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Frequent travelers will tell you that travel and wellness go hand in hand. A prime example is Jonathan Look Jr., who retired early to travel for personal growth. “If you go to faraway places and get outside of the comfortable bubbles that we build around ourselves, you will become more informed,” Look wrote in a 2018 Forbes article.
This drive to travel has led to several well-being trends, including regenerative travel, voluntourism, and wellness travel. Don’t worry though—you don’t need to retire early like Look to explore the wellness benefits of traveling. To help you reenergize with minimal travel stress, Bounce researched some of the best recommendations for maintaining wellness while on the road.
Discovering the world can be as easy as walking out the front door and exploring your neighborhood to engage with the nature, culture, and community that’s commonly overlooked. Lucky for us, the world—as they say—is our oyster.
Feeling some trepidation due to COVID-19? By taking precautions, it’s possible to explore the world safely. It’s important to review the COVID-19 guidelines for your destination as well as the recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Make sure vaccinations are up to date, carry proof of vaccinations (required in many places, including restaurants), wear a mask, self-monitor for symptoms, and test before and after traveling.
Most importantly: Get out there! Travel fuels passions and sparks inspiration, something everyone needs.
Get Active
Staying active while traveling is key. Flying, for example, often involves prolonged periods of sitting. In an interview with NPR, John A. Heit, a hematologist at the Mayo Clinic, recommended moving one’s legs every two hours during flights. For some, sitting still for too long can lead to deep vein thrombosis, otherwise known as blood clots. Travelers who have a family history of blood clots or other risk factors can take steps like wearing compression socks during flights and continuing to stand up, stretch, and move when it’s safe to do so on the plane.
Once you land, don’t let your workout routine fall by the wayside while traveling. Keeping those endorphins revved up and putting forth all the benefits of exercise—among them better sleep, improved brain function, and an elevated mood—is important when on the road.
Research whether your home gym has satellite locations in the town you’re visiting. Many destinations lend themselves to fitting in a workout, such as trekking along forest trails or urban hiking while exploring a city, kayaking along a local river, or running stairs in the hotel. Speaking of hotels, most have fitness rooms open to guests. Others even offer in-room workout programs. Check with the concierge to see what’s available onsite or if there are recommendations in the area. However you do it, just keep moving!
Stay Hydrated
Flying can lead to dehydration. The best way to stay properly hydrated is by drinking approximately 8 ounces of water for every hour of flight, per the Aerospace Medical Association. Worried the plane won’t supply enough H20 during the trip? Consider bringing an empty drinking container to the airport and filling it with water after going through the security checkpoint. You could also purchase water in the terminal before boarding. If you decide to drink alcohol while flying, add an extra 8 ounces of water for every glass of wine or cocktail.
Hydrating can also stave off jet lag. A secret weapon for some travelers when tackling jet lag is consuming drinks packed with electrolytes, such as electrolyte-infused water, coconut water, or a sports drink.
If your destination is at a higher altitude than you’re accustomed to, the Institute for Altitude Medicine recommends consuming an additional 1 to 1½ liters of water each day. It’s important to note that too much water can lead to hyponatremia. When this occurs, the body’s sodium level becomes too diluted, possibly leading to headaches, confusion, weakness, vomiting, seizures, and coma. The Mayo Clinic advises that if you don’t feel thirsty and your urine is pale yellow, you don’t need to take a sip.
Get Proper Sleep
Early morning or red-eye flights can throw off your circadian rhythm, which is your body’s delicate sleep-wake cycle. A lack of sleep can lead to low energy, irritability, and decreased alertness, something particularly dangerous when driving or when needing to stay alert. Proper sleep before, during, and after a trip improves the travel experience.
The John Hopkins Center for Sleep recommends adjusting one’s sleep schedule three days prior to a trip by either adding or subtracting an hour each night leading up to the trip. The science behind this process: The body takes one day to adjust to each time zone change. Tweak your sleep schedule beforehand, and it’s possible to avoid disruptions.
Some sleep aids include a neck pillow, eye mask, small throw blanket from home, ear plugs or noise-canceling earbuds/headphones, and aromatherapy oils (lavender is a great go-to).
Upon arriving at your destination, try to sync with the local time zone. This means staying up after the flight despite craving pillow time. Taking a walk and exploring new surroundings will engage the brain, and exposure to the area’s sunlight will help your circadian rhythm adjust.
Eat Healthy Foods
Researching restaurants to try may be your favorite part of planning the trip. It’s important not to overlook planning healthy food in-between all the local specialty fare, though.
For those meticulous travelers with packing lists, make sure you have healthy food on hand throughout a trip. Items that don’t require refrigeration, like nuts, apples, protein bars, dried fruit, and jerky, are good options. A cooler pack opens the door to things like string cheese, yogurt, hard-boiled eggs, mixed fruit, hummus, crudité, and sandwiches. These items will be appreciated during delays, when a flight or train ride doesn’t have food onboard, or when roadside options are lacking. Having a stash is especially important for those with food allergies.
Pondering meal choices at your destination? Go local. Visit local grocery stores to see what produce they carry. Visit a farmers market or try some street food. Concern about food-borne illnesses can be a valid concern. With this in mind, ask the hotel concierge for street food and restaurant recommendations. Check the lines. Are they tourists? Locals? Is the venue popular? Want to try as many restaurants as possible, but don’t hav