While a lot of people assume vacations are for forgetting all about health and wellness goals, today I offer a different view.
Rather than using your trip as a time to eat every and anything and forget about your doctor’s plea for more and more exercise, think twice.
Instead, your vacation is often the best time to jump-start the health goals you’ve been wanting to achieve.
While I’ve written about my focus on reaching health milestones in advance of my vacation elsewhere, I’ve also been known to use my vacation to just get started.
Maybe I wasn’t successful reaching a specific weight before we left town. Maybe I can’t actually wear the new swimsuit I splurged on for our trip.
But I don’t have to give up. I don’t have to blame myself and feel guilty. Instead, I can double down and use my trip as an escape to refocus on my goals and how I’ll get there.
Health and wellness, after all, are enduring. The journey for me is lifelong. So, whether I reach my goals or not, I always keep striving.
Why health goals are so hard to reach
I recently met with a nutritionist. I saw an ad that encouraged such a thing and found it actually was free with my insurance.
I figured I’d tried just about everything else to reach and maintain a healthy weight, and still have not quite ever gotten to that destination.
She asked about my habits and tendencies, why I’d reached out. See, a few days before, I realized I was over half done with my life, and I had been bouncing between weights, always constantly hoping to lose weight.
I’m not alone. Estimates suggest over 40% of the Western world struggles with cycles of weight loss and unfortunate weight gain.
We are busy.
We are overwhelmed by food choices, activity choices.
We are tempted, and we are tired.
Routine is a potent trigger for how we think and behave. In his book Atomic Habits, author James Clear states, “Success is the product of daily habits—not once-in-a-lifetime transformations.” Your habits are what you are and what you will become.
But, regardless of what is getting in our way, our health will catch up with us. And it is never too late to start working for a more healthful existence.
Until it is.
Vacation as a gateway to a new health routine
When traveling, I am free. I’m free of the day-to-day and the emails and the interruptions, and the constraints of my everyday life.
While there is still a need for routine, I can completely rebuild what a day looks like. When do I eat? What do I eat? How much activity do I get to do?
All of these choices are made anew while on vacation. And it is for this very reason that your upcoming trip can be the most opportune time to jump-start building a new set of health habits.
Here’s why…
- Travel breaks up your routine. This is the most powerful reason healthy habits can be created while traveling – you are free from what is constraining you in your everyday life.
- Default decisions become deliberate. Maybe your family eats a routine set of meals for dinner. Or maybe you tend to eat something unhealthy while sitting at your desk in the late afternoon. Maybe you always watch Netflix after dinner. Whatever it is, these default choices in your daily life become more deliberate and intentional while on vacation. Because the home structure is removed. And this is where new habits can be built!
- Vacation encourages active exploration. On a trip, there is so much to see! So much to do! On any given vacation day, I’m moving two or three times as many steps as typical. This feels great, is typically pretty easy over the course of a day, and jumpstarts my healthy habits without even thinking about “exercise” as a chore.
- Travel builds enthusiasm and motivation. Given how much time you’ve spent planning, saving for, and thinking about your trip, it’s likely to say you’re excited! That excitement is contagious and can spill into so many other areas of your life – like the choices you make that affect your health.
Vacation as a time for renewal
One of the central values of Wander Woven Travel is renewal. You should come away from your vacation with a fresher spirit, a more relaxed inner spirit, and attention to you as the center of your own life.
The plan for your vacation should include you. What is it that you want or need from this trip? What do you want to experience or feel? Capturing these central values at the travel planning stage is essential to help you get where you want to be.
I’ve created a Travel Style quiz that just takes a few minutes to complete. By answering the questions, you can get some insight into how you’re feeling about your travel and the actual trip you want to plan.
Be deliberate in your choices to support your goals. Give yourself permission to reach for those goals.
To help support your health goals while on vacation, I’ve created a travel journal template that I use in Google Keep to record what I do each day while traveling and what I do to support my personal health goals. You can snag a Google Doc copy here and just paste it into your favorite note-taking app.
Just fill in the form below and grab your copy of the template!
Tips for success in achieving health goals while traveling
I’ve learned I can have two types of vacations. One is where I eat everything in sight and then wish I hadn’t once I return home. Or one is where I take the flexibility in my schedule and routine and be deliberate about what I eat. When I get home from these trips, the scale is usually friendlier, and I realize I haven’t missed out on anything other than feeling extra full!
To help you unlock the secrets to health success even while on vacation, here are my tips.
- Plan well. To be successful in pretty much any area of your life, you have to have a plan to reach success. I talk often about smart travel planning here at Wander Woven Travel. Design a vacation that supports your goals rather than works against them.
- Be deliberate. You can still eat in the amazing restaurant, but you don’t have to go overboard on what you actually eat. Walk from point to point when it makes sense. Choose to prioritize simple health priorities in your itinerary.
- Track your progress. In whatever way is best for you – on your smart watch, using an app on your phone, a paper journal, or even my journal template – keep track. Be proud of your accomplishments by making them apparent to you.
- Have fun! You’re on vacation after all! And eating well and moving more are actually enjoyable!
- Translate your success back home. This idea really deserves its own post (to come!) but on your journey home, think deliberately about how you can take the successes you’ve had while on your trip into your everyday life. How could you swap meals? How could you make more time for movement in your day-to-day activities? How could you incorporate more fun?
Wrapping Up
I’ll be the first to admit I’m still striving to reach the pinnacle of my health. But I’m doing just that, constantly striving. Hopefully, by using these tips, you can rethink vacation as a way to avoid thinking about health and wellness and instead see it as an opportunity to build new, healthier habits.
Cheers!
Andrea
