Making Exercise a Priority

Predictability is important when you’re trying to develop healthy habits.
For those who enjoy predictability and take comfort in a routine, traveling can be a nightmare. Your schedule is all thrown off and it is so easy to forget about your commitment to being physically active. But that is exactly what it is—a commitment—and you need to treat it as such. So when your time for physically activity is not naturally built in by your normal schedule, you must do the scheduling. And just as you would do for any other commitment—a meeting, a party, a dinner with friends, etc—you need to pencil it into your calendar. One critical point that you must always remember is that nobody is going to go out of his or her way to accommodate your healthy lifestyle. Therefore, you have to build it in for yourself, which may mean declining certain invitations, letting people down, or scaling back on other commitments. Yes, it is sad that we can’t do it all, but your health and personal wellness is vital.

So before you even book your ticket, determine how you will be able to build physical activity into your days while staying at your destination. If you are staying at a hotel, search the website or call to see if they have a fitness facility. If so, make sure that they have the equipment that you need or like to use. If not, check to see if there is a fitness facility in the local area where you can purchase a day pass. If you are used to working with a personal trainer and would like to continue this on the road, there are companies such as “Fit for Business” that arrange personal training sessions for you during your stay. If you would rather get your activity outside, it is important to see if there are walking trails or hiking paths nearby. The internet is an amazing resource to search for your favorite forms of physical activity and to determine how you can best accomplish them during your travels.

Before you leave, and as you are planning your travel schedule, plan your workout times in advance. That way, your time slot will already be filled if you are invited to an impromptu happy hour. Just as you would do if you had an important business meeting at the same time, you can decline due to a prior engagement. It is important to get in the mindset that physical activity is not a luxury when your schedule opens up; it is part of your schedule because it is part of your way of life. This strategy will help you develop this mindset and reinforce your commitment.