Vacation travel is fun. Don't let it make you feel bad about yourself
Going on vacation? Wondering how to stay active and maintain your workout routine while away? First of all, it is okay sometimes to give your body a break from your regular exercise routine. There is no need to fill stressed and guilty because of skipping gym for a few days (although I myself am guilty of not being able to let it go sometimes). This being said, it is still a good idea to build in some physical activity into your travel agenda. This will make you feel good about yourself and is also a great way to explore the surroundings and the culture.
Here are some activities I like to include in my leisure trips:
1. Include some outdoors activity in your agenda
Depending on the surroundings, this can be any outdoor activity, such as long walks, hiking, biking, kayaking, swimming, etc.
2. Allow some time in a day for your workout
Build in some time in a day for the exercise activity that you really enjoy, let it be running, swimming, yoga, etc. For example, whenever we travel to a place with a beach or pool, I try to do at least 30 minutes of swimming every day. I got into swimming 3 years ago when I was pregnant and since then these 30-minute daily swimming sessions during our vacations became a tradition. As we now travel with our daughter, my husband and I always make an effort to allow each other those times for ourselves during the day when we can do our exercising.
3. Sign up for a group fitness activity
If you are traveling with a group of friends, it can be fun to plan a group fitness activity such yoga on the beach, paddle board Pilates, cycling class or any other fitness class your group is up for. If it is a class in a gym or a spa, maybe you can combine it with a relaxing sauna or a long chat over a green smoothie after your workout. My girlfriends and I always try to schedule one of these in our girls getaway trips or as an alternative to a night out when we are not traveling.
4. Take advantage of your hotel or resort offerings
If you are staying in a resort, take advantage of the fitness activities offered there, such as aqua classes in the pool, yoga on the beach, or zumba. What can be better than sweating out in the sun, having fun and feel great about yourself while on vacation? Are you concerned with all those people on the beach looking at you? Believe me, most likely they just wish they had the will power to do what you are doing right now, but they are too lazy to get their butt off the beach chair and put that frozen drink aside for 30 minutes.
5. Consider going on a retreat
There is a whole other type of active vacations, so-called retreats, where you don't have to worry about how to stay active. You will be doing a specific physical activity, such as yoga or surfing, multiple times a day there and that's what you are paying for. However, although always interested, I haven't yet done that myself. So I will keep this post for later.
At the end of the day, it is your choice to stay active on your vacation or to take it easy. But whatever you decide, enjoy yourself and don't stress out or fill guilty for not working out enough. You are here to get all those other wonderful experiences that you won't be able to get back home.
How do you stay active on your vacations? Do you have any other ideas to share?