How To Keep Yourself Healthy While On The Road

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Right at the beginning of this brief article, let’s just admit it: staying healthy and fit isn’t your #1 priority while you’re on the road. When we think about travel, we think about the diverse, spirited people and cultures that inhabit every corner of the planet. We think about the incredible sights the world has to offer that we’re about to experience. But, the fact remains that when we think about hitting the road and traveling, we infrequently think about how it can affect our health and wellbeing.

there is always somewhere to do exercise

Well, the truth is that while we’re jet-setting around the world or on a casual business trip, we tend to de-prioritize our physical and mental health. It’s nothing but average that we’re usually exclusively focused on experiencing everything that a place has to offer, like digging into its unique cuisine or spending our days in a beer garden.

Nevertheless, then, we wake up one day, weeks into our travel experience, only to realize that our pants are just a bit too tight or that we can’t run that mile on the treadmill as fast as we once could. That’s what we call a proper travel buzzkill.

Luckily, the good news here is that travel doesn’t have to be a setback to your healthy lifestyle. For that reason, here are our top four tips on keeping yourself healthy while away from home and staying as close to your routine as possible.

Fit In An Exercise Routine

To begin with, when you’re traveling, you must find ways to continue your regular workout routine and establish regularity amid the routine shakeup. For that reason, if you’re a runner, book accommodation that’s located right next to a trail or a park. Or, if lifting weights is your thing, do your best to book a hotel with a professional gym.

However, even if you stay somewhere without the amenities, make sure to fit in a 30-minute exercise routine each day and do some of the best travel workouts to stay in shape and maintain good health. Even the most simple exercises like squats, crunches, sit-ups, and lunges can keep your metabolism going and help build energy.

Maintaining your exercising routine while on the road is one of the best ways to avoid the strange effects on your body that frequently happen while away from home and stay healthy in the long run.

Stay Hydrated At All Times

Drinking plenty of water is extremely important for maintaining your overall health, particularly if you’re traveling during the hot summer days or heading for a higher altitude.

If you’re traveling during summer, bear in mind that hot and humid weather conditions will make you lose more body water by sweating. On the other hand, by going for an adventure in the mountains, where oxygen levels are more inferior, your body reacts by breathing in and out deeper and faster, in a cycle causing you to lose water through reputation.

For that reason, you should always carry a reusable and refillable water bottle or quality filtered water bottle with you. Not staying hydrated can often cause headaches and even lethargy, something you want to avoid while on the road.

Apart from drinking lots of water, it would help supplement your diet by consuming various water-rich foods like tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, and spinach.

Don’t Overdo Your Breakfast

Everybody loves a copious hotel breakfast. As a rule, there’s always plenty of choices, so it’s straightforward and convenient to serve ourselves a full-blown English breakfast with lots of crispy bacon, followed by some delicious Danish pastry.

Nevertheless, if you want to stay somewhat healthy while on the road, don’t forget that hotels and other accommodation providers usually also offer more nutritious alternatives. So, to keep your healthy habits while you’re away, try to skip the fried foods and load your plate with whole-wheat bread, hard-boiled eggs, yogurt, and fruits for a balance of carbs, protein, and fats.

a freah breakfast in turkey

Wash Your Hands Often

Finally, even though this pointer seems like a no-brainer, washing your hands often might prove to be your best protection to staying healthy while on the road. Just think about the number of germs and microbes lurking around in the airport, places where so many people touch the same door handle you’re going to feel, dining tables and trays, ticket kiosks, ATMs, security-line bins, etc.

If you can’t wash your hands often, get a hand sanitizer with at least 40% alcohol or always have some disinfecting wipes on you. Likewise, if you can’t wash your hands that often, at least you can be mindful of not touching your hands to your mouth and nose while sightseeing or in a museum.

Final Words

Those mentioned above four simple tips should help you stay healthy while on the road both in the short and long term. As you can tell, it mostly comes down to mental preparation before you start your trip and optimizing the time you have while voyaging. Staying healthy while vacationing or on a business trip isn’t hard; you just need to set your mind right and follow these tips to enjoy a wholesome travel experience.

More Information

Healthy Travel - Advice about staying healthy before, during and after your travels.
Airplane Health - Keeping your health in the air
See the page on preventing jet-lag