Healthy Travel: How to Pack a Travel Fit Kit
Don’t let your vacation plans derail your fitness goals. Pack these 10 items in your travel fit kit to stay in shape while traveling the world.
Does this travel scenario sound familiar? You plan to pack nutritious snacks for your flight, stick to water when the beverage cart comes by, have a salad for lunch, and resist your deepest urge to order French fries from the hotel's room service. On the actual trip, though, your carrot sticks don’t look nearly as fun as the airplane's high-fat snack box, a glass of wine at 30,000 feet does sound tempting, the local specialty at your destination is more appealing than a bed of greens for lunch, and those room-service French fries are calling your name.
It turns out that staying healthy on the road is easier said then done. Since overeating on vacation is practically inevitable, plan to burn extra calories so you can maintain your weight, rather than gain pounds. Pack a travel fit kit with these ten carry-on items, and add working out to your trip’s itinerary.
1. Sneakers
Get the obvious out of the way first: You should never work out in flip-flops—even on beach vacations. Pack a pair of running shoes or cross trainers in a shoe locker to protect the rest of your bag from dirt and workout odor.
2. Exercise Mat
A packable yoga mat provides you with a workout surface wherever you go, indoors or outdoors, so you'll have no excuses. But, you might be thinking, isn't that cumbersome and heavy? Nah. The eKO SuperLite Mat by Manduka weighs just over two pounds, and folds up small enough to fit in a purse or satchel.
3. Resistance Bands
Unless you want carrying your luggage to be your workout, please leave the weights at home and pack resistance bands instead. This versatile equipment weighs next to nothing, and can be used to strengthen all areas of your body.
4. Jump Rope
You know you’ve been looking for an excuse to revisit your favorite childhood playground activity, so pack a jump rope on your next trip. This cardio activity—which can be done just about anywhere—burns 10 to 16 calories every minute!
5. Laundry Bag
When you work out while traveling, the rest of your clothes should still stay fresh. Keep your sweaty clothes separated from your clean ones with a Pack-It Sport™ Laundry Stuffer, which has a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) coat and an antimicrobial treatment to contain odor and prevent the smell from staying in the bag.
6. Therapy Ball
Foam rollers are addictive, but they’re not so easy to pack. Take a vacation from your foam roller (you can do it!) and massage out aches and pains with a golf ball, lacrosse ball, or tennis ball instead.
7. Swimsuit
Fun activities can keep you in shape, too! Pack a swimsuit so you can do laps in the hotel pool, body surf in the ocean, or rent a SUP (Stand Up Paddleboard). Just make sure to keep your wet gear contained in a waterproof pouch or other waterproof packing organizer.
8. Chin-Up Straps
Give your upper body the ultimate workout with travel chin-up straps, which can be secured in any doorway for resistance training. (Warning: The muscles required for chin-ups and pull-ups are not included.)
9. Balance Disc
Take your crunch game to the next level with a balance disc. Like an exercise ball—except it's quicker to inflate—this easy-to-pack tool adds an element of balance to a variety of bodyweight workouts, making them even more challenging.
10. Laptop
A laptop is fitness equipment? Yes, indeed! If you’re traveling so much that you never see the inside of your gym, ditch your membership and switch to a streaming fitness subscription like FitFusion with Jillian Michaels or Daily Burn, or try free workout videos on CosmoBody. Slide your laptop into a protective sleeve so it doesn't get scratched or wet during travel.
For the ultimate packing guide, don't forget to check out this comprehensive list.
Related Links (from Eagle Creek blog):
5 Vacations That Are Good For Your Health
