Ten weeks into full-time family travel, Ben and Claire have kept one part of their old routine completely intact: staying active. Here, Claire explains why exercise hasn’t been left behind, how they’ve had to improvise without a gym most weeks, and how it’s become something the whole family does together.
We are an active family, and that doesn’t stop just because we’re on the road. At home, we were the family that went to the gym, that trained regularly, that built our week around it. On holiday, so many people switch that off completely. We haven’t, and we don’t plan to.
Why it matters to us
It’s simple, really: it makes us feel better. It’s good for our mental health, for our wellbeing, and it’s something we deliberately keep in our routine rather than let slip. Ben stays fit as part of who he is, it’s connected to his past career too, and he genuinely enjoys it. At home, exercise is a big part of his lifestyle in a wider sense too, he has a real community and friendship base built around the gym he trained at, and he does miss that. He keeps in touch via WhatsApp groups, but it’s not quite the same. Keeping up his own exercise while we travel, along with a few challenges he’s set himself along the way, helps him stay linked to that part of home life and those friendships, even from a distance. He’s also continued running some of his online businesses around fitness while we travel, which keeps him engaged with friends and clients from that world too, and gives him something that keeps him motivated day to day. He notices it in himself when he doesn’t exercise, he can become snappier, more agitated, more irritable, so for him it’s not optional, it’s something he needs. I exercise a bit less often at home, usually three to four times a week, but it’s still a big part of how I look after myself.
There’s real research behind the link between exercise and mental health, something I’ve seen first-hand too. I’m an advanced occupational therapist within the mental health sector, and a good deal of my work has involved exactly this, looking at how exercise and lifestyle choices support patients’ mental health at home. We’ve felt the benefit of it directly on this trip. It gives us time to ourselves, space away from each other and away from the children, even briefly, and that space matters. A lot of our thinking happens mid-workout, it clears our heads properly. On the harder days of travelling, and there have been some, exercise has been one of our genuine releases.
Improvising without a gym
Ten weeks in, and we’ve only had access to an actual gym for three days total. So we’ve had to get creative. Ben’s been running most days, doing bodyweight sessions, finding whatever’s around, if there’s a bar outside, he’ll use it for pull-ups. I’ve been doing longer, faster-paced walks, plenty of bodyweight work, and following an online calisthenics programme aimed at women in their forties, my age group. It’s worked out to be more consistent than I ever was at home, actually, five to six times a week compared with three or four.
Whatever the location, we make do with what’s there. It’s not about the perfect setup, it’s about not letting the lack of one become an excuse.
Being honest about the personal side
I think it’s worth being upfront about something here, because it’s part of why exercise matters so much to me specifically. I’ve had a hysterectomy and I’m not on any HRT. Exercise has been one of the ways I’ve managed to look after my health and wellbeing through that, alongside everything else. I haven’t looked into starting HRT yet, that’s purely a personal choice at this point, and what works for me won’t necessarily work for anyone else. But for me, right now, staying active has genuinely helped.
If you’re navigating something similar, whatever that looks like for you, it’s worth knowing there are alternate ways to support yourself through it, and it doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s approach.
The kids are watching, and joining in
We also want to set an example for our children, and it’s working. They’re not as active as we are, they’re five and seven after all, but they join in with almost everything we do. Hikes, mountain climbs, sometimes with a bit of bribery involved, a tree to climb, chocolate or ice cream waiting at the end, but they always come along.
Our son in particular loves training alongside Ben. He’s been working on pull-ups, press-ups, getting his reps in, and genuinely enjoying it, it’s become a lovely bit of bonding time between them. Because the children see us doing this so consistently, it doesn’t register as anything unusual to them, it’s just what our family does. That normalises it for them, and if it inspires them to keep some version of it going themselves one day, that’s exactly the point.
Why it lets us enjoy everything else too
We’re eating incredibly well on this trip, local food, and if we’re honest, ice cream has basically become a daily staple. We eat more than we would at home, and we’re not precious about it, if we want pizza, a burger, chocolate, we have it. We still eat healthily most of the time because that’s genuinely how we like to eat anyway, but we don’t say no to the rest either.
That’s part of why we keep exercising. It means we get to enjoy all of it, the food, the local specialities, the treats, without feeling like we have to hold back.
The bigger point
This isn’t about being rigid or precious about routine while travelling. It’s about not abandoning the things that keep you feeling like yourself, just because you’re somewhere new. Staying active has kept our heads clear, kept our bodies feeling good, and given our children something to be part of rather than watch from the sidelines. We didn’t want this trip to mean putting that on hold, and it hasn’t had to.
What else is possible when the things that support you at home come travelling with you too?
FAQ
Do you need a gym to keep up a fitness routine while travelling? Not at all. We’ve only had proper gym access for three days in ten weeks. Bodyweight training, running, fast walks and whatever equipment you happen to find have carried us through everything else.
How do you get children involved in staying active while travelling? Ours join in naturally because it’s just part of family life for us, though a bit of gentle incentive, a treat at the end of a hike, never hurts either.
Is it normal to eat more while travelling and still prioritise fitness? For us, yes, and they go hand in hand. Staying active is part of what lets us enjoy local food properly without guilt, rather than restricting either side of it.
Related reading:
Leave a Reply