8 tips for making your vacation fun AND healthy

It’s finally summer and thus, vacation season is now in full effect!  Time away can be a wonderfully restorative and life-giving event. However, for those of us who are firmly committed to living a health-promoting and disease-preventing life, leaving the routine comforts of home often comes with challenges.

Vacation time can tempt even the most committed among us to “let loose” and ignore our regular healthy habits in many ways, typically by over-indulging in junk food and alcohol, ignoring food sensitivities, and de-prioritizing sleep, to name a few.  This may, in theory, sound like a good way to REALLY be on vacation, but we all know what the end result of even temporary poor lifestyle choices can be - feeling tired, super bloated, foggy headed, probably constipated, and just plain crappy.

The trick is to plan a vacation that’s tons of fun and relaxing, AND prioritizes your health-promoting lifestyle at the same time.  Of course it’s naturally going to be harder to follow a healthy lifestyle and eating habits when away from home, but it’s not impossible, and with some proper planning, it doesn’t even have to be that difficult.  

With that in mind, here are my tips for having a vacation that is a ton of fun but also brings you home feeling truly relaxed, reenergized, and with no regrets!

1. Bring healthy food with you - Wherever you’re going, if healthy food is going to be hard to find, bring it with you.  If you are traveling by car, you can cook and freeze meals ahead of time, then pack them in a cooler along with fresh fruit and veggies and as much healthy goodness as you can fit in the car, and bring it all along for the ride.  If traveling by plane/train/bus, you can reserve room in your luggage and carry-on for a good amount of high quality non-perishable packaged foods, such as organic bars, organic whole grain crackers, dried fruit and nuts, canned wild caught salmon, etc.  Even if you won’t have access to a kitchen, you can still be super creative with what you bring.  It’s amazing how much can fit into a little hotel fridge, and many hotels have microwaves available upon request as well.

2. Find the healthy food stores - One thing I’ve learned from my domestic travels is that in most U.S. cities you will find at least one Whole Foods.  When I’m heading to a new city I map the Whole Foods out ahead of time and hit it up right after arrival in order to stock up on essentials.  Even in the more rural areas I’ve found that, while there may not be anything like a Whole Foods, there’s bound to be at least a small mom and pop style health food store or co-op.  Wherever you’re headed, a quick “health food grocery store” google search can help you start off your trip prepped and ready to stay on the right track.

3. Find the healthy(ish) restaurants - The “Find Me Gluten Free” app is my go-to when trying to figure out where to eat in a new area.  With this app, even in the most middle of nowhere locations, I can search for places that accommodate gluten free.  I’ve also had great success google searching “organic restaurant” or “vegetarian or vegan restaurant” for wherever I am.  These keyword searches typically lead me to restaurants that serve higher quality food.  Depending on where you are, it’s not always possible to find a wide array of real, whole food options.  That being said, I’ve been stunned on more than one occasion while in a place that, at first glance, it looked like there was nary a veggie to be found, I ended up finding a perfect little organic, hippie hole in the wall spot.  At the very least I’ve always been able to find a place with passable gluten free options that was enough to get me through.  

4. Treat yourself, just be smart about it - When it comes to treating yourself, it’s helpful to draw a line that you will not cross, and stick with it.  For example you may allow yourself to have more sugar or processed foods than usual over the course of your trip, but don’t ignore things like your known food sensitivities.  Just because you’re on vacation doesn’t mean junk food is going to do any less harm or make you feel any less worse than it would at home.  It’s important to remember that treating yourself doesn’t have to be all about food either!  Find other ways to make yourself feel special on vacation, like splurging for a massage, signing up for a golf or tennis lesson, or taking a long soak in the hot tub. 

5. Walk, walk, and walk some more - Exercise remains essential to health, whether on vacation or not.  Thankfully, when you’re out having fun, it’s easy to walk miles and miles without even noticing it (i.e. at Disney World).  Go for a sunrise or sunset walk on the beach, hike that scenic mountain trail, or check out all the local shops while taking a long stroll around town.  As you walk, let yourself be captivated by the beautiful views, new scenery, and memorable experiences that you come across!

6. Keep up your sleep routine - Whenever possible, it’s helpful to try to stay close to your regular bedtime and waketime, even on vacation.  Time zone changes can necessitate some adjustments of course, and there’s certainly some room for for some smart flexibility even if not changing time zones.  Ultimately, the most important thing when it comes to sleep, is to make sure we are getting ENOUGH of it, and that it’s QUALITY sleep.  So don’t forget to pack your eye mask, white noise machine, earplugs, or whatever it is you need to make sure you sleep well.  When you prevent your body from getting too out of whack, your energy levels can stay up, allowing for the enjoyment of every waking second of your vacation!  It will also mean a much easier reentry back to normal life if you don’t have to retrain your body back into good sleep habits.  

7. Pack light - Antoine de St. Exupery wisely said, “He who would travel happily must travel light.” Taking a minimalist approach to luggage can certainly remove some unnecessary stress from your vacation.  Slugging around a giant, overstuffed suitcase or numerous, cumbersome bags through an airport, or in and out of rental cars/ubers, is torture for anyone.  Do yourself a favor and just bring what you really need.  The focus should be on where you are and what you're doing, not on if you’re wearing the perfect outfit.  

8. Reimagine what a vacation should look like - It’s easy to fall into the idea that a vacation isn’t a vacation unless all “rules, restrictions, and regulations” go out the window. A healthier idea is for us to embrace a mindset that prioritizes relaxation and fun, but reminds us that we actually don’t need to become a sloth, gorge ourselves, or party like it’s 1999 in order to have a great vacation.  The reality is that we’ll truly enjoy our vacations a whole lot more when we make choices that TREAT ourselves, but don’t BEAT ourselves.

As opposed to vacations in the past where “letting loose” may have left you coming home feeling like you need a “vacation from your vacation,” try keeping your health a priority this summer.  

Doing so, even while on vacation, will allow you to not just feel better during your time off, but will also allow for the opportunity for you to come home happy, relaxed, with great memories, AND feeling even healthier than when you left!