of weird. On top of that, should I be expected to bring workout shoes on my vacation? All of it sounds too much.

However, I will concede that it’s essential to stay fit while traveling because it’s healthy, it’ll make me feel better, and it makes my travels more comfortable. So I wanted to do a little research today on some ways I can stay fit while traveling, especially when I don’t have a gym.

Diet

I’m going to start where it’s actually essential. Your diet! I know this, and I’m sure you know this, but your diet actually plays a crucial role in your fitness. You can’t outwork your poor diet, and you won’t feel great while traveling with a crappy regimen.

And I know the other dilemma is where to find healthy food when you travel. Usually, airport food is not great, and when you land in a new city, you may not be familiar with healthy options.

I suggest researching your restaurants beforehand if you want to find the perfect meal. That’s really the only way to control what you eat. On top of that, eat and drink less. I think it’s pretty standard for people to party and overeat while they travel, so staying conscious of that and sticking to remain within your own calorie range is essential. It really is calorie in and calorie out. You’ll gain weight if you go over your calories for the day and lose weight if you’re under. It is that simple.

The reality is you need to choose better when you travel. You can’t always have that extra beer or have that extra greasy food. You’re on vacation, I know I get it, but the older you get, the harder it is to rebound, and that’s just the truth.

Routine

So now that you know that your diet really means a lot, what are some workout routines you could do? Researching and from my personal experience, you can throw your regular routine right out the door. There is no standard routine while you travel, and to be honest, there shouldn’t be. You’re on vacation after all.

Everything will be thrown off. Your sleep patterns are different, the food is different, no gyms or easy paths to run on. You really do have to plan in advance if this is a goal of yours. For me, that is probably the hardest part, so I think here are the steps I should take every time I take a trip:

1. Have a Structured Environment

After doing some research, I realized that it really does come down to the environment. I’m not talking about the physical environment but the environment you provide for your own self. You need to know what type of workouts you need to do. You need to know what time you can do them and make sure you set the alarm to do them. Most of all, you need to do research before, which brings me to my second point.

2. Plan and Research Ahead

I think this may be the most critical step. You really do need to do your research beforehand to scope out the restaurants, the workout spaces, etc. Planning ahead will save you time and help you really have the best travel experience.

Look at my travel resources page, or what to wear in for gear information but also use sites like TripAdvisor or Yelp to plan your restaurants. I usually do this anyways so I can have reservations booked before I arrive.

3. Use What You Have

The best you can is what you have to work with. Sometimes that means you only have yourself to do pushups, situps, jumping jacks, or running in place. If you’re next to a beach that’s a pretty easy solution. Perhaps you could use the area pool to run in place. All of this help and it doesn’t need to be longer than 30 minutes.

At the bottom of this page, I have outlined some helpful resources like travel resistance bands, shoes, and workout guides. I really like this idea because some people need some extra gear so they can get motivated to workout. Not everybody likes to run either so there is definitely room for variety with this gear.

4. Calorie Counting and Diet Control are Important

I said before that if you care about the results than calorie count and diet is still the most important of training. Give it like 80% importance, in reality, it really is the difference between staying fit and not. There is no getting around a poor diet, so focus on healthy food and eating the amount you should be eating.

I would personally use an app to track this type of stuff. Some people don’t like to track what they eat but it does make a difference. When you have to type out evetyhing you eat you may realize you’re eating too much or drinking too much. Apps like MyFitnessPal are great for this. There are a ton of workout apps and running apps so that’s your preference.

Oh and something that is really important is drinking water. We get so dehydrated while traveling so drink as much water while on a plane. This will help you sleep and make you feel better in general.

5. Prioritize Training for 30 Minutes

Do what you can but make sure to try to do some exercise every day for 30 minutes. It will make a difference, no matter how easy the activities are. Obviously, put some more effort in if you expect to see better results. The actual results will come when you align all of these steps.

Overall you’re going to need to make staying fit a priority in your life. If you can’t do that, then you should learn how to incorporate exercise in your life and then while you travel. From a personal standpoint, I can say that working out just makes you stronger. Your joints feel better, and your stamina to do more on your trips will be there.

Resources and Gear to aid Staying Fit while Traveling

Gear can lead you to make good habits working out while traveling. Having the resources to train is essential as well so I’ve compiled a couple of items that I think would be helpful. There are tons of resources across the web like Nerd Fitness and Nomadic Matts as well.