Travel and Wellness

I travel. A lot. I’m writing this from Oaxaca, Mexico. Eating well and exercise while on the road are huge challenges when I’m gone ten days a month. I then have the additional challenge of managing my fridge at home when I’m perpetually coming and going.I don’t claim to have it mastered by any means, but there are some tips and tricks that I’ve learned over the years:Carry food with you. The food at the airports is expensive and awful, and what you get on the planes is worse. I always have a handful of Clif bars with me as emergency food on planes. Mechanical problems, weather, delayed inbound flights – you never know why you could be held up, and I don’t want to be forced to buy the $5 snack pack. It saved me on my current trip when my 1:30 layover turned in to a 10 minute layover.Carry a water bottle. TSA has loosened the regulations to the point where you can bring an EMPTY water bottle through security. It eliminates any excuse I may have for not drinking enough water on both travel days and when I’m at my destination. It’s also much less expensive and better for the environment than buying bottled water.Exercise. This one is hard for me. I either travel to visit family and friends or to attend conferences, and exercise just isn’t a priority during those times. I’ve hit a compromise recently, where I’ll do some tabata squats (4 minutes, and I’m done), perhaps a few bodyweight exercises (wall squats, pushups, etc), or something else relatively simple and quick. I use it as my back-off time and make a point of hitting it hard both before I go and after I get back. Having said that, the one thing I ALWAYS do now when I travel is a ZHealth R-Phase. The uncomfortable beds and airplane seats (not to mention schlepping suitcases) does a number on my body, and Z puts me back together.Food. Again, it’s not nearly as regimented as when I am home, but I tend to do OK. It’s really no different than the “eating out” rules, which is avoiding the heavily processed foods, and making sure I get protein and fruits/veggies at every meal. For me, the hardest part remains breakfast — so I skip the continental breakfast at the hotel and will seek out a proper sit-down breakfast, or at a minimum a breakfast sandwich.I know there is a lot more I could do, but it’s what I choose to do. I know stories of people that ship food to their destination, get up at 5am to run, etc. I have a lot of respect for those people. And I choose not to do it. I do think that the steps I take are something that ANYONE can do, and is a big step past what a lot of people do.