5 Tips for Keeping Fit on Vacation

You’ve worked tirelessly to get in peak physical condition and the time has finally come to show off that hard work! Beach time. If you’re someone who regularly engages in fitness activities and generally lives a healthy and active lifestyle, there can be some anxiety associated with travelling that can hinder your enjoyment, if you let it. Indeed, there are many obstacles inherent of travelling that are detrimental to maintaining fit.

Firstly, it’s important to put your trip in context. Are you travelling for a week? A month? A year? What would be the legitimate consequences of only being able to partially (or not at all) stick to a regular exercise routine and healthy diet? If you’re travelling for a week, throwing caution to the wind is probably not going to do all that much damage (although, if you’re reading this article, we both know you won’t). Extended travel requires a plan. But don’t fret! I have 5 tips below I utilize and that you can implement to maintain your health and fitness and still enjoy your trip.

1. Plan Ahead

We live in an incredible time that affords us the luxury of researching every miniscule detail of our destination prior to arrival. Not only are you able to research the area around your accommodation to determine if there are fitness facilities nearby, but you can research restaurants, local cuisine, activities, parks, hotel amenities, domestic travel and more as well as plan out your trip in advance and identify opportunities for getting some physical activity in.

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Outlining your trip and identifying where, when, and how you can train as well as what you can eat/drink can be wildly beneficial to maintaining your health. Before you leave, you should map out local training facilities and determine when you will have an opportunity to drop in. Will you go the morning before a day trip? When you get back from a temple visit? Be realistic and ask yourself if you will actually have the motivation to go and workout after a long excursion. Maybe getting up a little earlier and getting a training session in and then napping throughout the day might be the best option. It really all depends on you! The most important thing is that you’ve created a plan.

2. Move Your Body

Just because you’re on vacation doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be completely sedentary all day by the pool or on the beach (unless that’s what you want to do of course, no judgement). Get out and move your body! Take walks, go for hikes, swim, run, go on excursions that require some movement, get out and explore this new country.

When me and my fiancé were travelling Spain, we we’re averaging around 20k – 25k steps per day exploring each new city we were in. As an estimate, we were burning an extra 1000 – 1400 calories per day just by walking which meant more guilt free paella and sangria. Most recently in Mexico, we took several different day trips out of our resort to explore temples, ruins and nearby cities on foot. A day spent out walking in the sun was no doubt essential in maintaining baseline fitness.

There are a plethora of different activities to take part in while travelling to keep active. From snorkelling and scuba diving, to hiking through the jungle, your options are endless and not only is it good for you, but it gives you a chance to see your destination in many unforgettable ways.

3. Take Advantage of Local Facilities

You could likely walk out the door of your accommodations, throw a rock and hit a gym at this point. Gyms. Are. Everywhere. Prior to any trip I go on I take time to research the area and look for the closest gym and honestly, I’ve barely ever been in a position without a gym more than a 15-minute walk away from the accommodation. There are few excuses that prevent from taking advantage! Personally, I quite enjoy training in facilities around the world. It’s cool to train with the locals and see what’s available in different countries. Walking to the gym also gives you more of an opportunity to explore the area around you. I can tell you, a walk from the gym in the Philippines after a hard work out feels significantly better than walking to my freezing car in Canada.

You may even have some fitness equipment within your hotel or hostel, lucky you! Realistically, you don’t need much. I could write a completely separate and lengthy blog on how to train with minimal equipment (travelling and COVID made me a minimalistic training ninja). The gist, however, is that a little weight and a few cardio machines can make for an excellent workout. One of my favorite tricks that I was using recently in Mexico is hopping on a cardio machine in between breaks instead of resting. For example, I would hit a set of squats and then hop on the bike for a minute and then hit another set of squats. This is going to feel… uncomfortable, but the payoff is huge! We’re talking a few extra hundred calories per workout, plus a huge benefit for your cardiovascular system.

Finally, there’s always your bodyweight as a last resort! If there’s no facility to train at, look for me on the beach doing inverted rows off a palm tree, sprints or burpees across the beach and push ups in the sand. No excuses.

4. Practice Mindful Eating and Drinking

Alright so, let’s talk about the elephant in the room. This is going to make or break your ultimate goal of maintain your fitness because no matter how hard you train, you’re simply no match for ten margaritas by the pool and a bottomless buffet. Even outside of a resort, there’s a solid chance you’ll end up being a little looser with your diet. The food is new, you’re unfamiliar with the area and local restaurants; the odds are stacked against you!

Your saving grace is going to be sticking to reasonable portions and meals with high-protein content, lots of vegetables, fresh fruit and moderate carbohydrates. Portions while eating out can be massive, therefore I fully understand how difficult this can be. An option you can use is to stick with one heavier meal per day and sourcing out smaller meals for the remainder. This gives you some freedom to still enjoy local cuisine while ensuring you aren’t unnecessarily overeating. And please, mind the junk food on travel days (or any days). You probably don’t need to wolf down an entire bag of Haribo gummies in one sitting while on a bus to your next destination (Haribo cola bottles are my Kryptonite).

Now let’s chat about alcohol. Depending on the person, this might be a tough one! In general, individuals consume more alcohol while on trips on average when compared with the level at home. Its easy to do. I’ve had plenty of days where the conversation is flowing with new friends and so are the beers. My advice here is to set a limit and stay within it. Give yourself a limit that still allows you to enjoy your time without going overboard and demolishing your diet for the day. There’s also the option of choosing drinks with less sugar and less calorie content. For example, light beers, some wines, spirits with soda water or water and cocktail recipes with low calorie ingredients can help you stay within your goals (a bit trickier to determine on this last one but if the option arises).

5. Enjoy Yourself

This last one is especially important. You are on vacation! You’re getting a chance to see a country you may never visit again, meet people you likely will never see again and experience things you may never experience again so please, stop and appreciate the moments. If that means a few extra drinks and some snacks or a heavier dinner, so be it. You achieved this level of fitness once; you can certainly do it again. By utilizing the tips above, you can maintain baseline fitness but please, enjoy your vacation and try not to stress so much. A month after you get home you’ll be right back where you left off.