We try to watch what we eat and be healthy. We have our routines and meals reasonably planned out. When we travel, the routines and diets we are accustom to can be completely derailed.

Here are a few ideas to keep fitness in mind when you are on the road:

Exercising

Do your research

Does your hotel have a gym, treadmill, walking path, nearby hiking trails etc. If you can, organize your trip and plan out what activities you are going to check out. Don’t set your expectations too high, be reasonable so you don’t feel like you let yourself down if you miss a few things on your list.

Comfortable shoes

I have learned this lesson the hard way. You can have all the best intentions in the world but if you don’t have the right shoes to carry you around, you won’t be very active. I am all about cute shoes but make sure your shoes can log a few miles a day so you don’t end up covering them in bandages instead.

Take the stairs

Whenever you can, take the stairs. At the airport, in the hotel, at the conference center, at the tall building next to your hotel etc.

Get in a workout/walk each day

Can’t fit in a full workout? Then start your morning with a walk. You will be surprised at how much a walk can wake you up more than a huge cup of coffee. Start your day on the right foot… literally.

Walk as much as you can

Whenever you can, walk to your destination. Not only will you save on taxi fares but you will burn a few extra calories along the way.

Eating

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gamene/ / CC BY 2.0

Try eating alone

It may seem odd but I have had good results when I eat a few meals alone when I travel. When you eat alone you can stick to what you should eat and it takes away a few distractions. In a group, I tend to splurge or split an appetizer and dessert that I didn’t even need.

BYO snacks

One of the biggest offenders of overeating when you are traveling is letting yourself get too hungry. Pack some snacks before you go if you can. If you can’t pack food to bring with you, find a grocery store when you first arrive and grab some snacks to keep in your bag. Fruit and granola bars are great to have at an arms reach to curb your hunger.

Pick the healthiest option

If you find yourself eating out, try to pick the healthiest option that sounds good to you. Try picking what you want to eat before you even look at the menu and try to stick to it. Eating out is an obvious must when you travel but don’t let it completely derail your efforts.

One meal no carbs

On my most recent business trip, a friend admitted that he realized he had not eaten a vegetable at all that day. Food on the go can lack the nutritional value you crave, especially fruits and vegetables. Try to eat one meal that is all vegetables and protein. Foods high in carbohydrates are always easy to find, challenge yourself to leaving the carbs out for a few meals.

Everything Else

Get your zzzzzzs

No matter where your travels take you, your body needs its time to recoup and repair itself. Don’t cut out your sleep. If necessary, take a 45 minute nap. Sleep the night before means you and your physical body will be up for more activity the next day.

Drink lots of water

The benefits of water are countless. Water is necessary for your body to function properly. Being dehydrated is one of the biggest culprits for fatigue and getting sick when you travel. Water can also help you feel less hungry.

Bring hand sanitizer and/or wash your hands frequently

Your body takes a beating when you travel. You can easily get run down and make yourself more susceptible to getting sick. Not to mention the hundreds (or thousands) or people you will encounter. Give your body a hand and wash your hands and/or use hand sanitizer frequently.

No need to spoil your vacation or business trip by drowning in guilt upon your return. Make a few small adjustments to your travel routine and you can remain balanced and stay healthy while you are away.

Amanda O’Brien is originally from Peaks Island, Maine and currently works at Hall Web Services managing their inbound marketing team. She is a self proclaimed workaholic who tries to maintain a busy lifestyle. She is an amateur yogi and runner.

If you’re into food, I’m not sure there’s a better travel destination than Thailand. From a culinary standpoint, this country is a goldmine. Not only is the food here delectable, it is also astonishingly affordable. I arrived in Bangkok weary from two months of travel in India. Within moments, however, the culinary delights of this new country had me reinvigorated.

Photo by Melanie Hansen - click to enlarge

Before I even checked into my hotel, I began sampling the street foods – pad Thai, mango sticky rice, fresh fruit shakes. The sheer volume of fruit in Thailand is enough to make your head spin. Mango, banana, pineapple, papaya, watermelon… the list goes on and on. I began to feel incomplete if I went a day without a fresh fruit shake.

