For about two decades, I’ve felt anxious when traveling. I always get the impression that some problem might arise at work and that the habits I try to maintain in my routine — such as exercising, reading, and studying — will end up being disrupted. On top of that, all the time spent on preparation, waiting, buses, Uber rides, and flights, combined with sleeping away from my own bed, eating irregularly and randomly, and dealing with an uncertain schedules, often leaves me more tired than I was before traveling.
On the other hand, traveling with family provides many moments of closeness and fun, and discovering new places is almost always an enriching experience.
On my most recent trip, I almost managed to balance both sides — fun and healthy habits — by using a variety of strategies, with mixed results. Let's check them.
Habit list/app. During the trip, I kept using the same app I normally use to track my habits: Loop. It’s very simple and free. You just take a quick look to see what needs to be done that day, and by the end of the trip it’s easy to get an overview of everything you accomplished.
Reading. My Kindle Paperwhite helped me a lot with this. I usually switch between two or three books at the same time, because sometimes I don’t have the patience to spend long hours on the same one. I mix fiction with nonfiction so I don’t get bored. The Kindle (or any other e-reader) lets you carry several books without adding weight to your luggage and, in some cases, it even fits in your pocket. That way, every tedious waiting moment turns into an opportunity to read. All I had to do was choose four or five books in advance (it's nice to have some extras knowing I might abandon one or two along the way).
Learning. Even if you’re learning in ways other than simply reading books, the Kindle can help, since it accepts documents sent by email (in fact, you can copy articles like this into a document and send them!). In addition, you can prepare as many apps, audiobooks, and podcasts on your phone as you find necessary. The idea is to travel already prepared, with resources organized beforehand, so you can take advantage of every free/boring moment as a learning opportunity.
I got a little carried away and downloaded more than 50 podcasts before traveling, but I only listened to two or three. In practice, when I’m out exploring, I prefer listening to the sounds of the place — and I recommend you do the same. The podcasts ended up being useful only during bus or plane rides (especially if you get motion sickness when trying to read while moving).
I guess I should mention the obvious fact that traveling to a country where you don’t speak the language could be a great incentive to learn it before you go, and practice while you’re there.
Nutrition. I brought a big container of whey protein. It takes up much more space than the Kindle, but it was very helpful when I didn’t feel like looking for a restaurant, and it also helped save some money. Since carbs are easy to find on practically any corner, whey turned out to be a practical solution for me — it helped control hunger and, as a result, reduced nervousness and the tendency to choose high-calorie foods, or just made me eat fewer slices of pizza.
Work. A large part of my work can be done online — maybe yours is similar (or, even better, maybe you don’t even need to think about work during your vacation!). For me, it was enough to bring a lightweight laptop and keep the most important apps ready. I didn’t even turn the device off; I just closed and opened the lid whenever I had to wait for someone to get ready or take a shower.
Exercise. At each hotel I visited, I looked for a gym. When there wasn’t one, I did push-ups, bodyweight squats, and other simple exercises. It’s perfectly possible to get a good workout using only your own body weight. Ideally, you should already be familiar with this type of training before traveling, but if not, it’s easy to find options on YouTube. On almost every day of the trip — no matter how many places we wanted to explore — there was at least half an hour to fit in a workout. When that wasn’t possible, I changed my mindset: carrying luggage stopped being an annoyance and became a way to stay active. Also, in practically every trip I end up walking a lot, which helps avoid a sedentary lifestyle.
Meditation. In this area, I wasn’t very successful. I don’t think I’m a great meditator — for me, reading four or five books is much easier than meditating for two hours, even if reading takes ten times longer. During the trip, I had several opportunities to meditate while waiting for transportation or in idle moments, but I found it extremely difficult to concentrate. Maybe I should have prepared some kind of guided meditation to make it easier. Well, maybe next time I’ll be able to take better advantage of those pauses. The little meditation I did manage to complete seemed to lower my fear of flights a bit, however!
Creativity/writing. Here too, I wasn’t very successful. I enjoy writing for this and other blogs, but I ended up not producing anything during the trip. Maybe it was the change of environment, the lack of habit, the smaller keyboard, or even my own lack of effort. Either way, I believe that a change of scenery can be inspiring in the long run — and at least it motivated me to write this post!
Mindset shift. I tried to turn every “struggle” into a challenge. The toughest “workout” I did during this period was pushing a stroller uphill for more than half an hour — but carrying heavy luggage counts too! When I had to skip two meals, I treated it as “my fasting practice” (always with moderation and hydration!). Waiting in lines became conscious breathing exercises. And when I skipped a workout, I considered it a deload period I had been postponing for a while. It’s a small psychological trick, but sometimes it works very well to keep your mood up in those situations.
Conscious packing. Think carefully about what you should bring and what you can leave behind. If you’re staying in a big city or already know what you’ll eat, the whey is probably unnecessary. Likewise, if you’ll have access to a computer or an internet café, you might not need to carry a laptop. The idea is to travel with the minimum necessary, without forgetting anything truly essential.
What NOT to do. Avoid using addictive and unhelpful apps like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts. They drain your time, distract you from the trip you could be enjoying, and, in my experience, increase anxiety quite a bit. On the other hand, don’t set “goals” for your vacation if you can avoid it. The idea isn’t to turn the trip into more work, but to be prepared to enjoy idle moments in a productive and pleasant way. Also, you won’t miss out on discovering and enjoying a new and unique place just because you have a book in your pocket — it can be read anytime, even in the bathroom! And please, don’t force your kids, friends, or companions to adopt the same habits as you. Some people prefer to use vacations to completely “disconnect” from all routine commitments. It might even be your preference on some days or trips too.
The most important part of this experience wasn’t the books I read or the workouts I did, but rather the reduction of the anxiety and boredom I mentioned at the beginning of the article. In the end, that made the trip much more enjoyable and lighter than previous ones.
I hope these tips are useful for you. And if you have more ideas for my next trips, I’d be happy to hear them!
