5 ways to exercise during long-term travel, no matter where you are

Let me speak from experience: staying fit on the road can be a bitch.

Before we left to travel long term, I was an avid runner. Give me a good podcast and a sunny day and I could run for hours, no problem.

… then travel happened. We traveled through places where I had to run in hijab (ugh), where running outside could result in my being kidnapped (yay), where running outside as a woman was culturally taboo (lame). The odds were not in my favor, and my running habit withered and died.

After months of lethargy and a diet of greasy Central and South Asian food, I realized I needed to get back in shape. I was done with being breathless after climbing a flight of stairs!

Then a new problem arose: how was I supposed to get in shape if we’re always on the move?

I can’t sign up to a gym, weights are miserable to port around, and India’s mix of extreme heat, potholed streets, stray dogs, and lecherous men make running quite unpleasant much of the time. We also stay in impossibly tiny rooms, so if I’m exercising inside, my routine needs to take up minimal space.

It seems an impossible problem, but in the past months, I’ve found a variety of solutions. If you’re a long-term or frequent traveler looking for some minimalist ways to exercise on the road, look no further!

1. Running

I know, I know, I said running is often out of the question. But that’s my situation, not yours! Running is above and beyond my favorite way to exercise, and the greatest way to explore a new place (one not occupied by hordes of angry street dogs). If you can, do it.

You don’t need much to go running—a good pair of shoes and some loose clothes will do the trick! If you’re in the market for new shoes, I swear by Mizuno running shoes. They’re high quality and extremely light (and colorful), which make for fun running and easy carrying in my backpack.

2. Streaming video workouts

Workout videos are a godsend to me. I can do them in the safety of our room where no one can see how much I sweat when I exercise. I’m also terrible about remembering exercise routines, and there’s something about having an exceptionally fit Adonis/Venus shouting at me through a screen that makes me feel guilty about quitting halfway. In short: they work. For me, anyway.

It can be difficult to decide which workouts will suit you best… so don’t. Over the past few weeks, I’ve used/become addicted OnDemand Physique57. It’s an online streaming service offering dozens of different workout videos, covering everything from cardio to yoga to barre to strength training. You can filter by length, type of exercise, and level of difficulty (I’m still at noob level). The important part: many of their videos don’t require any equipment, and you can stream them on a phone, tablet, or laptop.

3. Jumping rope

Jumping rope was the first solution I stumbled upon in my quest for cardio in confined spaces. I can’t always jump rope in the rooms we sleep in—like I said, tiny—but I can often find space on the roof of the hotel, or just outside our door.

You’ll find plenty of jump rope routines online to match your fitness (or coordination) level. Just be careful not to jump too loud in places with thin floors and walls—your fellow guests might not be so entertained…

4. Resistance bands 

As we were leaving to embark on our grand journey, one of our dear friends gifted Sebastiaan stretchy resistance bands in the hopes that one day he would build up some kind of muscle.

Spoiler alert: he didn’t…. but I put the bands to good use! I was dubious at first, but realized they’re a super versatile and lightweight option for adding more strength training to your travel fitness routine. There are different thicknesses depending on how fit (or in my case, not fit) you are, and an endless number of ways you can incorporate them into an exercise routine.

5. Fitness Meetups on Meetup.com

One of the struggles of staying fit is motivating yourself to actually do something. I like relying on others to get me off the couch/bed/comfort object, but that can be tricky to do while on the road.

I’ve used Meetup.com for everything ranging from language classes to fitness, and it’s an excellent resource, though it generally only works in metropolitan areas. If you find yourself in a big city, look and see what kinds of Meetups are going on nearby. You’ll find groups of people doing everything from marathon training to rock climbing to badminton, and it’s a great way to meet locals in the area!