My travels in the “Land of a Thousand Smiles” took me to all the usual tourist spots – Bangkok, the islands in the south, and Chiang Mai in the north. If you ever get to Thailand and are as fanatical about food as I am, then the Sunday Night Market in Chiang Mai is not to be missed. They close down Ratchadamnoen Road to traffic and pedestrians can stroll from one end to the other, buy a silk scarf or other regional handicraft, and sample an array of local foods from sweet to savory.

On the savory end of the scale, there was grilled corn-on-the-cob, skewered fish and chicken on the grill, pad Thai made-to-order, and a unique selection of deep-fried insects. I never got daring enough to try these, but friends who did said they were simply “crunchy.” I’ll take their word for it.

My travels through Southeast Asia will take me briefly back through Thailand. Needless to say, my stomach is already grumbling in anticipation. So if you’re looking for a food-based holiday, consider Thailand.

Melanie Hansen currently finds herself in India and from there plans to travel to Thailand and… to be continued. At the moment she is enjoying taking photos of her travels, eating strange new foods, and blogging about her adventures.

If you’re anything like me, then you believe that one of the main reasons to travel is to experience new cuisines. I’ve had my fair share of variety on this trip so far, and I haven’t even left India yet. I began my culinary adventures at an ashram in Varanasi, where the food was reliable, but not very exciting. By the end of my month-long stay there I was happy to leave curried vegetables and white rice behind. Since then I’ve sampled many other kinds of Indian cuisine. This country is enormous, so it’s not surprising that there is a wide variety of food.

Even though I’ve not traveled to the south, dishes from this region are delicious, dosas in particular, a kind of crêpe filled with potatoes and other vegetables. I am also now a full-fledged fan of Tibetan cuisine, which I discovered in Mcleod Ganj, home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile. There is one restaurant in particular there, Gakyi, which serves momos (dumplings) to die for, and Tibetan brown bread that I now crave daily. I tried to ask for the recipe, but to no avail. Guess I will have to experiment when I return home.

On more than one occasion, I have been told that Kashmir is a must-see destination, and Kashmiri food alone was enough to convince me. Favorites from this region include Kashmiri naan, naan filled with dried fruit and nuts, and Kashmiri tea, a delightful concoction of tea, black or green, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and a hint of saffron. This I have been shown how to make by my Kashmiri friends, and I plan to make it a staple of my diet upon my return.

Eating Indian-style. Lunch every day is rice, dahl, mixed vegetables, and chapati. Photo by Melanie Hansen.

One of the best ways to learn about a culture is to experience its cuisine. It is also a great way to connect with people. Everyone eats, and there is nothing like sharing a meal to bring people from all walks of life together. So as you travel, don’t forget that to refuse a meal or a taste of something new, you might also be missing out on a chance to connect with new friends. Bon appétit!

Melanie Hansen currently finds herself traveling in India and Thailand. At the moment she is enjoying taking photos of her travels, eating strange new foods, and blogging about her adventures.

Hmm.. what to have for dinner? Curried vegetables with rice? Great idea! This, in fact, has been my dinner for the past several weeks as I have been living at an ashram in India. While I appreciate a good curry every now and then, too much of a good thing is… too much.

When I decided to come to India for a month, I didn’t really think about the food. Well, that’s not entirely true; I worked for weeks to kick up my spiciness threshold, ordering 3 or 4 out of 5 stars in restaurants. I was prepared for the spice, but I wasn’t prepared for the utter lack of whole grains. Everything here is white – rice, bread, you name it. It took me a good two weeks before I discovered a shop in town that actually carries wheat bread and natural peanut butter. Needless to say, I frequent this shop quite a bit.

Another unexpected culinary twist in this adventure is that I started eating all sorts of things I would normally avoid back home – Oreos, Chips Ahoy, Coca-Cola – mostly because these things look familiar in a sea of strange new foods. Even though I’ve been doing yoga every morning, I quickly decided that this kind of eating was not going to cut it. I’m pretty sure that the calories you consume on vacation still count.

So as I’ve slowly gotten over the culture shock that India offers at every turn, I’ve also gotten my eating habits under control. Curried vegetables, hold the white rice. The occasional sweet, but nothing more than I would eat at home. No more junk food. There is simply no avoiding new, and sometimes unhealthy, foods while traveling, but there’s no need to go off the deep end. So if you’re planning a trip, be prepared to leave your inner control freak at home, but know that there are always healthy options available. Sometimes you just have to look a little harder.