Sorry to be so repetitive, Paul. You've heard this from me before, but I rarely go on a vacation that is not essentially a multi-day intense physical workout. Granted, once every couple of years I will do a family vacation where there's lots of sitting around and lots of eating, so I value the advice you give in this article. Most of my vacations are backpacking for a week or kayaking for a week or cross-country skiing for a week, and I eat all I want on these vacations and don't lose a thing. I usually come back in even better shape than when I left. 🙂👍
Scott, you are not repetitive. So don't worry about that. But you are the exception, for sure. It's quite impressive that you're able to put together such physically challenging vacations. Keep going, sir.
Great advice! I’ll be going to Europe for a family visit, entailing lots of food and drink while visiting my in-laws who are in their 90s. Fitting in a walk and body weight exercises will help maintain my sanity.
L.G., hopefully the part of Europe you're going to has plenty of pedestrian only zones that encourage walking. And the bodyweight squats while brushing your teeth of course supply anywhere…
Interesting take that a vacation would be a vacation from health. Assuming building health is a chore rather than privilege.
I find the opposite. A vacation is where I have the time to live as I would choose if I owned all my time…. Which could be pasta, aperitivo, and sunning on a beach, but also hiking, walking, engaging and avoiding fast food.
Tom, thanks for this. You make a great point that is certainly well taken. Also, you have excellent vacations that help you amplify your heath goals, which is genuinely excellent. I used to, too. Now...not so much, as they have instead focused on my mom and kid's needs. That said, I think a lot of people who are healthy generally may find vacation time to be challenging to their healthy routines, simply because their vacations aren't theirs alone but full of family members and competing priorities and needs.
Also, I do think many people experience building health—your nice phrase—as work, as difficult ("a chore") for a variety of reasons, whether chronic illness or injury or other kind of setback, and can be exhausted by it. For such folks, time off from that work can perhaps feel like a time to indulge in something other than optimizing health.
Good point. I’m fortunate to have a less difficult path to build and maintain health than some, so I can more easily embrace the 1x pain now = 5x betterment later.
And enjoy your vacations with your mom and daughter! Those are some of my best memories, even if they were not my first choice at the time. ;)
Locate at least one fresh market, preferably a farmer's market, so I get to talk to the people who grow the produce. Next, find a playground, outdoor gym, or a tree I can do some pull-ups on; since walking covers the lower body and push is easy, what I really need is something for pulling. Stretching the spine, even the bare minimum, is such bliss, given the mattress isn't going to be as comfortable.
Sorry to be so repetitive, Paul. You've heard this from me before, but I rarely go on a vacation that is not essentially a multi-day intense physical workout. Granted, once every couple of years I will do a family vacation where there's lots of sitting around and lots of eating, so I value the advice you give in this article. Most of my vacations are backpacking for a week or kayaking for a week or cross-country skiing for a week, and I eat all I want on these vacations and don't lose a thing. I usually come back in even better shape than when I left. 🙂👍
Scott, you are not repetitive. So don't worry about that. But you are the exception, for sure. It's quite impressive that you're able to put together such physically challenging vacations. Keep going, sir.
Great advice! I’ll be going to Europe for a family visit, entailing lots of food and drink while visiting my in-laws who are in their 90s. Fitting in a walk and body weight exercises will help maintain my sanity.
L.G., hopefully the part of Europe you're going to has plenty of pedestrian only zones that encourage walking. And the bodyweight squats while brushing your teeth of course supply anywhere…
Plenty of walking opportunities, thankfully!
Interesting take that a vacation would be a vacation from health. Assuming building health is a chore rather than privilege.
I find the opposite. A vacation is where I have the time to live as I would choose if I owned all my time…. Which could be pasta, aperitivo, and sunning on a beach, but also hiking, walking, engaging and avoiding fast food.
Tom, thanks for this. You make a great point that is certainly well taken. Also, you have excellent vacations that help you amplify your heath goals, which is genuinely excellent. I used to, too. Now...not so much, as they have instead focused on my mom and kid's needs. That said, I think a lot of people who are healthy generally may find vacation time to be challenging to their healthy routines, simply because their vacations aren't theirs alone but full of family members and competing priorities and needs.
Also, I do think many people experience building health—your nice phrase—as work, as difficult ("a chore") for a variety of reasons, whether chronic illness or injury or other kind of setback, and can be exhausted by it. For such folks, time off from that work can perhaps feel like a time to indulge in something other than optimizing health.
Good point. I’m fortunate to have a less difficult path to build and maintain health than some, so I can more easily embrace the 1x pain now = 5x betterment later.
And enjoy your vacations with your mom and daughter! Those are some of my best memories, even if they were not my first choice at the time. ;)
💯
Locate at least one fresh market, preferably a farmer's market, so I get to talk to the people who grow the produce. Next, find a playground, outdoor gym, or a tree I can do some pull-ups on; since walking covers the lower body and push is easy, what I really need is something for pulling. Stretching the spine, even the bare minimum, is such bliss, given the mattress isn't going to be as comfortable.