4 Simple Ways To Stay Fit While Traveling The World

The world is just not designed for wandering nomads.

From 1-2 year phone contracts to yearly gym memberships, it’s hard to find anything tailored to the wandering traveler types who are constantly on the move.

With the constant moving and upheaval of your life every few days or weeks, it can be extremely hard to stick to a routine. And if you’re a digital nomad working online while traveling, it can be difficult enough to find time to work on your projects, never-mind exercise.

So what can you do? We’re travelers; we improvise on what we’ve got and find ways to make the system work for us.

So here are my 3 tips to help you keep in shape while traveling the world. All you need now is the motivation to get exercising!

Tip 1: Stay In Accommodation With A Gym

This is one of the best reasons to embrace the life of slow-travel. When you move from place to place every few days you don’t have the luxury of renting an apartment for a few weeks or months.

One of the easiest ways to stay fit while traveling, without committing to a gym membership, is to rent a place with an in-house gym.

I know what you’re probably thinking, ‘yikes, I couldn’t afford that while traveling!’. However, unknown to a lot of people, having the luxury of a gym in your apartment building is not that expensive in many parts of the world, by Western definition of the term ‘expensive’.

In fact, right now I’m writing this article from my rented apartment in Santiago (a very expensive city compared to other major cities in Latin America), but we have a small gym, rooftop pool, sauna, jacuzzi and 24 hour reception in our building. Not bad huh? And the price? Just under £950 for two bedrooms between three people, including all bills (and 40MB broadband!). I’m just guessing, but I’ll assume that £320 per person per month for an apartment in a great location with all of the above mentioned facilities is a lot cheaper than what you are currently paying in the USA, Europe, Australia or New Zealand?

Tip 2: Make The Most of Local Parks/Hills

If you’re traveling through a city, it will most likely have a local park where you can do some exercise, or a famous spot where all the local runners jog. Running through a city is also a fantastic way to get to know the area, and you can enjoy the freedom of exploring the city for the first time without a bag, camera or backpack weighing you down. And if you discover an area that you’d like to come back to later with your camera, you already know where it is.

Check Facebook for local running/exercise groups or search for outdoor fitness classes which are often organized in various cities. Also ask local expats for tips on the best places to go running in a new city, and make new running buddies at the same time!

Read also: 7 Ways to Splurge on Santorini Views

Tip 3: Get Enough Sleep

You want to go out early in the morning to watch a sunrise, or you want to remain out late in the evening dancing to the beat of local music and singing along to lyrics in a language you have yet to learn. The problem is that if you don’t plan enough sleep, you won’t have the stamina to really appreciate these times. Sleeping on the road journey can help decrease the consequences of sleep deprivation and help your body adjust to the local time at your destination. Unfortunately, sleeping on a plane, train, or bus is not always simple.

While certain symptoms of jet lag are inevitable, there are actions you may do both before and after your flight to lessen jet lag symptoms. Slowly adjusting your sleep pattern before to your vacation will help decrease sleep issues once you arrive. If you are heading west, try to sleep later than normal. If you’re heading east, try to get to bed early. If your flight arrives first thing in the morning as you go east, wear sunglasses to reduce light exposure. It’s best to receive the most light exposure in the late morning and early afternoon, when your rhythms will be closest to your destination’s time zone.

Even with all of these tactics, I occasionally have restless nights, wishing I had a calmer head.
And, while the next morning usually necessitates a few additional glasses of espresso, what really helps me is giving myself a break. If I’m not sleeping, I’m closing my eyes and telling myself I’ll be alright. When I quit worrying myself out over not sleeping, I usually manage to get at least a few hours of sleep. Make sure you allow yourself at least seven hours of sleep every night. That means spending time in bed, away from your phone, genuinely sleeping after a day of once-in-a-lifetime adventures. You’ll be better for it the next day.

Tip 4: Budget Exercise FTW!

Budget exercise? ‘What’s that?’, I hear you ask. Just like our ‘budget learning to surf’ adventure in Sayulita, we have been known to take ‘budget exercise’ route. Being the cheap-o budget travelers that we are, we can’t resist the opportunity to do something that most normal people pay for, for free.

