When you’re on vacation, you’re way out of your regular routines. You tend to turn off the alarms, eat whatever you want, stay up late, and party like it’s 1999.
I am 100% in favor of enjoying my vacations.
I also know that I don’t want to come back from my vacation feeling worse than when I left.
For me that means finding a way to move my body every single day, just like I do when I’m at home.
That’s tricky when I’m traveling because I’m often at the mercy of other people’s schedules, hotel carpeting, less space than usual, no yoga mat or props, no weights, and no privacy or personal space.
Do you feel me?
There are all kinds of reasons why maintaining a daily movement practice is hard on vacation, but it’s not impossible.
Here are a few ways to simplify your daily movement practice to not only make it possible, but enjoyable, too.
1. Short and sweet: Instead of aiming for the longer practice you usually do, aim for a shorter practice. Better to move for 15 minutes or even 5 minutes than not at all.
2. Get creative, part 1: No mat? No problem! Do a standing balancing pose series. Or use the bed as a prop for your yoga practice. If you’re not sure what that would look like, check out my hotel yoga practice video below for ways to make use of your hotel room when you don’t have a mat and the carpet is slippery.
3. Get creative, part 2: No weights? No problem! Fill up a water bottle (or 2) and use those instead. I show you how in my other hotel practice video, only this one is a straight-up, full body workout. It’s good, sweaty fun you can have in a small space, no equipment needed.
4. Don’t get hung up on “not enough space”: Honestly, you don’t need a lot of space to do yoga or workout. All you need is the roughly the space of a yoga mat (2ft wide by 6.5ft long), which can fit almost anywhere. I once did yoga on a tiny balcony overlooking an empty ski-slope (it was the summer, so…gorgeous mountain with no snow). I couldn’t really do handstands because my legs might have gone over the railing, but that was about the only thing off limits.
5. Trade off with your partner: If you’re not traveling solo, you can trade off with your partner. So instead of going to breakfast with the kids, you stay behind and do 15 minutes of yoga, then go join them. Or not. You could also linger in the quiet of your hotel room…
6. Silent Disco Yoga: Have you ever been to a silent disco party? My cousin just had a silent disco at his wedding and it was the coolest. Basically, you put on a set of headphones and dance to the music you hear and everyone else does the same. If you like music in your practice but don’t want to wake anyone else up, strap on your headphones and do some silent disco yoga. Or a HIIT practice. Whatever rocks your world.
7. Be willing to move while your kids watch TV: Because if you need time and space to move and your kids won’t leave you alone, most hotel rooms have TV’s. Ad if they’re younger like mine and you can’t send them elsewhere, to chill on their own while you get in some movement-self-care, Paw Patrol is not world’s worst yoga soundtrack. Or grab those headphones…
A few other ideas, while we’re here:
Think about incorporating movement into your vacation activities. Go for a hike. Rent a canoe. Do a walking tour of the city. Use bikes to get around instead of a car, if you can. Bring your swimsuits and get everyone in the pool at the end of the day (although if you have young ones, sometimes that’s more stressful than fun, but hey, it’s an option).
Your vacation doesn’t have to be sedentary. It can be mobile. Make movement a priority on your vacation and feel even better when you get home than when you left!
