Vacations are fun ways to get some much-needed rest and relaxation with family or friends. While they are good for your mental and emotional health, they can really derail your healthy habits, though. Here are some ways to keep yourself on track even while you’re traveling. While these tips for staying healthy are great for vacations they can also come in handy while you are on your travel nurse assignment.
Staying healthy while on vacations
1. Drink Lots of Water
It’s all too easy to forget to stay hydrated while you’re traveling, whether it’s because the water tastes bad, you don’t want to take another bathroom break or you just forget. Keeping your body’s fluids replenished is vital to keeping your immune system strong, warding off bloating, and helping you feel alert and ready to have fun on the plane or at your destination. Plus, walking to the bathroom is a good reminder to stretch and get moving. If you struggle to drink water, set a goal for yourself for how many bottles you need to drink while you travel, or promise yourself a treat like coffee or tea once you’ve hit your quota.
2. Bring Some Supplements
While you’re at home, your body gets used to the meals and nutrients you give it. When you travel, that can often be thrown out of whack by the stress of traveling and new foods and environments. Bringing some supplements along can help you combat this. Whether it’s a multivitamin, probiotic, or something to target more specific concerns you have, a little extra boost can make a big difference for your body. You can compare supplements on Fin vs. Fin if you don’t already have a go-to. Just make sure you try everything out before you go to make sure you don’t have any negative reactions.
3. Find Ways to Stay Active
Even though you may not have the time to work out every day in the gym, you can still do some simple workouts in your hotel room. These will get your blood flowing and keep your muscles strong without taking much time away from sight-seeing. Finding tours and activities that will get you moving can also help. Take the walking tour instead of the bus tour, go for a hike or sign up for an adventurous bike ride. Even going for a swim in the ocean or a long, romantic walk on the beach will benefit your body and enhance your vacation experience.
4. Provide Your Own Food
It’s difficult to find healthy, tasty restaurant food. On your next trip, try visiting the local grocery store to stock up on healthy options for breakfast and snacks. This will help you avoid overeating at the hotel breakfast buffet and buying junk food when you get hungry throughout the day. If you have a kitchen available to you, consider making a few of your lunches and dinners at home. It’s just as much of a cultural experience to go to a market and cook with local ingredients as it is to visit a restaurant.
5. Be Prepared
The key to staying healthy on vacation is to go in with a plan. Bring items you’ll need to keep yourself on track and decide ahead of time what you’re going to do to get yourself moving and eating right. Even little things like packing your own snacks and a reusable water bottle with a filter to make that water taste better will make a big difference. Adapt your current habits to your vacation as much as you can, but also allow yourself to enjoy your trip. Try that gelato, spend a day sitting on the beach and stay up way too late hanging out with your family. Balance is important, and your healthy habits should help you relax, not keep you from it.
Vacations don’t have to mean backsliding in your physical fitness and diet. With a little planning and discipline, you can keep your body at its best while you’re relaxing and having fun. Adapt your current good habits to your vacation, and you may enjoy it even more than you would if you didn’t focus on staying healthy.