So once again we took to Youtube to try out some online fitness routines! Youtube is full of amazing exercises and classes, so if you’ve got the space, and are willing to look like a bit of a weirdo jumping around your hotel/hostel room, or even weirder, out in public somewhere, then go for it! If it keeps you fit and healthy, and with some loose change in your pocket, then why not!

Frequently Asked Questions

How to make traveling a better way to lose weight?

You may prevent gaining weight when travelling for work if you use the appropriate tactics.
In reality, preparing your trip ahead of time may give a lot of excitement and benefit you in a variety of ways. There are always healthy and delicious options available everywhere you travel, and there are several methods to make those selections more appealing.

Make a list of all the reasons you desire to reduce weight. Bring this list with you on the vacation and refer to it every morning and whenever you are tempted to eat something you know you shouldn’t.
Consider how you will get to your destination. Do you want to consume whatever food is available along the journey, knowing you’ll have to eat smaller portions? Or do you wish to bring your own food?

The walking is the healthiest aspect of our full-time trips. We’d exercise at home with “real” jobs as well, but just on weekends or the occasional after-work run throughout the week. The advantage of travelling in this manner is that we can walk almost anywhere. We hiked about 18 kilometres in Rome for a day. Our daily distance in Taipei was 17 miles. Granted, we don’t go this far every day, but it’s not uncommon. If you eat well and walk on a regular basis, the calories will melt away and you’ll be able to lose weight while travelling!

Last but not least, when we travel, we are intrigued about the new areas we visit and look forward to getting up early, wandering around, and discovering our surroundings. Whether it’s a lengthy and exhausting hike or a dip in the ocean, the activities assist us burn those additional calories, which aids in weight loss.

What are travel workout essentials before you travel?

People who work out while on vacation are really cool. I have a hard enough time getting to the gym when I’m not on vacation, so the idea of dragging my behind away from the beach or mountains to go do some cardio is almost incomprehensible to me. Since it’s almost inevitable that you’ll eat too much on vacation, plan to burn extra calories so you don’t gain weight.

The first thing on our list is a set of resistance bands, and for good reason. When you can’t get to a gym, you need something that’s easy to carry, helps you build muscle, and doesn’t take up much room in your suitcase. Resistance bands range from easy to hard in terms of how hard they are to use. Foam rollers are fun to use, but they aren’t easy to carry around. Take a break from your foam roller (you can do it!) and use a golf ball, lacrosse ball, or tennis ball to massage away aches and pains instead.

Nike Free trainers are great for travelling because they are light and can be worn while walking around or working out. You need workout clothes that can be worn in different ways so you can pack less and get more out of each item. If you know you’ll only wear “those crazy unicorn print yoga pants” to the gym or to bed, you might want to pack a more basic pair that you can also wear as leggings with other outfits. I also carry a water bottle with me and fill it up before a flight. It’s also useful at the hotel, so we don’t have to pay a high price for the water bottle sitting there.

How to make traveling more fun and enjoyable?

If you want your trip to be fun and worthwhile, you need to plan it well. As always, little things go wrong, but if you plan well, your trip is likely to be fun and easy. If you go somewhere because of one thing, you might be disappointed. We suggest making a list of all the things you can do at your destination so that you don’t put all your eggs in one basket. The best thing about travelling is getting to see new places and be surprised by them, but in a good way. So, let the place surprise you and enjoy more than just the things on your bucket list.

Traveling can be more fun if you talk to the person next to you. You can learn about their culture and talk about different things with them. Your communication skills will improve if you talk to people and start conversations with them. Talking to people helps you be more open to what they have to say.
You get to learn about their way of life and understand how different cultures are. Ask questions about things you don’t know to find out more about them.

From a practical point of view, travelling will be a lot more fun if you don’t have to carry around a lot of bags and suitcases. Plus, you’ll be able to buy a few things nearby without worrying too much about how you’ll get them back home. Sometimes, you can choose the perfect place for you or your family to go, but still be disappointed because you went at the wrong time. It’s important to remember that the best time to visit a certain place for one traveller might not be the best time for another.

How do you stay fit while traveling? I’d love to know your personal tips and tricks!